On Forgiving Others (Kuyper)

A while back I found some helpful words by Abraham Kuyper on forgiving others. Scripture for meditation on this topic includes Colossians 3:13: "...Forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others" (NLT). Anyway, here's how Kuyper reflected on the call for us to forgive others: Take the case …

Scripture’s Beautiful Imagery of the Forgiveness of Sins (Watson)

One of the wonderful aspects of Holy Scripture is how it doesn't just tell us truth in propositional form. It gives us metaphors, stories, imagery, and vivid examples of truth. Specifically, I'm thinking about the forgiveness of sins. The Bible plainly says that God forgives sins when we confess them to him (e.g. Ps. 32:5). …

Injustice, Revenge, Violence …and Forgiveness! (Volf)

(This post was originally published August 2017) Miroslav Volf's Exclusion and Embrace is a very thoughtful and interesting book on identity, reconciliation, oppression, justice, and so forth.  I don't agree with everything Volf says, but I am enjoying the book.  This morning I ran across his section on forgiveness, which was very helpful.  Here are …

Biblical Imagery on the Forgiveness of Sins (Watson)

There are quite a few different ways the Bible talks about the forgiveness of sins. For one example, Psalm 103:12 says, "...As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (NIV). I've always been comforted by the different imagery Scripture uses to explain the forgiveness of sins. …

Peace With God and Self-Forgiveness (Packer)

Many of us have heard talk about forgiving ourselves. There are wrong ways to explain this concept of self-forgiveness. It can certainly be misunderstood, therefore we've got to be careful when using this phrase. And because it is easily misunderstood, perhaps we should use the phrase sparingly. However, explained rightly from a Christian perspective the …