Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Forgiveness
- Forgiveness: Forgiveness is when our sins are absolved by God. We do not deserve this forgiveness, but God grants it to us anyway. We cannot earn forgiveness, but God gives it to us anyway. As we are forgiven by God, He also asks us to forgive others. In fact, Jesus Himself teaches us to pray for our forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer when He says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
If you have read my theological commentary from three years ago,
you hear about my struggle with this chapter.
Haman is rightly accused. But
then Haman begs for his life. If this is
a self-centered plea for life, then he deserves to hang. But if this was a repentant recognition of
his error, then where is grace?
In the end, Esther 7 always leads me to understand that I need to
be grateful for God’s forgiveness. I
deserve to be condemned. No amount of
pleading for my life can make up for my sin.
No amount of begging should change God’s mind. I am guilty of sin.
But the word that I hear from God is, “You are forgiven.” God does forgive. I deserve to hang by the same gallows that I’ve
figuratively built for others in my own life as I pronounce them deserving of
my hate, anger, irritation, whatever.
But although I deserve punishment, God spares me. He can spare you, too. He can spare anyone who is contrite, humble,
and repentant!
What a great chapter of the Bible.
What a great chapter to gain perspective on true repentance. What a great chapter in the Bible to evoke a
conversation on the blessing of God’s true forgiveness!
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