Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. | 1 John 4:8–10
On Sunday, we were working through a difficult passage in 2 Samuel in which David has to make amends for Saul’s breaking of the covenant with the Gibeonites. One of the hardest things about reading (and preaching) through the Old Testament is that the stories seem so far from us. There seems to be little practical application from the story of David handing over seven sons of Saul to be killed by this non-Jewish people group. Knowing this, I opened up the sermon by stating:
How we should act is built out of who we know God to be. This is one of those sections today that tells us about David and the nation of Israel, but is much more about the character of God. It wants to see the world through issues of sin and atonement so that we can understand our need for Him and the grace that we are offered in Jesus Christ.
In other words, our understanding of God’s character is practical. Not as a directly applicable command or rule, but we are shaped by who we know God to be. This story is focused on helping us to understand the weight of sin, the cost of atonement, and our inability to make right what we have broken. This is showing us the punishment that sin requires and that we are not able to pay it. It is preparing the people of God to see Jesus’ role of substitutionary sacrifice – the one who takes on the sin of His people in order to pay the debt. Much of the Old Testament, including the sacrificial system and the Day of Atonement, are aimed at helping us to understand the offense of sin toward God and the need for it to be paid for.
Over the last decade, penal substitutionary atonement – Jesus taking on the wrath of God for sinners – has taken a lot of flack. Some of the other atonement views, like Christus Exemplar and Christus Victor, have gained popularity and been taught more extensively. As I preached a series on a few years ago, these atonement theories are important for us to get to know the magnificence and complexity of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. What their newfound exposure has done is presented these varied perspectives as choices for how to view the work of Jesus. People have used the more ‘positive’ ideas of Jesus’ life as an excuse to reject or ignore the complication of sin (and the focus that the Bible puts on Jesus as a sacrifice). It has recast Jesus as loving and kind, while ignoring the absolute dependence that we have on Him for salvation. In this, we don’t get a full understanding of the love of God, the grace of God, and the holiness of God.
When we set aside the offense of the cross, we get a more palatable God, but one that loses the ability to shape us as His people. As 1 John 4 tells us, our love is a direct response to our understanding of how we have been loved. In other words, it is only when we see the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf (and our need for it) that we can embrace the life of service and sacrifice that love calls us to. Without this, our love will always terminate back on us and be read through how it benefits us. It is only in embracing Jesus’ act of complete otherness (Philippians 2), that we are able to set aside our fleshly desires to take on a love that looks not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4).
We see this clearly in the act of forgiveness. To forgive someone else is not a natural human response. When someone does something to us, we want justice, not to show compassion. In our highly justice-based society, we are told that we have the right to demand that people pay. In the parable of the unmerciful servant, Jesus turns this around. He says that a person who is unwilling to forgive does not understand the mercy they have been shown. In order for us to be able to forgive, we must have a clear understanding of how Jesus has rescued us from the debt of sin. The atonement becomes the motivation for us to let go of the desire for vengeance, to put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. | Colossians 3:12–14
Forgiveness is a very complicated topic, as a friend of mine addressed in THIS very thorough article. The whole thing is worth the read, but I especially appreciate the summary of Calvin’s description of the dual nature of forgiveness:
John Calvin solved the apparent contradiction between Jesus’ calls to pardon everyone (even the unrepentant) and His limitation of the same to those who repent, with reference to the objective and subjective dimensions of forgiveness (see Calvin’s comments on Matt. 18:21-35). First, Christians must forgive unrepentant sinners (especially for non-criminal, personal offenses) by “laying aside the desire of revenge,” and repaying their evil with objective deeds of “kindness” (Matt. 5:43-48; Rom. 12:14, 17; Prov. 20:22; 24:29). However, it is appropriate, according to Calvin, “to entertain an unfavorable opinion” of unrepentant parties. Second, a more robust “kind of forgiving” must be reserved for the repentant brother. Upon confessing and turning from his evil, Christians must not only treat that brother kindly but “think favorably” of him.
As Christians, our understanding of what God has done for us gives us a way of dealing with others that gives them the room to make mistakes and the encouragement to improve. Being overwhelmed by Jesus’ gift of grace allows us to live in a way that promotes the flourishing of all. This isn’t possible without us acknowledging that our righteousness comes from outside of ourselves. God then uses our response to His grace to bring more grace into the world.
Our salvation is not just about what will happen when we die, but it shapes us to live out the character of our Savior now. Knowing how this salvation was purchased for us changes us into people who love and show mercy. Rather than just telling people that they should show more kindness and be more gracious, we should introduce them to the atoning work of Christ – the strength and motivation to live for more than ourselves.