God’s Forgiveness and Forbearance
Introduction. Forgiveness and redemption are precious words to a Christian. The amazing truth that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16) fills the heart with hope and joy. Because this forgiveness is the most valuable thing in this life, our greatest efforts should be focused on what God has demanded we do to receive it. While still on the earth, Jesus was very clear that there were conditions necessary to receive forgiveness and salvation.
For His first condition, Jesus proclaimed: “You will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins" (Jn. 8:24). No one who withholds his trust and conviction that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” can be saved, for Jesus said, “no one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6). Remember only “whoever believes in Him should not perish.”
The second condition. Springing from this faith must come a conviction that desires to announce it to others: “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 10:32-33). Paul summed up the first two conditions: “with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10-11).
In the third condition, Jesus revealed that repentance was also expected prior to forgiveness and salvation. “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:1-5). While preaching his first sermon after Jesus’ ascension, Peter convicted many that they had crucified their own Messiah. It is evident in their question that they manifested the first two conditions. They believed and freely admitted Peter’s conclusion that Jesus was Lord and Christ for: “They were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
The fourth condition. Peter’s reply not only repeated this third condition, but also added a fourth condition: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:36-38).
Some today wonder or even scoff that Peter would add baptism as a fourth condition of salvation and forgiveness. Yet Peter had no choice; first, because he was inspired by the Holy Spirit and these were the words given to him, and second, because Jesus had Himself commanded it previously! In His final words before ascending into heaven Jesus told all His apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them” and “preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved;” (Mt. 28:19 Mk. 16:16). The Scriptures clearly recorded that at the end of Peter’s sermon all “who gladly received his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41).
So although “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” in order that they “should not perish but have everlasting life”, Jesus made it clear during His ministry and later through His apostles that there were four conditions necessary to receive that love and have everlasting life. Anyone who withholds belief, refuses to confess, will not repent, or rejects baptism has not fulfilled those conditions and therefore has yet to be forgiven.
When People Confuse God’s Forgiveness with His Forbearance. Yet multitudes today believe they are living under God’s favor and have received forgiveness and salvation. Jesus spoke of “many” who thought they were forgiven and were also His true servants, but had not yet fulfilled all the conditions:
The reason this occurs is the confusion many have made between God’s forbearance which everyone receives and His forgiveness which is only given to the few who walk the difficult way. “For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it” (Mt. 7:13-14).
Forbearance defined. While everyone seems to understand forgiveness, few speak of forbearance. To “speak as the oracles of God” do about this word, we must begin with the Greek terms “anechomai" and “anoche” which the Holy Spirit chose to express it. A careful study in the Greek Dictionaries/Lexicons (Thayer’s, Vine’s, Kittel’s, Trench’s) reveal the following meanings of these synonyms:
In the first three chapters of Romans, the Holy Spirit proved that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), and therefore all must obey the gospel in order to obtain forgiveness. Our study focuses on the second chapter where the Spirit addressed those who believe in God and think they are saved. His intent was to reveal to them that they had not yet submitted to all God’s commands and conditions of forgiveness and were therefore not yet saved.
He began: “you are without excuse O Man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself... do you think this, ... that you will escape the judgment of God?" The reasoning here is simple. Since all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, everyone must obey the gospel to receive forgiveness and salvation! Although no one can escape the judgment of God, many believe they can. These are the people Jesus addressed in Mt. 7 and concluded, “I never knew you.” Although no one thinks they are doing this, anyone who has not fulfilled all the conditions above must ask themselves the question posed next:
God’s kindness, forbearance, and long-suffering are designed to lead us to repentance. A change of mind will lead us to believe Jesus, confess Him, repent of everything that is contrary to God’s will, and be baptized for the remission of sins. Until we have done these things, we are only living under God’s forbearance, not His forgiveness.
The difference between forbearance and forgiveness is too profound for a single article. We will look more at it as we consider how Christians are also commanded to offer both forgiveness or forbearance depending on the conditions the sinner has met.
Epilog. This poem has always struck a chord in my heart whenever I think about God’s forbearance.
The Hidden Line (The Destiny of Men)
by Joseph Addison Alexander (1809-1860)
There is a time, we know not when,
A place we know not where,
That marks the destiny of men,
To glory or despair.
There is a line, by us unseen,
That crosses every path,
The hidden boundary between
God's patience and his wrath
To pass that limit is to die,
To die as if by stealth;
It does not quench the beaming eye,
Or pale the glow of health.
The conscience may be still at ease,
The spirits light and gay;
That which is pleasing still may please,
And care be thrust away.
But on that forehead God has set
Indelibly a mark –
Unseen by man for man as yet
Is blind and in the dark.
And still the doomed man’s path below
May bloom as Eden bloomed –
He did not, does not, will not know
Or feel that he is doomed.
He knows, he feels that all is well,
And every fear is calmed;
He lives, he dies, he wakes in hell,
Not only doomed but damned.
O! Where is this mysterious bourne,
By which our path is crossed;
Beyond which God himself hath sworn
That he who goes is lost.
How far men may go in sin?
How long will God forbear?
Where does hope end and where begin
The confines of despair?
An answer from the skies is sent –
“Ye that from God depart,
While it is called TO-DAY repent,
And harden not your heart!”
For His first condition, Jesus proclaimed: “You will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins" (Jn. 8:24). No one who withholds his trust and conviction that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” can be saved, for Jesus said, “no one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6). Remember only “whoever believes in Him should not perish.”
The second condition. Springing from this faith must come a conviction that desires to announce it to others: “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 10:32-33). Paul summed up the first two conditions: “with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10-11).
In the third condition, Jesus revealed that repentance was also expected prior to forgiveness and salvation. “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:1-5). While preaching his first sermon after Jesus’ ascension, Peter convicted many that they had crucified their own Messiah. It is evident in their question that they manifested the first two conditions. They believed and freely admitted Peter’s conclusion that Jesus was Lord and Christ for: “They were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
The fourth condition. Peter’s reply not only repeated this third condition, but also added a fourth condition: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:36-38).
Some today wonder or even scoff that Peter would add baptism as a fourth condition of salvation and forgiveness. Yet Peter had no choice; first, because he was inspired by the Holy Spirit and these were the words given to him, and second, because Jesus had Himself commanded it previously! In His final words before ascending into heaven Jesus told all His apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them” and “preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved;” (Mt. 28:19 Mk. 16:16). The Scriptures clearly recorded that at the end of Peter’s sermon all “who gladly received his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41).
So although “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” in order that they “should not perish but have everlasting life”, Jesus made it clear during His ministry and later through His apostles that there were four conditions necessary to receive that love and have everlasting life. Anyone who withholds belief, refuses to confess, will not repent, or rejects baptism has not fulfilled those conditions and therefore has yet to be forgiven.
When People Confuse God’s Forgiveness with His Forbearance. Yet multitudes today believe they are living under God’s favor and have received forgiveness and salvation. Jesus spoke of “many” who thought they were forgiven and were also His true servants, but had not yet fulfilled all the conditions:
- “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Mt. 7:21-23)
The reason this occurs is the confusion many have made between God’s forbearance which everyone receives and His forgiveness which is only given to the few who walk the difficult way. “For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it” (Mt. 7:13-14).
Forbearance defined. While everyone seems to understand forgiveness, few speak of forbearance. To “speak as the oracles of God” do about this word, we must begin with the Greek terms “anechomai" and “anoche” which the Holy Spirit chose to express it. A careful study in the Greek Dictionaries/Lexicons (Thayer’s, Vine’s, Kittel’s, Trench’s) reveal the following meanings of these synonyms:
- “Restraint”, “a holding back”, “a delay of punishment”, "to bear with”, “endure", “tolerate”, “a suspension of wrath which must eventually be exercised unless the sinner accepts God's conditions”, “the anoche is temporary, transient: we may say that, like our ‘truce,’ it asserts its own temporary, transient character; that after a certain lapse of time and unless other conditions intervene, it will pass away.”
In the first three chapters of Romans, the Holy Spirit proved that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), and therefore all must obey the gospel in order to obtain forgiveness. Our study focuses on the second chapter where the Spirit addressed those who believe in God and think they are saved. His intent was to reveal to them that they had not yet submitted to all God’s commands and conditions of forgiveness and were therefore not yet saved.
He began: “you are without excuse O Man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself... do you think this, ... that you will escape the judgment of God?" The reasoning here is simple. Since all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, everyone must obey the gospel to receive forgiveness and salvation! Although no one can escape the judgment of God, many believe they can. These are the people Jesus addressed in Mt. 7 and concluded, “I never knew you.” Although no one thinks they are doing this, anyone who has not fulfilled all the conditions above must ask themselves the question posed next:
- Or do you despise (presume on- ESV show contempt for - NIV; think lightly of - NASB;) the riches of His kindness, forbearance (tolerance – NIV), and longsuffering, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Rom 2:4
God’s kindness, forbearance, and long-suffering are designed to lead us to repentance. A change of mind will lead us to believe Jesus, confess Him, repent of everything that is contrary to God’s will, and be baptized for the remission of sins. Until we have done these things, we are only living under God’s forbearance, not His forgiveness.
The difference between forbearance and forgiveness is too profound for a single article. We will look more at it as we consider how Christians are also commanded to offer both forgiveness or forbearance depending on the conditions the sinner has met.
Epilog. This poem has always struck a chord in my heart whenever I think about God’s forbearance.
The Hidden Line (The Destiny of Men)
by Joseph Addison Alexander (1809-1860)
There is a time, we know not when,
A place we know not where,
That marks the destiny of men,
To glory or despair.
There is a line, by us unseen,
That crosses every path,
The hidden boundary between
God's patience and his wrath
To pass that limit is to die,
To die as if by stealth;
It does not quench the beaming eye,
Or pale the glow of health.
The conscience may be still at ease,
The spirits light and gay;
That which is pleasing still may please,
And care be thrust away.
But on that forehead God has set
Indelibly a mark –
Unseen by man for man as yet
Is blind and in the dark.
And still the doomed man’s path below
May bloom as Eden bloomed –
He did not, does not, will not know
Or feel that he is doomed.
He knows, he feels that all is well,
And every fear is calmed;
He lives, he dies, he wakes in hell,
Not only doomed but damned.
O! Where is this mysterious bourne,
By which our path is crossed;
Beyond which God himself hath sworn
That he who goes is lost.
How far men may go in sin?
How long will God forbear?
Where does hope end and where begin
The confines of despair?
An answer from the skies is sent –
“Ye that from God depart,
While it is called TO-DAY repent,
And harden not your heart!”