What Is Forgiveness? (3)

COSTLY

The man who forgives pays a tremendeous price—the price of the evil he forgives!

If the state pardons a criminal, society bears the burden of the criminal’s deed.

If I break a priceless heirloom that you treasure and you forgive me, you bear the loss and I go free.

Suppose I ruin your reputation. To forgive me, you must freely accept the consequences of my sin and let me go free!

In forgiveness, you bear your own anger and wrath at the sin of another, voluntarily accepting responsibility fos the hurt he has inflicted you.

Myron Augsburger stated,

To forgive is costly. To forgive . . . is to carry one’s own wrath on the sin of another; the guilty one is released, the offended one frees him, by bearing his own indignation and resolving it in love. God forgives by carrying His own wrath on the sin we’ve expressed against him . . . He absorbs our guilt and make us free. Forgiveness goes through the sin to freedom.

Forgiveness is costly because it is (to [4])