There are many promises in Scripture, especially the Old Testament, that are conditional upon virtues like faithfulness, walking with God, righteousness, obedience, fear of God e.t.c. Thankfully, we Christians have been given access to these promises by the saving work of Christ even when we don’t necessarily meet the conditions that serve as prefixes to them.
Our access to and application of these promises are based on the premise that we have been redeemed from the punishment due to us for our sins by Christ’s death on the cross. So, for example, when we pray for protection with Psalm 91, we do so knowing that we have not always dwelt in the shelter of the most High as set out in the very first verse. That is the holiest of places and every time we sin, we have automatically stepped out of that Shelter.
Still we pray like that because we know that all our sins are forgiven as soon as we repent of them. Christ continually makes a case for us at His Father’s side every time we step out of line and grace brings us back into the fold. With the unshakable confidence that Christ is interceding for us before His Father and countering all the lies of the accuser of our souls, we never shy from asking for all kinds of help.
The above scenario is why the idea that we find it hard to forgive others as demanded by Christ is perplexing. This is perhaps, the only quid pro quo that we cannot plead our way out of with the Blood of Jesus. The Person whose death and resurrection opened up unlimited graces/blessings for us; The Person through whom our prayers are made to The Father, is the One who demands and insists that we will not be forgiven by same Father in heaven if we can’t forgive others.
We should let that sink in……and we should be very concerned if we are still unwilling to forgive easily. “Unwilling” is the problem here, “unable” can always be sorted out with the help of divine grace. Our Intercessor in heaven has laid down a non-negotiable ground rule for us. If you can’t/won’t forgive, you will not be forgiven. We need to pause all our pleas and petitions before the Throne of Mercy and take care of this non-negotiable ground rule first.
Feb. 10 2021 Addendum: MEASURE for MEASURE – It is worth noting that the Beatitudes generally promise different divine blessings for certain earthly attitudes. The only one in which the earthly attitude and divine blessing are identical is the one relating to mercy. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.” It is indeed a non-negotiable quid pro quo.
Hilltop Thoughts, Valley Strengths 