The Christian Response
Forgiveness. It is one of the primary essentials of Christianity. It is one of many issues in which Jesus taught his disciples. It is the reason for which Christ died on the cross for all of mankind.
The Old Testament speaks of forgiveness many times. Joseph was handed over to the Ishmaelites by his brothers out of a jealous rage. Only later to be forgiven by him when he became a ruler in Pharaoh’s court. Moses himself constantly plead for God’s mercy upon the people of Israel in order that they may escape his wrath. Such an example can be found in Exodus 32:32 when he begged God to not destroy the nation for creating the idol of the golden calf. The restitution of the whole nation of Israel’s sin was made evident by the creation of the holy, "Day of Atonement" as described in Leviticus 16. This day, otherwise known as "Yom Kippur", was the day in which the high priest was to approach the altar of God in the Holy of Holies in the Tent of the Meeting to make a sacrificial offering to the Lord for the forgiveness of all Israel’s sins. Fast forward about 500 years, after the sin which King David committed with Bathsheba, he fell to his knees prostrate and humbly, begging and pleading for God’s forgiveness. Just listen to King David’s heart as it cries out in anguish to the forgiving and loving God:
“Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot(Greek: wipe) out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then there
will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar." (Psalm 51)
The result of David’s heart felt plea for mercy and forgiveness is the sparing of his life. After David had confessed his sin to the prophet Nathan, he replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” (2 Samuel 12:13b)
Throughout his ministry, Jesus clearly taught the disciples forgiveness. One such example of this teaching can be clearly seen in the parable of the unforgiving debtor. One day Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “How many times should we forgive someone? Seven times?” What prompted Peter to ask the Lord this question? Did someone just wrong him? Was he fed up? Frustrated? Perhaps Andrew continuously pesters him day in and day out. Or perhaps some fellow fisherman stole his catch of the day. Maybe his wife ridiculed him for the fifth time this week. The possibilities could be endless. But Jesus’ response to this noble fisherman was, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21) Imagine the expression on Peter’s face after Jesus’ response. “Seventy times seven! Are you out of your mind?” Furthermore, Jesus continued by presenting the following parable to him:
“Therefore, the kingdom is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servants master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matt. 18:23-34)
In this parable, a man who owed his master ten thousand talents, which depending on it’s weight, and if whether it was gold or silver, could’ve been anywhere worth $30,000-$50,000. The master demanded that he be repayed in full immediately. However, the servant simply couldn’t provide the payment so the master demanded that he sell his family and all that he owes in order to fulfill the payment. The servant then fell to his knees, begged and pleaded for mercy. The master had compassion and pity upon him and therefore canceled the entire debt. Shortly thereafter, the servant went out looking for his own fellow servant. He then demanded that he be repayed his debt of 100 denarii, which was worth a trivial amount of anywhere from $3 to a day’s earning. The servant could not provide the payment. The servant who was owed the money, began to strangle his servant and then threw him into prison. Later, the master received word of this and called the servant to his attention. The rumor was confirmed and the master had the servant thrown into jail and was tortured.
What is this passage telling us? Because God has forgiven all our sins, through the shed blood of Christ on the cross, we therefore should not withstand forgiveness from others. We should generously and consistently forgive others realizing how completely Christ forgave us. Remember Christ’s words as he hung from the cross on Calvary, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34a)
Additionally, as part of the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to forgive us of our own sins while we forgive those of others. (Matthew 6:12) And according to Paul’s doctrine on forgiveness in his letter addressed to the Romans, God’s forgiveness of the sinner is called “justification” while man’s acceptance of God’s forgiveness is called “reconciliation”. (Romans 5:16) We have been justified by Christ’s atoning death on the cross, while we have been reconciled unto God by accepting his death on the cross.
How can we apply this to the current situation in the White House? First, anyone and everyone, including the President, can be forgiven by coming before God with sincere confession and repentance and by accepting and believing in Christ, the Son. Secondly, we ourselves must forgive the President of his sinful actions even if he doesn't ask for forgiveness. If he is in fact found guilty of lying and perjury, he essentially has two choices. One, he again can ask for forgiveness from the American public, and accept the consequences. Or two, continue to deny the allegation and cower from the truth and therefore deal with God alone and suffer from the consequences with a burdened conscience. The bottom line is that we, especially as Christians, must forgive him since we too have been forgiven of our sins, long before we even asked for it.
Conclusively, I strongly feel our President has a legitimate psychological problem. He is ill. He needs help. He is genuinely struggling with an issue that I'm sure many men struggle with in varying degrees. His seems to be an extreme however. He should be removed from office only for the reasons to seek professional help and counseling. You see, this whole problem is called, "sin". It is as a result of the original sin committed by Adam thousands of years ago. I do not condemn the President himself, I simply condemn the acts, it should not be tolerated in office. If he is sincerely repentant of his actions then we must encourage the President to move on with his life, seek help to change his behavior, be accountable, and ask for foregiveness to his family, the country, and God.
