The Cost of Rejected Forgiveness

Monday, August 28, 2023

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you?  Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?  But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself.  For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.  He will judge everyone according to what they have done.  He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.  But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.  But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.  For God does not show favoritism.  Romans 2:4-11

Paul’s message to the believers at Rome is that of a story as old as Adam and Eve’s first two sons; it’s a story of jealousy and choices ^{(see Genesis 4)}.  Cain was the firstborn, and he despised his younger brother, Abel.  God had instructed them what to bring as an offering, but Cain stubbornly brought what he wanted, while Abel obeyed God.  When God rejected Cain’s “innovated worship” and accepted Abel’s obedience, anger raised-up in Cain like a volcano of jealousy; he killed his brother.  That was a momentary wrong decision fueled by bad judgment and independence.  Unfortunately for Cain (as his parents before him), when he sinned, he persisted in defending his petulance.  When God judged him for it, he whined, claiming God was being too hard on him.  This was resoundingly-odd, considering it was Abel rotting in a shallow grave.  Cain spent the rest of his days wandering like a lost soul.  Indeed, he was lost, and judged. 

We’re still playing “Cain and Abel” these days.  There has been war someplace on this planet without fail since the first killing.  As Paul wrote, God’s kindness and patience with humanity is an offering of forgiveness.  Sadly, human stubbornness is in abundant supply.  In the spirit of independence, alive and thriving today, we don’t need some Jew from the antiquities to die on a cross for us.  We are good enough, thank you…we’ll meet any challenge head-on.  Thanks, God, for the offer, but no thanks…we’re good.

Only we’re not!

Even in the short space of my lifetime I have witnessed the diminishing sense of kindness and compassion that human beings have for each other.  (You have only to observe Interstate road-rage for a half-mile to validate that statement).  The value of human life plummets in the murder statistics.  Porch-pirates, sales of home security systems, with weapons to back them up are at an all-time high.  As was the case with Cain and Abel, killing (with weapons or words) is how we deal with the anger of a lost soul.  And we seem to get better (darker) at it every year.

Many people reject God’s kindness, simply ignoring what a magnificent, precious gift of forgiveness they refuse….choosing instead an eternity of separation from their Creator.  That is the sad reality of evil…thinking we stay strong by holding God at arms-length, we condemn ourselves to eternal punishment.

Placing all that in perspective requires us to turn and look at Calvary’s Lamb, Jesus, nailed to a rough-hewn cross, beaten within an inch of life’s endurance,  spat-upon, alone, abandoned, yet crying-out:  Father, forgive them! 

This is the kindness of God; it is the offer of healing and hope. 

For You Today 

The choice is always there…reject His forgiveness, or receive His goodness,

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©