Remember! When I refer to person in the Godhead in any blog, I am referring either to singular person (one-of-three) or to the collective person (three-in-one) of the Triune.
Gentle tour companion, no discussion of Will and its resulting agape love in the Godhead is complete without reference to forgiveness (Hebrew verb, salah, Strong’s #5545; Greek verb, aphiemi, Strong’s #863).
Definition:
Hebrew verb, salah, Strong’s #5545; to forgive, specifically divine forgiveness; to sprinkle; atonement by sacrifice, the shedding of blood. “This verb appears 46 times in the Old Testament. The meaning to forgive is limited to bibilical and rabbinic Hebrew; in Akkadian, the word means to sprinkle and in Aramaic and Syriac signifies to pour out. The meaning of salah in Ugaritic is debateable (Vine’s, p. 86).”
Greek verb, aphiemi, Strong’s #863; page 250; “the remission of the punishment due to sinful conduct, the deliverance of the sinner from the penalty divinely, and therefore righteously, imposed. . . (and) . . . the complete removal of the cause of the offense.”
In keeping with our previous approach of looking into the things of God pre-Creation, we are going to discuss the conception of forgiveness in that same time frame (1 Peter 1). Since God’s Will to love (agape) emerged pre-Creation, a system of justice including forgiveness concurrently emerged. Choice, Pure Goodness, and foreknowledge of the dangers inherent in the coming Creation, spontaneously sparked the flames of agape love and Justice in the Godhead.
There is no understanding of forgiveness as practiced within the Godhead, astute reader, without grasping the role of judgment, forgiveness and condemnation as implements of God’s pre-Creation concept of Justice.
To grasp that role, it must first be noted that God’s justice system is a system of right balance.
Wrongdoing destabilizes right balance.
In the Godhead, therefore, all situations of wrongdoing require addition of the right balance of Justice. That being so, justice in the Godhead pre-Creation branched in two directions: one, justice involving forgiveness and redemption and two, justice involving condemnation and punishment.
As to how condemnation and punishment proceed within the justice framework, condemnation is associated with unrepentance and wrath. Those who will be condemned experience the wrath of God and all that entails (Blog #45 ) as punishment.
Forgiveness and redemption have more complex proceedings, at least at first glance. First and foremost, as conceived, it is God who must be satisfied for injury or wrongdoing. All sin is ultimately against God. Next, forgiveness will be a process of release and redemption will be a process of compensation.
At this point, forgiveness and redemption come into play in God’s justice system and are designated conditional operations also of two kinds: one, direct and two, indirect.
Direct Conditional Forgiveness:
As a first condition, forgiveness is tied to repentance in an obligatory manner (see Vine’s, forgiveness). Repentance takes the form of confession of wrongs to God and agreement that God is right, in other words, apologies must be made. Then it is required that the guilty party ask for forgiveness while committing to turn away from wrong behavior and embracing right behavior. This series of steps or various combinations thereof are necessary to satisfy God’s requirement for releasing a human being from wrongdoing.
As a second condition, forgiveness also requires a penalty payment (redemption). The guilty party must pay for his wrongdoing. The penalty payment is always based on the principle of just compensation. A paid compensation results in restitution. Frequently, other conditions must be met, such as righting the wrong when possible or making sacrificial offerings as compensation for wrongdoing (According to Vine’s p. 86, “Sacrifice was appropriately connected to atonement, as there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Leviticus 4:20, Hebrews 9:22).”).
Also, there is only one way around this direct conditional arrangement for forgiveness and that is the indirect conditional arrangement.
Indirect Conditional Forgiveness:
When the guilty party cannot pay, God may forgive the wrong on the basis of confession and repentance and then redeem or pay the price or absorb the cost Himself, appoint an intermediary to do so (Numbers 15:25, 28), or come to some agreement with the debtor as to acceptable terms of payment in order to grant restitution into His Good Graces ( Matthew 18:21-35).
To be continued . . .
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