Grace/Salvation, Why Can't God Just Forgive?

Perhaps you’ve been asked, or perhaps you have thought, “Why can’t God just forgive everyone? When someone offends me, I just forgive him. So why can’t God do that? Why did Jesus have to shed His blood?”

It sounds practical theoretically and without context. Do you think everyone should be forgiven? Should anyone be forgiven no matter what they’ve done or failed to do?

Let’s consider this past week, the Biden Administration committed to a plea deal with the Mastermind behind the Al-Quida attack on 9/11.

Pentagon officials declined to release the full terms of the plea bargains.

It’s been more than 20 years after the attack. They’ve been in custody nearly that long.

Now one of the leaders for the families that lost loved ones in the attack that took 3,000 victims lives does not think these men should be given any sort of pass or plea deal.

Her Name is

Terry Strada. She invoked the dozens of relatives who have died while awaiting justice for the killings when she heard news of the plea agreement.

“They were cowards when they planned the attack," she said of the defendants. "And they’re cowards today."

Strada said many families have just wanted to see the men admit guilt.

“For me personally, I wanted to see a trial,” she said. “And they just took away the justice I was expecting, a trial and the punishment.”

Does it seem right to dismiss the trial and not have these men face their day of justice?

Did we forget the reasoning for the Nuremberg Trials:

Justice Robert H. Jackson made a succinct and powerful statement on the moral necessity of the Nuremberg Trials in his opening address:

"The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated."

This concise statement encapsulates the moral imperative behind the trials: to condemn and punish the wrongs committed, acknowledging their severity and ensuring they are not forgotten, thereby protecting the future of civilization.

What would happen if in the name of an undefined sense of love or empathy or moral uncertainty if you, I or God did away with JUSTICE? What would happen to heaven and God’s character if sin went unaddressed, judgement not rendered, punishment ignored, and sin, even the tiniest sin allowed to fester and grow throughout eternity?

Could you agree that it would lead to untold problems and misery?

So the solution God offers cannot merely be a simple wink and a nod at sin. So let’s look at how God solves the dilemma the original question asks. Turn to Romans 3:21-26

Romans 3:21–26 CSB

21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

The topic of God's righteousness and justice is one that often challenges our understanding of forgiveness, mercy, and punishment. This sermon explores the nature of God's justice and mercy, especially in light of recent events and historical tragedies like 9/11. The questions we face include why God cannot simply forgive sins without consequence and why the sacrifice of Jesus was necessary.

Main Points

1. You must come to Understand God's Righteousness from His Standpoint.

Intuitively and practically, we understand and know that we cannot hold everyone hostage to every slight, moral failure, criminal behavior, lies, and even speeding we do and have perpetrated by us and against us. And imagine if everyone was allowed to criminalize any uncomfortable situation or awkward relationship? We could not be in the same room as anyone else, let alone ourselves. We’d be in a traffic jam of constant litigation and jail time.

But, we must not project our failed condition upward. We also must not minimize our sin or think that we truly understand sin from the perspective of the ABSOLUTE RIGHTEOUS and HOLY God Almighty.

The ORIGINAL QUESTION gets birthed out of a QUIET AND UNSTATED PRIDE. LOOK at how FORGIVING AND KIND I AM. Look, I’m basically a good person, I pay my taxes, I follow the rules. I am basically perfect and couldn’t really have any Meaningful sin.

Our Condition: We often overlook our sins, justifying them with small acts of goodness. And not recognizing that sin that does not get dealt with builds up over time.

I played tennis with a developer named Jerry. One day he shared about his younger years. He had to leave his office frequently for business meetings. He learned to use the parking meters close by and time them pretty well.

One day he came out of the office to find his car gone. He saw that he still had time on the meter. He decided to go to the city county building and raise Cain about his car being towed.

He found a clerk and asked if they had his car impounded. The clerk found the paperwork and said, “yes we have your car.” Well Jerry began to let them have it as he had paid the meter and STILL had unused time! The clerk said, sir, that meter is not your problem, it’s the 25 unpaid parking tickets that are your problem!

We often look at the little good we do and expect God just to OVERLOOK our regular transgressions. Rather than humbly coming to Jesus, we demand our own righteousness.

The reality is that when we talk about ourselves, we don’t want Justice, we tend to expect mercy. But when we consider evil perpetrated against us, we definitely know justice should be served. That’s why the Plea deal doesn’t square with Terry Strada.

If a judge had a convicted rapist, murderer, thief, drug smuggler, human trafficker before her court. The person had been prosecuted beyond any shadow of the doubt, eye-witness, photographs, videos, DNA, evidence was trustworthy and absolute, but when it came time to sentencing, that judge simply said, “Well, let’s all let bygones be bygones.” The criminal gets released with no punishment. Besides the fact, this criminal is a repeat offender. He’s come before the court before and had been let off time and time again. You would not see that judge as good or righteous.

In order for God to be God and to be the type of God you truly want, HE MUST BE JUST AND ACT JUSTLY AND JUDGE SIN.

Unlike our relationships with others, even when we might be totally innocent receiving evil from another, we are not innocent in all our relations.

However, that is not the case with God, He alone always does right. He alone always acts in true love. He alone never fails or faulters.

So when dealing with God, it is not Him who needs to adjust His attitude or mindset, it is you and me that must.

Until you come to that understanding, you are in the sin of pride and in a sense while you likely would never say it outloud, you believe you are better than God.

But once you submit yourself to the reality that there is only ONE being who is morally perfect and absolute, you will then see the necessity of Jesus’ sacrifice.

2. Only then will you see the Necessity of Jesus' Sacrifice

Part of our problem with God being wrathful against sin and against the UNREPENTANT sinner is that we still carry PAGAN or wrong views about God and sin. See the Romans and Greeks as well as others would offer PROPITIATION to their gods’ to stop their wrath.

But, their understanding of their gods was mainly transactional. We sacrifice and pray to appease these gods vanity or their beef with the other gods. The ancient gods were vain, childish and whimsical. The people feared that even if they did the right thing, their gods could be in a bad mood. So it’s unjustified wrath or anger they could be subject to. They didn’t have a set CODE that they could live by and know their gods would be OK with them. It could change like the weather.

That is not the Hebrew understanding of the LORD and WRATH>

.Yahweh is RELATIONAL. So, while the Lord gave a Law Code, the Jews viewed the breaking of the law not merely as a contract, but a PERSONAL and RELATIONAL ATTACK against the LOVING YAHWEH who adopted them and loved them first.

They viewed sin as thumbing the nose at a loving and caring husband, who protected and did right by them. So they knew exactly what upset YAHWEH because He made it clear that the LAW and rules did not come from some arbitrary demand of HIS whimsy BUT WERE BASED on HIS LOVE AND RELATIONAL NATURE.

In His love He had to provide a way that His character and nature could remain perfect and holy.

- **Divine Justice**: God's justice demands that sin be punished. He cannot simply overlook our transgressions, as that would contradict His nature. The cross represents both the justice of God in punishing sin and His mercy in offering a way for us to be forgiven.

There will always be people who want to follow a sentimental form of Jesus. They want to strip the Bible as the source of understanding true morality. Those who want to remove the supernatural claims of Jesus reduce His teachings to a lower level of demand on us. ONe that we can attain to and claim our own righteousness. They want a FAIR God.

- **Mercy Over Fairness**: But you do not want God to be merely fair, as fairness would mean just punishment for all our sins. Instead, you want to seek His mercy, which is available through the sacrifice of Jesus. He took the penalty we deserved, satisfying the requirements of justice and extending grace to us.

No other Person, no other religion resolves the problem we face in this passage, How does God love and accept sinful people and remain just and righteous? He condemns all sin and all sinners. He demands all sin be punished and the debt completely paid.

Only the Perfectly Innocent Jesus could take your place and the place of all sinners. Only the Fully Eternal God, the INfinite Jesus could pay for all the sins of all time. No mere human could do that.

So GOD can justly condemn sins and offer FREE pardon to the repentent who identifies with Jesus relationally. He took my place. He in my place and I am now in His place. I now have good standing before GOD, not because God winks at sin, but because God punished my sin in the death of Christ.

3. Then you will rejoice at God's Solution to Our Dilemma

- **The Sole Provider of Salvation**: Only God can provide a solution that balances justice and mercy. He sustains the verdict against sin while also providing the means for forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

- **The Final Judgment**: While human systems of justice are flawed and can disappoint, God's judgment is perfect. He ensures that ultimate justice will be served, no unrepentant sinner will escape His scrutiny. And any sinner who will turn from his way can and will find that God’s mercy is available to all who believe in Jesus.

My friend, do not presume upon God’s grace. Many people have heard of God’s message, but have refused to apply it.

Don’t be like George Wilson, don’t neglect or refuse your pardon.

In 1830 George Wilson was convicted of robbing the U.S. Mail and was sentenced to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson issued a pardon for Wilson, but he refused to accept it. The matter went to Chief Justice John Marshall, who concluded that Wilson would have to be executed. “A pardon is a slip of paper,” wrote Marshall, “the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.” For some, news of the pardon comes too late. For others, the pardon is not accepted.

Application Questions

Understanding Forgiveness: Why do you think Jesus had to die for our sins instead of God just forgiving everyone without it?

God's Justice: Why is it important to know that God is angry at sin? How does this help us understand the gospel?

God's Wrath and Love: Why do you think we don't hear much about God's anger at sin today? Why is it important to remember?

Freedom from Guilt: How does believing that Jesus took the punishment for our sins free you from feeling continually guilty about your confessed mistakes?

Trusting God's Justice: Is there someone you need to forgive and trust God to judge fairly? How can you let go and leave it in God's hands?

### Conclusion

The complexity of justice and mercy in both human and divine contexts challenges us to understand God's righteousness more deeply. While human justice can be flawed and partial, God's justice is perfect and complete. He alone provides the solution to our sinful condition through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As we reflect on these truths, let us embrace God's mercy and seek to share the full message of the gospel, which includes both the severity of God's justice and the depth of His love.