“No god will
forgive you.” That was the eye-catching headline on the front page of Friday’s
Metro. The paper was quoting Catherine Devallonne, the mother of an au pair who
was starved, tortured and murdered by her employers.
I can
understand why she must feel that no god could forgive the people who murdered
her daughter. Some things seem impossible for us to forgive. I think that
sentiment is shared by a lot of people. If there really is a god out there who
is capable of forgiveness, then there must be some crimes too terrible to
forgive. That god would forgive a white lie, but not murder or genocide. But if
that god exists, then it is not the God of Christianity.
In
Christianity, God is capable of forgiving every single sin. Most of the books
of the Bible that were written after the death and resurrection of Jesus were
written by a murderer. Before he himself had become a Christian, the Apostle
(or Saint) Paul had travelled the Middle East so that he could he could find
and kill Christians. He would later say: ‘I
was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display
his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and
receive eternal life.’1
But the
Christian understanding of forgiveness is more complex than simply the
forgiveness of individual acts of wrongdoing. The human race was made by God,
like God and for God, yet now it lives without God. That is the sin of which
everyone is guilty. It is the sin that leads to all others. That is the sin
that, above all others, needs to be forgiven. As long as that sin remains
unforgiven by God, then none of our other acts of wrongdoing can be forgiven. A
refusal to ask God for this sin to be forgiven makes every other sin, no matter
how seemingly small the sin, unforgivable. And once the sin of rejecting God is
forgiven, all other sins can be forgiven.
That
forgiveness is complete. The Bible uses a number of beautiful images to
describe the extent of this forgiveness. According to the Book of Hosea,’[God] will trample [our] sins under his
feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!’2
The Prophet Isaiah says that ‘though [our] sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.’ 3
The Prophet Isaiah says that ‘though [our] sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.’ 3
That is the
heart of Christianity. Someone who has
not asked God to forgiveness is not a Christian. Take, for example, Donald
Trump. I don’t mean to descend into smug Trump-bashing, but Donald Trump has
said that he ‘isn’t sure’ whether has asked God for forgiveness. And if he
really means that, then he is not a Christian. Full stop. It is not his policies or behaviour that tell
us whether he is a Christian, but whether he has asked God for forgiveness. He
may seem to be the darling of many (not all) white evangelicals, but in fact
his refusal to ask God for forgiveness brings into question whether he truly
knows what it means to be a Christian.
To be a
Christian is to know that you have been forgiven. Like so much of Christianity, God’s ability
to forgive completely is seen most clearly when we remember the innocent man
who died on the cross. Though the people around him were committing what
Christians believe to be the most serious crime in history, Jesus asked His father,
God, to forgive the people who were crucifying Him. Later, on that same day, He
showed us what it meant to be forgiven by God. After acknowledging that Jesus
had done nothing wrong, the criminal on the cross beside Him asked Jesus to
‘remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus replied that the criminal
would be with Him in paradise. We don’t exactly what that criminal thought, but
I assume that he understood that Jesus’ death could lead to his sins
being forgiven. That last-minute understanding, without any accompanying good
works, was all that he needed to be given a place in heaven.
No god will
forgive you? The God-on-the-Cross can.
1. 1 Timothy 1:16
2. Micah 7:19
3. Isaiah 1:18
4. Luke 23
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