Forgiveness & Acceptance

Forgiveness and Acceptance Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

George Morrison’s sermon for today is entitled Acceptance in the Beloved.
To the praise of the glory of his grace through which he hath made us accepted in the beloved— Ephesians 1:6

Forgiveness Does Not Necessarily Imply Acceptance
It ought to be noted carefully by all who ponder the interior life that acceptance is something different from forgiveness. One might be forgiven and not accepted. If a man wrought me some deadly injury, by the grace of heaven I might forgive that man; yet I might warn him that he must keep his distance and never cross the threshold of my home. So conceivably might God forgive the guilty sinners of mankind and yet forbid them entrance to His dwelling-place. At the pleading of the woman of Tekoah, David forgave Absalom. Yet for two years that forgiven child never looked upon his father’s face (2 Samuel 14:28). The palace gates were barred for him; he had no access to the royal chambers; he was forgiven, but he was not accepted. Acceptance is reconstituted fellowship. It is liberty of access to the palace. It is an authoritative welcoming to the home and heart of God. And though always this implies forgiveness, the two are not identical whether in the affairs of earth or heaven.

I have had problems with forgiveness for years, rationalizing that yes, I’m required to forgive, but not required to let that person back into my life. Does the woman who has been raped have to forgive the criminal? Yes. Does she have to visit him in jail? Uh…. NO. Duh. The bible says David forgave Absalom. Not, “said he forgave him,” i.e. lied, but that he actually forgave him. Yet he still locked him out of his life after forgiveness. That system works for me. Very convenient. And it might even be true. Right now especially this is a great deal more than a concept to me - after you forgive someone, as a Christian, what further obligation do you have toward them? And I’m going to be studying it and thinking about it a lot; enough so that I have created a new category for it. More tomorrow, but I close with this uncomfortable passage from George Morrison’s sermon:

Acceptance Is Another Miracle of Grace
It ought again to be noted that acceptance does not necessarily follow on forgiveness. It is not an inevitable consequence; it is an added miracle of grace. When the prodigal took his homeward way he had a deep conviction that he would be forgiven. But he had no assurance that he would be accepted and so have the run of the old home. Forgiven, he would have been well content to be as the lowest of the hired servants and lodge with the other servants in the shed. The father forgave him when he ran to meet him. There was fatherly forgiveness in the kiss. But what amazed the prodigal and broke his heart was the welcome which followed on forgiveness. The ring on his finger, the robe upon his back, the filial liberty in the old home, these were the acceptance of the prodigal. He might have been forgiven without these. These were not of the essence of his pardon. These were the signs and tokens of a love that could never do enough for the forgiven. That is why the apostle tells us here that the amazing experience of acceptance is “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” Acceptance is not a necessary corollary. It is not an implication of remission. It is an implication that we are in the hands of One who in His love can never do enough. He might pardon us and make us hired servants; but love can never be content with that. It crowns forgiveness in the welcome home.