In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence… – Ephesians 1:7-8
Is it wise for God to forgive sins?
Some would argue no–and with good reason. One could argue that it is unwise for rulers to forgive sinners. What kind of justice is it to forgive those who have broken the law? Forgiving lawbreakers can be dangerous, even if they are repentant. Not executing the prescribed penalty of the law weakens the law. When the law is weak, criminals are strong, and society is unstable.
Anyone who has ever had the authority to govern a group of people understands this. For example, if a school teacher fails to punish a student for an infraction of the rules, or promptly forgives them without punishment, other students will be emboldened to break the rules. If another student breaks the rules and is not treated the same way, the teacher will be called unjust. But if she is careful to execute the penalty of her law upon each student, she will have order in the classroom.
As a teacher myself, I see this very clearly. My students are watching when one of their classmates breaks the law of the classroom. They expect me to be just. If I don’t punish one student, they expect me not to punish anyone else. This would be unjust in their eyes. They might accuse me of favoritism or weakness. But if I carry out the punishment prescribed, they know they can expect the same if they disobey.
The ancient Persians understood this concept. They desired a strong law to keep order throughout their empire, so they made it a statute and hallmark that no law enacted could be changed or altered. No citizen in the Persian empire would need to wonder what would happen if the law was broken. The empire was always consistent, and that without fail. We see this very plainly in the case of Daniel. Daniel’s rivals envied him and sought to destroy him. They thought they had found a way to do so by fooling the king into passing a law that would entrap Daniel. When the law was passed, and the king realized that he had been deceived, he sought a way to undo what he had done, but he could not find a way:
And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. – Daniel 6:14-16
The Persians understood that having exceptions and pardons to the law would weaken it. Even in Daniel’s case, when the king clearly understood that he was deceived, the law couldn’t be disregarded.
The law is strong when enforced and weak when it is not. In fact, not enforcing the law is a virtual repeal of it. We see this right now in cities all across America. In cities where crime is not punished, those who may be tempted to commit crimes are emboldened, and the law is disregarded. But in a place where malefactors are promptly punished, would-be criminals take notice—and seek other employment.
This is precisely what the scriptures teach. Notice how God commanded the people of Israel to administer the law:
If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. – Deu 19:16-21 NKJV
When the law is administered correctly, those tempted to break it will ‘hear and fear.’ This is how God governs and how human governments should govern. When they do, crime will be greatly reduced.
Rewards and Punishments
Law is only strong when it stands upon the pillars of rewards and punishments. When a lawgiver rewards good citizens and punishes criminals, he creates a more beautiful society, but if one of those pillars is taken away, the law crumbles.
This is why, when God instituted the law of Moses, He promised rewards to those who obeyed it and punishments to those who did not:
“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God… – Deut 28:1-2
and
“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: cursed shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the country… – Deut 28:15-16
God’s wisdom is sound. Good law is supported by rewards and punishments. If either is removed, the law fails. And if the law fails, chaos ensues.
What about Forgiveness?
However, all of this creates a problem for the benevolent ruler. What if the lawgiver desires to offer a pardon (forgiveness)? What can he do?
An ancient Greek king named Zaleucus sought to rid his kingdom of the scourge of adultery, which had run rampant. To do so, he enacted a new law that every adulterer should have his eyes gouged out. Soon after, however, it was found that his son and heir had broken this law. At first, the king was determined to execute the law upon his son, giving him no preference. However, many close to him pleaded with him to have mercy on his son. But how could he? If he forgave his son, couldn’t he be rightly charged with injustice? What could he do?
King Darius found himself in a similar predicament. He could not find a way to pardon Daniel without endangering the law, even though he had searched carefully. How could the king keep his law strong yet forgive Daniel? How can a lawgiver be just in offering a pardon, seeing that it jeopardizes his law and the well-being of his citizens?
When we relate this to God, we also have a problem. If God forgives sinners, would not his law and government be weakened? Would He not seem soft on sin? Would He not embolden those who are evil? How could He secure a holy and righteous new world?
The Solution
If a lawgiver desires to pardon a criminal and still maintain the strength of his law, he must find a suitable replacement (a substitution) for the execution of the penalty of the law. This substitution must accomplish the same things (or better) that the execution of the penalty of the law would.
As mentioned earlier, the punishments inflicted by a law-giver serve a greater purpose than simply retribution. They serve the community by sending a clear message to the people. The message is that the law-giver is committed to his law, that he is staunchly opposed to any infraction thereof, and that those tempted to violate it should beware lest they also suffer its penalty. Anything that relays this same message as powerfully as the execution of the penalty of the law would do can be an acceptable replacement, or substitute, for the penalty of the law. In such cases, a ruler can safely pardon a repentant lawbreaker.
This is where the idea of atonement comes in. An atonement is a substitution for the execution of the law’s penalty. It serves to ‘make up’ for wrongs done. It seeks to fill the gap left by unpunished infractions, preserving justice. Atonement provides a way to keep the law strong while forgiving a repentant offender. It does all this by providing a sufficient demonstration of the law-giver’s regard for his law to his subjects.
King Darius was unable to find an atonement for Daniel, so he reluctantly threw him into the lions’ den. However, King Zaleucus was indeed able to find a solution. His solution was to have only one of his son’s eyes gouged out and make up for the injustice by having one of his own eyes gouged out. The king was praised for his wisdom, for he was able to save his son’s sight while also maintaining the strength of his law in the eyes of the people. He was also praised for his love for his son–being willing to suffer in such a way for him.
This act by King Zaleucus was an atonement of sorts. It isn’t a perfect example of biblical atonement, but it shows the principle of it. The king’s suffering ‘made-up’ for the gap of injustice. It worked because the king’s suffering sufficiently demonstrated his regard for his law. It sent a clear message to the community that he was determined to support it, that he took any infractions thereof seriously, and that no one should expect to break it with impunity.
I must note that this only worked because the king himself suffered. If the king had gouged out the eye of an animal or even another person, no one would have seen this as an act of justice in any way. But the king’s suffering for his own law would have been very powerful upon the minds of the populace.
Now, we must relate all of this to the Bible. Atonement is a prevalent theme throughout the scriptures. In the Old Testament, when a citizen sinned, he would bring a young bull to the temple, lay his hand on it, and slay it. Then, the priest would conduct a ritual of sprinkling the blood, burning the fat, and then burning the hide outside the camp (See Leviticus 4:1-12). All of this was done to leave a strong impression upon the transgressor and the community that sin was not cheap, that God’s law was not a suggestion, and that no one should expect God to overlook anyone’s transgressions.
The Jews also observed a Day of Atonement once a year (Leviticus 16). On that day, two goats were brought to the temple. One goat would be a sacrifice for the Lord; the other was the scapegoat. The priest would lay his hands upon the head of the second goat, confessing the sins of the nation over his head. Then, the goat would be released into the wild, presumably to be devoured by wild beasts. Once again, this ritual demonstrated God’s commitment to His law and hatred for sin. The point was to show the nation that if they were not careful to observe what is good and right, they would be like that goat sent to the wilderness.
But this method wasn’t perfect for atoning for sins. Animals are killed all the time and used for food and other reasons. This is why it was done repeatedly, year after year, showing that these sacrifices could never truly take away our sins. They all pointed to a more excellent sacrifice that was to come: the cross of Christ.
For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never, with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. – Hebrews 10:1-4
Jesus’ sacrifice was different and greater than the Old Testament’s sacrifices. Here, we have the Son of God, the King, the Lawgiver, suffering on behalf of His people and His law. It wasn’t a mere man being offered as a sacrifice for sin, but the God-man. He was like the animal sacrifices in that he was pure and innocent from all sin, but unlike them in value, being infinitely greater. His sacrifice would leave no doubt in the minds of careful observers that God does not dispense with sin except at great cost. One can come to Him through faith in the sacrifice of his Son to receive forgiveness, or one can expect the full force of His fury to be poured out upon him in judgment.
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? – Hebrews 10:26-29
Like King Zalecuas suffered for his son, King Jesus suffered for us, ‘the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3:18). His suffering was sufficient to fill the gap of injustice that would have been left because of God’s mercy towards us. It would not have been right for God to forgive our sins if not for this sacrifice, just as it wouldn’t have been right for king Zalecuas to pardon his son without his sacrifice. The sacrifice of Christ demonstrated God’s right-ness (or righteousness) in doing what He did.
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. – Romans 3:24-26
Conclusion
Is it wise for God to forgive sins? The answer is yes, of course, but only because of Christ’s sacrifice. This is why forgiveness and faith in Christ’s sacrificial death are so intricately entwined. God will not forgive outside of Christ. It cannot be wise for Him to do so. This is what the apostles spent their lives preaching.
Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. – Acts 13:38-39
This wisdom prompted Paul to pen what He did in Ephesians 1:8. God’s redemption has truly come to us in ‘all wisdom and prudence!’
Hal Chaffee Ministries 