Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity,and passeth by the transgression of the remanant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy “. Micah 7:18
Micah one of the prophets of God, forewarned the people (Israel) of the terrible judgment to come. They had forsaken the God of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob, who promised them glorious blessings if they would walk in His ways. In this verse we see a future time when God will pardon their iniquity and pass over the rebellious acts of the remnant of His possession. Their rebellious nature and the rejection of their forefathers God, God opened salvation for the gentiles also. Any one who believes in Jesus become the children of God.
God will forgive His children their sins because the blood of their saviour will cleanse all who cry to Him.
Psalms145:8 says “Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy”.
He does not remain angry forever but releases His love and mercy upon His children, when they repent and seek His mercy. We too as believers must forgive, not being revengeful, bitter and judgmental. The Lord allows sun and rain to fall equally on the righteous or God fearing and the wicked who do not know Him. Likewise ,in our dealings with others, we should not judge those who have erred against us.
Mathew 5:44 ,45 Jesus says “……love your enemies,bless them that curse you,do good to them that hate you,and pray for them which despite fully use you,and persecute you”……….for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good,and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust “.
Such a forgiveness will come only with the grace of God . So we need the help of the Holy Spirit to develop such forgiving attitude.Jesus ask us to go extra mile and to bless the aggressors.( Mathew 5:41) if we have such an attitude it pleases the Lord and He will bless us abundantly. If we take revenge on others,we are not allowing Lord to play His role and hence He will not act on our behalf.
True repentance means that we should not repeat the very act that we sought and obtained mercy for.The Lord does not keep a record of our wrongs once we confess and commit not to repeat it.He delights in showing mercy to us The wages of sin-death is paid by Jesus,once for all.(Romans6:23) We can now enjoy the rewards and blessings of eternal life.
Prayer
Thank you Father for your unchanging love to me. Thank you for your faithfulness to all your children and for erasing all their sins by the blood of Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, Amen
Sol.Gigi Jacob