Forgiveness: Does It Cancel Out Transgression? 1

For the past thirty years or more illegal aliens entering our borders has become a gigantic issue. I have to confess that for many years I have been angry about the situation. I have resented people coming into my country illegally and demanding that they be housed, clothed, fed, given medical treatment, given a driving license, given work under the radar screen at the taxpayers expense. They demand citizenship and then cry out that they will turn our country into a second Mexico.

To the normal person I would be justified in being angry, but as a child of God I am required to forgive. There are two issues that I had to look at before I could come to any conclusions. I couldn't keep pushing away the fact that Jesus tells us to forgive regardless if the other person doesn't deserve it or even if they don't ask for it. So, we have to come to grips with the fact that we have to forgive regardless of how we feel.

Jesus died on the cross so that we can have forgiveness from all that we've done to him and his father. Jesus also tells us that we will be forgiven as we forgive others. That’s not an easy pill to swallow. It’s a lot easier to forgive when it’s something we don’t feel strongly about, but let it be something that hits a nerve and then all bets are off. We have to choose. It's hard to change on our own. I had to cry out to Jesus and ask him to help me with my un-forgiveness.

Author, Chuck Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship works closely with prison inmates, especially the ones on death row. Mr. Colson tells the men and women the truth of what they’ve done and what Jesus did for them. He tells them that if they accept the truth of who Jesus is, then Jesus can and will forgive everything they’ve done. Forgiveness sets them free from the degradation of the past. It also heals the wounds that have festered inside for so long. Is this the end of the issue. I don't think so. There is one more major factor that has to be dealt with and it leads to issue number two. Does forgiveness release us from the consequences of our actions?

The inmates don’t get a get out of jail free card when they acknowledge the truth and ask forgiveness. They still have to remain in prison, even if they are facing the death penalty. They are forgiven but they aren’t released from the consequences of their actions. Forgiveness allows them a clean slate before God, but not man’s laws. From the beginning of the Bible to its last pages, national laws were created and upheld. Laws were created to keep man from wrong doing.

So how does this pertain to the illegal alien issue? God told us that we are to obey our leaders and the laws of the land. Our laws uphold our freedoms and God given rights. Things have a tendency to get out of control when we remain angry or turn a blind eye to a situation. Case in point the illegal alien issue. It has remained under the nation’s radar screen until 9/ll/01 and the cauldron of resentment has been boiling faster ever since.



Part 2 - Tomorrow