Living By The Law Limits Forgiveness And Promotes Vengeance (Problem 7 of 8)

            Living by the Law looks to a tit for tat, eye for an eye system of justice towards wrong and sinful actions that have occurred against us.  By the way of the Law, when someone sins against us we punish them back through vengeance in order to appease, satisfy and to uphold justice.  This tit for tat, eye for an eye system of justice is deeply rooted in our human hearts.  Living by the Law will certainly create conflicts for by the Law we are unable to freely live out 1 Peter 4:8 which says, “love covers a multitude of sins.”  Rather in the Gospel we don’t have to, in the words of Don Matzat, “worry about preserving our human dignity.  God has granted to us a much better life in Christ Jesus.[1]”  For in and on Christ, God carried out His vengeance upon our very own sin thus appeasing His own justice and vengeance towards us.  Because Christ absorbed God’s vengeance and wrath, God can now withhold, dismiss and let go of His vengeance; this is called forgiveness.  By the way of the Law and vengeance the sins of others towards us will never be totally fulfilled and satisfied; justice will never be met.  But through the Gospel God grants forgiveness and lets go of the vengeance and justice we deserve, thus freeing us to forgive and let go of our right to inflict vengeance on others.  (See Romans 12:18-21 & Matthew 5:38-48)

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[1] Don Matzat, Christ Esteem (Harvest House, 1990), 126.