The way by which we receive forgiveness

If forgiveness is possible through God's action in sending his Son to die for us, then how do we receive it? The first step is simply to admit our need of it. This is the point at which pride often becomes the biggest stumbling block to true conversion, even to some who take the name of "Christian". As theologian Emil Brunner put it, in all other religions:

...people are spared the final humiliation of knowing that the Mediator [Jesus Christ] must bear the punishment instead of them...They are not stripped absolutely naked.

Anglican scholar, John Stott, adds:

But the gospel does strip us naked (we have no clothing in which to appear before God), and declares us bankrupt (we have no currency with which to buy the favour of heaven).

The New Testament speaks of the "grace" of God. This is a wonderful word that means his undeserved goodness and favour. It cannot be merited or earned. It can only be received by faith as a gift. "You were saved by faith in God's kindness. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about" (Ephesians 2:8,9). Though there are glimmers of some understanding of grace in other religions it is only fully developed in Christianity. Elsewhere there is always the emphasis that it is only by human effort, in keeping the required standards of that particular religion, that one can be saved, or reborn, or achieve fulfilment.

A Buddhist story which starts off like the parable of the Prodigal Son, spells out this contrast very clearly. The boy comes home and is met by the father, and then has to work off the penalty for his past misdeeds by years of servitude to his father. However, in the New Testament the father sees his son coming in the distance, runs to meet him, flings his arms around him and then throws a party. There is great rejoicing (see Luke 15).

The Buddhist and Hindu principle of karma (cause and effect, paying off our guilt through countless cycles of rebirth), or the Muslim belief that our good deeds are weighed up against our bad deeds, are poles apart from grace (the free forgiveness that Jesus offers through his death), which we don't deserve at all and can never earn. Bishop Stephen Neill summed it up in a wonderfully succinct quotation: "In Hinduism, the doctrine of karma says 'You sin, you pay'. In the gospel, God says 'You sin, I pay.'"

Though Jesus asks for high moral standards from his followers, and a commitment to him as Lord of their lives, neither good works nor commitment can contribute anything at all to our forgiveness and our reconciliation to God. We are reconciled to God by coming in simple trust to Jesus, confessing our unworthiness and humbly and gratefully accepting what he has done on our behalf. In gratitude we offer our lives to him in return. This is what the New Testament understands by faith. It provides the basis for a new relationship based on love and total acceptance. The motivation for loving and serving God and others then becomes the outflow of a grateful heart for what has already been received.