FORGIVENESSS COMES WITH A CATCH

By Dr. M. R. Dowler

The Boy Scouts was founded in 1907 by Baden-Powell in England. The Cub Scouts followed seven years later allowing younger boys to participate in scouting. Cub Scout and Boy Scout badges were awarded by completing a designated activity outlined in their respective manuals. One such activity is Compass and Map Reading. The Cup Scout manual teaches basic compass and map reading, while more advanced instructions are presented in the Boy Scout manual.

Anyone who has ever held a magnetic compass knows the four points N, S, E and W (called cardinal directions) stand for north, south, east and west. Geographically, the north and south poles are the only two fixed points on the map, exactly 12,430 miles apart. East and west have no fixed points. The reason for this anomaly is that when one travels east or west no distance can be measured, they ultimately interchange (east becomes west; west becomes east).

God resides in the north (Isaiah 14:13; Psalm 75:6) from which His glory descends (Job 37:22). However, all four cardinal compass directions are mentioned together eighteen times in the scriptures. One of the most significant references is a description of the gates in the glorious future New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:13). But it is the east-west direction that we focus our attention today. King David wrote of the wonderful promise of God concerning forgiveness, “As far as the east is from the west, so far as He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9) your sins (past, present and future) have been forgiven.

Although there are many dimensions of forgiveness, the fundamental purpose of forgiveness is reconciliation. Interestingly, the Bible tells us that God forgives both nations and individuals, but He never forgives without genuine repentance (Luke 13:2-3; 2 Chronicles 7:14). And hell itself is proof that God does not forgive everyone. Conditional forgiveness is a theological principle taught throughout the scriptures. Jesus explained conditional forgiveness in the Sermon on the Mount; simply stated, conditional forgiveness is---forgive and you will be forgiven (Matthew 6:14-15). So look toward the east and thank God your sins are gone never to be found, and then look around to forgive others who have wronged you. Think about it.