C.S. Lewis on Forgiveness

He writes:

"I find that when I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing. Forgiveness says, 'Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it against you and everything between us two will be exactly as it was before.' But excusing says, 'I see that you couldn't help it or didn't mean it; you weren't really to blame.' If one was not really to blame then there is nothing to forgive. In that sense forgiveness and excusing are almost opposites...And if we forget this, we shall go away imaging that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our own excuses. They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied about ourselves."

It seems to me that this is the perpetual state of the American church. We are all too satisfied with ourselves. We see God as some cosmic grandpa who cares much for our satisfaction and little for our sin. We see Him as a constant Christmas of sorts. He is a never-ending train of gifts who expects us simply to "be good." God is a gigantic Santa Claus who smiles at us with his rosy, red cheeks and winks at our "tiny" indiscretions. That is honestly the state of a large number of Christians. Unfortunately, it is the state I am in many times.

It is only once we come to grips with what sin means to God, what a horrid offense it is to Him that we will truly behold His glory and grace. It is only then when we will understand forgiveness. When we realize that God has really forgiven us (for a truly inexcusable offense), that is when grace becomes truly amazing.

"They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied about ourselves."