A Gracious God Forgives his People

And it's not Based on Us--It's Based on Him.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us…” Ephesians 1:7-8a (NIV)

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(This post is part of a series on the character of God, based on Exodus 34:6-7).

The second thing God tells us about himself in Exodus 34:6 is that he is a gracious God. What comes to mind when you think about the grace of God? If you’re like most people you probably associate grace with forgiveness, second chances, and the good things God does for us, even though we don’t deserve it.

Those ideas about grace are right in line with what Paul writes about in Ephesians 2:4-10:

“4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (NIV)

Based on that passage (and others like it), my working definition of grace goes something like this: Grace is God’s intentional decision to lavish us with gifts and blessings we don’t deserve — especially the gift of salvation—because of his great love for us.

God’s Grace is Seen in His Willingness to Forgive

When God told Moses (and the rest of the Israelites) that he was a gracious God, forgiveness was a big part of it. One obvious difference between them and us is that they lived before Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. But even then they already knew that one the clearest expressions of God’s grace was his willingness to forgive them.

Consider these words from King David, who wrote Psalm 51 as a prayer of confession after his sexual sin with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder he ordered to cover it up:

"Have mercy (grace) on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:1-2, NIV).

Throughout the Bible, the grace of God goes hand-in-hand with his willingness to forgive people when they sin. And one of the most important things that David and Paul teach us about grace is that God’s willingness to forgive us isn’t based on us, it’s based on him.

Let’s take a closer look at Psalm 51. Did you notice any familiar language in the opening lines of his prayer? As David asks God to forgive him, he appeals to three out of the five character traits God reveals about himself in Exodus 34 — grace (translated mercy in the NIV), compassion, and love. I think it’s significant that David doesn’t appeal to…

• His record of righteousness before this sin.

• His status as the anointed King of Israel.

• His heartfelt promise to do better in the future.

No, David knows that there’s no use asking God to forgive him based on who he is or what he’s done. David has the wisdom to know the only hope he has is to appeal to who God is — the compassionate and gracious God, the God who is slow to anger, the God who abounds in love and faithfulness.

God’s Character, Jesus’ Sacrifice

There’s more to the story when it comes to what God meant when he told us he was a gracious God (so keep an eye out for another post soon), but it’s important for us to not miss the obvious: God’s grace is revealed in his willingness to forgive our sins because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift!