We need God's wrath to forgive

An amazingly succinct telling of this deep truth by pastor and writer Kevin DeYoung on his blog. If you've ever been sinned against in a way that you think is impossible to forgive. If you lie awake at night beating yourself up because the pain is too great for you to "just get over it" this beautiful truth is for you. THE BIBLE DOESN'T ASK YOU TO GET OVER SIN! I know the all caps thing is technically poor form in internet world but I desperately want Christians to understand. The cross is not just freedom from your own sins, but freedom for sins committed against you. God is your defender. Here's Kevin's words.

"we need God’s wrath in order to forgive our enemies. The reason we can forgo repaying evil for evil is because we trust the Lord’s promise to repay the wicked. Paul’s logic is sound. “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). The only way to look past our deepest hurts and betrayals is to rest assured that every sin against us has been paid for on the cross and or will be punished in hell. We don’t have to seek vigilante justice, because God will be our just judge.

If you submit your life to the cross of Christ he is not only your savior but also your defender. You can take shelter at the cross. Here's another amazing resource on this subject by John Piper. Stop trying to get over it, dive in to Christ and let him handle it.

sDg