Forgiving God?

The Bible commands us to forgive one another. Paul wrote, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive" (Colossians 3:12-13). Jesus told His listeners in the Sermon on the Mount, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15).

Forgiving other is critical for all Christians because we have been forgiven of our sins. Have you ever thought about forgiving God? Some of you are probably thinking I have fallen off the reformed theology bandwagon, but hear me out before you start labeling me a heretic. The first time I heard this was during a sermon on forgiveness. The pastor said that are many people who we need to forgive and God may be one of them for allowing us to go through hard times. As I listened, my first thought was where in the Bible does it ever say for us to forgive God. The truth is no where. Since when did we need to give the Almighty Father forgiveness? Never.

The Bible does say, "Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?" (Lamentations 3:37-38). So this must be the proof that we need to forgive God because he allows us to go through troubling times. The Bible also says, "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases" (Psalm 115:3). Our God has creator rights to do all that He pleases. Remember Job's tribulations. Not one time in the entire book does he ever tell God I forgive you because he recognizes that God is sovereign.

This thought on forgiving God is disturbing because it presents God just as one of us. It is a slap in the face of his sovereignty and should even be preached much less thought of by any true child of the King. God is the sovereign rule over all creation and everything, good and bad, that happens is based on His divine wisdom. When trouble comes our way, our response should be, your will be done.

This thought of forgiving God makes it as if God has sinned against us. 1 John 1:5 says, "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." James tells us that "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one" (James 1:13). Jesus is the exact imprint of the Father and He never sinned. If we say we need to forgive God, then why do we need a Savior if God is just as bad as the rest of us.

This idea of forgiving God is bad theology. If I may be blunt when I say it is damnable. It should not be preached. The Bible does not support it.