How Forgiving Is God?

“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps 103:11-12)

What is the nature of forgiveness? And, more specifically, what is the nature of Divine forgiveness? Juts how much does God forgive us?

David says it is immeasurable – like “the east from the west” or “as the heavens are high.” Neither of those is measurable; they are limitless. Nothing is outside of the potential forgiveness of God. The genocide of millions could be forgiven; the meaningless attack on thousands could be forgiven.

There is an infinite distance between east and west. There is no place on earth where east ends or west ends. You can never get there. And so, there is neither latitude nor longitude for praise.  

The former pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia has explained God’s forgiveness in his commentary in this manner: “However many miles you think lie between west and east, you cannot look two ways at once. You have to turn your back on one in order to look in the direction of the other. When God forgives us, he puts our sin and us on two different horizons. So when we look at our sin, he is no longer looking at us, and when he looks at us, he is no longer looking at our sin. To use the vocabulary of Paul, he has justified us.”

Can we measure God’s forgiveness? Apparently not! It is an immeasurable chasm. It is a circuit without end. He knows us better than we know ourselves; he knows our spiritual baggage. And He still forgives!