Transformation not Reformation

“11 For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.” (Psalm 25:11 NIV).

Interesting plea. Notice that David doesn’t try to outline why he should be forgiven, he just appeals for forgiveness not on the basis of who he is (King of Israel), but rather “For the sake of Your Name.” What would the God who needs from us absolutely nothing have to gain by forgiving David let alone any one of us? And the answer is absolutely nothing. So why such a plea?

The Message catches the idea well when it renders this verse, “Keep up your reputation, God; Forgive my bad life; It’s been a very bad life.” Pearrell loose translation would be, “For your reputations sake (because I am your man), O Lord, please forgive my tendency to always pervert your good gifts converting them to evil actions.” (Note: That is what the term “iniquity” means; “perverting that which is good.”).

God’s forgiveness is always based on who He is, never dependant upon who we are. Daniel is one of the most righteous men in the Old Testament. He is one of the few about whom the Bible is silent regarding any personal weakness. Yet even Daniel prayed, “We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.” (Daniel 9:18b NIV).

Two quick thoughts for your consideration. {1} We believers need to remember that the forgiveness we have in Christ is not because of who we are. I find too many prideful believers who seem to share the same attitude of the Pharisee–“I thank God I’m not like other men!” Sadly the vast majority of these believers are proud church members with a long heritage in their particular denomination, and they have become smug, proud, and judgmental. Our tendency is to treat those who are not of our tradition or those who fall out of compliance with our tradition harshly. We want mercy for ourselves but justice for everyone else. When we remember that we are who we are only because of God’s grace, it is much easier for us to be humble and extend mercy to those who are different from us.

This brings me to my second thought. {2} We believers need to realize that unbelievers don’t have the same standards as believer nor do they have the ability to have those standards. I fear we spend more time and energy trying to get people to toe the line, comply to a standard, then we do introducing them to Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform them. That needs to change. We as believers have got to realize that it doesn’t matter whether or not we reform anyone, the moral person suffers in hells flames the same as the immoral. It is not about reformation it is about transformation. Our task on earth is to introduce people to the Savior, not try to pull the world up by the bootstraps.