Forgiven or Saved

Are you forgiven or are you saved? There is a difference.

A fifty eight year old man sat in the chair and watched as his father pass away in front of his eyes. He had been called to his father’s death bed by his older brother just a few days earlier. The father passed away very quickly. So much so that the son never quite realized when it happened until his older brother said the, ‘Oxygen machine has stopped. Dad is dead’. The younger son wept. He recalled the last few days and what had taken place.

He had told his brother that was would call his father to let know that he was on his way home; so the younger son called his father and told him the good news that he was coming home to visit with him. And he said to his father, ‘Don’t you die on me before I get there!’ And his father said ‘Don’t worry son, I’ll wait for you.’ So the son made preparations to fly home as soon as he could. On the flight he recalls thinking ‘Can I tell him? Should I tell him? Will I be able to tell him?’ These were questions that bothered the son and had burdened him for over 40 years. Each time the son wanted to tell him he could never bring himself to do so. Now he had one last opportunity to tell his father what he had done and to ask his forgiveness.

His father was a butcher by trade but always wanted to be his own boss. He hated working ‘for the man’. He wanted to ‘be’ the man. He had told his son that when he was younger he wanted to open up a coffee and donut shop. This was long before Starbucks and Tim Horton’s were even thought of but mother had never approved and never supported him so he continued to work for others but he never stopped dreaming. His next dream was to have his own grocery store. Another dream that mother didn’t approve of. But this time his dream was realized around the time the son turned 17 years of age. And just as before Mama didn’t support him and did her own thing. She had a boarding house to take care of. The older brother, well he was too old to work in the grocery store. He was off doing his own thing and the younger sister was just too young. So it was left to the younger son to help out with Daddy’s dream.

At first this was a real cool thing because the son learned a lot about running a grocery store, the produce counter and most of all how to cut beef which his father taught him how to do. But it was left to the son to run the till while the father served the customers their beef and other things. Mother would come once a week to get her groceries but she would never pay for them. So father had to put it down and charge it to the account of the store. Of course this took away from the profits and at the same time the son was becoming angry because he had to work all the time after school and on weekends and he never got a chance to enjoy himself with his new girlfriend that he had. Plus Papa didn’t pay wages. So the son took it upon himself to put away a little bit of change from the customers and didn’t ring it in. After all Papa wouldn’t miss a few coins here and there. But the coins soon turned into dollars because it was easier to hide the dollars than the heavy coins in his pocket. The son didn’t think much of it. He thought it would be ok. Daddy was doing a great business at the store. After a while business wasn’t as good as it had been and the profits were no longer there. Soon it wasn’t long until Papa lost the business. The youngest son was now on his own. He was now about 19 years old and off doing his own thing. So for over forty years he had carried a burden of his stealing money from his father and could never bring himself to tell his father what he had done for fear of losing his love.

Now as he sat in the room and his father had passed away he recalls the encounter that had taken place the day before. He had come in and said ‘Hi’ to his father, walked over to the bed, hugged him and kissed him and began to joke with him as he did every week on the phone. He always liked making his father laugh and he said, ‘Dad I have to tell you something.’ And he proceeded to lay out what he had done and the burden he had been carrying for forty years and he asked his father to forgive him. His father put his arms around his neck and drew him closer to his chest. He was surprised what the father said in return.

‘Son, I forgave you forty years ago, I knew something was going on when I was balancing the books. Your mother’s expenses were accounted for but the till just didn’t seem to fit right with the business we were having. So I knew you were pocketing some money and I forgave you then.’ Immediately the burden from the son was lifted from off his shoulders. And the son asked the father ‘why didn’t you say something to me, or stop me? Why did you let me go on?’ And he said ‘Because I loved you son and I knew you’d have to learn for yourself the lesson.’ And the son said ‘I tried to tell you many, many times but I couldn’t do it because I thought you would stop loving me.’ And the father said ‘I could never stop loving you. You’re my son. I loved you then and I love you now.’ And the son cried and wept in his father’s arms and he felt as if he was born again. The burden was gone, and he once again felt close to his father. And now his father was gone and he would never get to hear his voice or feel his arms around his neck again.

Friends, that’s exactly the relationship the Father has with all of his children. He forgave the whole world of their transgressions even before the transgressions happened. Christianity says that we are saved because of the blood of the Lamb at the cross and that’s true. However being saved and being forgiven are two different things. We were forgiven before we were even created. For the scripture tells us that he was the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world. God saw the beginning and the end and laid out a plan to save us but he forgave us of our transgressions even before we were saved. Being saved is coming to the realization of what we have done and coming before God with a broken and contrite heart. The debt was paid for at the cross. We enjoy the benefit, each in his own time as we come to the realization of it. Just as the father had forgiven his son forty years prior, the son had carried the burden on his own shoulders and was released from the burden when he confessed it to his father and asked for forgiveness. So to it is with us, with the Father in heaven. The Father has forgiven every one of us and we carry the burden of our sins until we come before him. When we do, we literally save ourselves because we remove from ourselves that burden. We no longer have the guilt and the shame upon our shoulders. We are basically washed clean and become a new man. And that’s what being saved is about. By becoming a new man, we are renewed.

So if someone asks you if you are forgiven, you can say ‘I sure am!’ If they ask you are you saved? You will have to ponder that question for yourselves because that is dependent upon you. And yes if you’re wondering that younger son was me. And I sure miss my Dad, but I’m so grateful to know that I’ve been forgiven. Forgiven is what Father has done, salvation is what you do.