Why Must We See Forgiveness as a Journey?

I keep returning to this phrase we often use: the already but not yet. I think forgiveness should be framed in that understanding, that there is an already but not yet. Maybe a different way of saying it is that forgiveness should be understood as a now and ongoing. It is something now that I participate in; it's the judicial reality of it, but it's an ongoing process that leaves space for when memories hit, I'm re-triggered, and even the exercise that what I can't do now, the blood of Christ, will cover. What if the sanctification process is that you maybe need the blood of Christ here at this moment, but there's going to be a year down, or 10 days, or 25 years, whatever it might take, where God is sanctifying you to a place where you can deal with that at that moment. Forgiveness should truly be understood as a current and ongoing reality in the life of a Christian that's growing towards maturity.

Lysa TerKeurst has done deep theological research on common questions we have surrounding forgiveness as Christians in her resource, "What Does the Bible Actually Say About Forgiveness? A Verse-by-Verse Look at Scripture." Download your free copy today!
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