God desires a relationship with sinners following them trusting Him with belief in Jesus that repents and turns away from chasing after sin. The nature of this kind of faith seeks to please God because it acknowledges His existence, His power, His goodness, and His grace through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Faith that seeks to please God is the foundation of God honouring worship and thankful obedience.
The writer of Hebrews 11:6 understood that without faith that pleases God, we cannot truly connect with God, we cannot receive forgiveness through God’s Son, and we are not able to receive His blessings. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is essential for coming near to God and experiencing His rewards which pleases Him. James assures us that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to you (James 4:8).
In 2 Corinthians 2:15 (NET), Paul reminds believers that we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God… In Christ, Christians give God pleasure. Therefore, as people who please God, we will seek to be imitators of God, as beloved children (Ephesians 5:1).
The apostle Paul explains how a Christian is to “put on” Godlike character by writing, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive (Colossians 3:13). Paul argues that because believers are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved (Col 3:12) they will manifest Godlike character. And just as Jesus could say in John 8:29, I always do the things that are pleasing to His heavenly Father, so Jesus’ followers also desire to please the Father.
And central to Godlike character as God’s chosen ones, we are to forgive as God has forgiven us. In a world that knows little about forgiveness, this Godlike quality will stand out for the world to see. The world promotes being easily offended, hatred, unforgiveness, and violence. But God, through Jesus Christ, is the master of forgiveness, and so also should His children be skilled at forgiving others.
In fact, forgiveness is so important to God that Jesus taught in Matthew 6:14-15, 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. God is serious about believers forgiving others when they are sinned against, or when we are just offended or have a complaint against someone.
Paul, writing to the Corinthian church on how to treat a brother who had repented of his sin, instructed the congregation in 2 Corinthians 2:7-8, you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. Forgiveness, comfort, and love, all needed to work together in restoring their brother. In the John MacArthur Commentary on 2 Corinthians 2:7, he writes, “Believers are to forgive to deflect pride, show mercy, restore joy, affirm love, prove obedience, restore fellowship, and thwart Satan.”
Psalm 86:5 reads, For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. This passage highlights God’s readiness to forgive as an integral part of His nature. Just as God is a forgiver by nature, so also, His children are to be forgivers by nature as they imitate Him.
