RICHARD CALSON ON FORGIVENESS
Let me conclude with in the words of Dr. Richard P. Carlson, Professor of Biblical Studies at Gettysburg Seminary: "God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ is a scandal. It goes out to sinners regardless of their religious or social standing. It breaks into human existence without prior invitation. It transforms who we are, whom we understand God to be, and how we are to live our lives and utilize our resources...It seeks to generate not just an intellectual acknowledgement or a polite thank you but blubbering, messy, wholehearted, continual devotion. It is not something that we control, but something that slams into our lives and takes control. It is not given to us as a result of our love but generates love in us toward God and toward one another."
(From a sermon by Ronald Harbaugh, Table Fellowship Is For Sinners, 6/12/2010)