Month: August 2019

Solar Roads Epic Fail

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Remember the hype a few years ago about “solar roads”? These were roads with embedded solar panels that would generate enough power to save the planet. It seems that, as any engineer can tell you, the real world is a much tougher place than a lab. Things get dirty and wear out so that you $6 million dollars investment in 1 km of road in a cloudy part of France might not be terribly effective.

From Jo Nova

Solar road is $6m epic disaster — 4% capacity, broken and so noisy speed-limits were cut

Solar Road, Normandy, France, photo.

Solar Road, Normandy, France   |  Credit: KumKum

Would you like to drive slower, add to noise pollution and waste money? Then solar roads are for you:

The world’s first solar road has turned out to be a colossal failure…

Ruqayyah Moynihan and Lidia Montes, Business Insider

  • Two years after the world’s first solar road — the Normandy road in France — was set up, it’s turned out to be a colossal failure, according to a report by Le Monde.
  • The road has deteriorated to a terrible state, it isn’t producing anywhere near the amount of energy it had previously pledged to, and the traffic it has brought with it is causing noise problems.

The original aim was to produce 790 kWh each day, a quantity that could illuminate a population of between 3,000 and 5,000 inhabitants. But the rate produced stands at only about 50% of the original predicted estimates.

Even rotting leaves and thunderstorms appear to pose a risk in terms of damage to the surface of the road. What’s more, the road is very noisy, which is why the traffic limit had to be lowered to 70 kmh.

Despite costing up to roughly $6.1 million, the solar road became operational in 2016.

The 1km road is in Tourouvre-au-Perch, Normandy, France made by Colas.

Leaves fall on the road, then cars grind the leaves on the beautiful polymer surface. The road isn’t angled towards the sun, gets brutally hot, and both reduce efficiency. If the top polymer layer was thicker and tougher, less solar energy would get through. Planting trees beside the road would cool it, but the shade…

Who likes trees anyhow? Not the Greens.

 Getting 50% worse than expected every year:

Anna Versai, Technowize, Aug 19th, 2019

The stretch of the road in Tourouvre-au-Perch, Normandy, France was meant to produce about 150,000 kWh a year, which is enough to provide light to up to 5,000 people, every day. Instead, it made less than 80,000 in 2018, and fewer than 40,000 by July 2019.

Meant to power lights for a city of 5000 people:

Translating the Le Monde article, for €5 million in public funds they now generate € 1,450 worth of electricity per year and falling.

Financed by public funds of € 5 million and supported by Colas (Bouygues Group), the subsidiary Wattway aimed to provide the equivalent of the annual consumption of public lighting in a city. of 5,000 inhabitants.

The general director of services of the departmental council of the Orne made his accounts: “The revenue from the sale of electricity produced by the road should bring us 10 500 euros per year, details Gilles Morvan. In 2017, we received 4,550 euros. In 2018, 3,100 euros, and for the first quarter of 2019, we are at 1,450 euros. “

Not much sun there to start with? From Science Alert:

There proved to be several problems with this goal. The first was that Normandy is not historically known as a sunny area. At the time, the region’s capital city of Caen only got 44 days of strong sunshine a year, and not much has changed since. Storms have wrecked havoc with the systems, blowing circuits. But even if the weather was in order, it appears the panels weren’t built to capture them efficiently.

There’s 40 smaller roads like this?

For its part, Colas has admitted the project is a bust. “Our system is not mature for inter-urban traffic,” Etienne Gaudin, Colas’ chief executive of Wattway, told Le Monde. The company also operates 40 similar solar roads, smaller than the one in Normandy.

A solar bike path in the Netherlands works better:

In the Netherlands, a solar bike path has been declared a success. Dubbed the SolaRoad, the bike path is exactly what its name suggests. The electricity generated by SolaRoad is used for various purposes such as traffic management systems, public lighting, households, and electric mobility.

At the beginning of the trial, an energy yield of between 50 and 70 kWh/m2/year was expected. SolaRoad exceeded expectations by yielding 73  kWh/m2/year (first version, built in 2014) and 93 kWh/m2/year (second, improved version, built in 2016).

There were hiccups despite its impressive results. Due to poor weather conditions, a top layer of the solar bike path came off, and a major path had to be shut down.

The French solar road has a capacity factor of 4%

And this was a year ago. Probably that capacity factor is now 2%.

Dylan Ryan, The Conversion, Sept 2018

One of the first solar roads to be installed is in Tourouvre-au-Perche, France. This has a maximum power output of 420 kW, covers 2,800 m² and cost €5m to install. This implies a cost of €11,905 (£10,624) per installed kW.

While the road is supposed to generate 800 kilowatt hours per day (kWh/day), some recently released data indicates a yield closer to 409 kWh/day, or 150,000 kWh/yr. For an idea of how much this is, the average UK home uses around 10 kWh/day. The road’s capacity factor – which measures the efficiency of the technology by dividing its average power output by its potential maximum power output – is just 4%.

In contrast, the Cestas solar plant near Bordeaux, which features rows of solar panels carefully angled towards the sun, has a maximum power output of 300,000 kW and a capacity factor of 14%. And at a cost of €360m (£321m), or €1,200 (£1,070) per installed kW, one-tenth the cost of our solar roadway, it generates three times more power.

Dylan Ryan is a lecturer in Mechanical & Energy Engineering at Edinburgh Napier University.

In Idaho a solar road had an 83% failure rate:

Andrew Follet, Daily Caller, October 2016

Despite massive internet hype, the prototype of the solar “road” can’t be driven on, hasn’t generate any electricity and 75 percent of the panels were broken before they were even installed. Of the panels installed to make a “solar footpath,” 18 of the 30 were dead on arrival due to a manufacturing failure. A short rain shower caused another four panels to fail, and only five panels appear to be presently functional. The prototype appears to be plagued by drainage issues, poor manufacturing controls and fundamental design flaws.

Can’t power a whole microwave oven, April 2017

The Solar FREAKIN’ Roadways project generated an average of 0.62 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per day since it began publicly posting power data in late March. To put that in perspective, the average microwave or blow drier consumes about 1 kWh per day.

Non-toxic Masculinity

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There were a lot of heroes in Sydney this week- all of them men.

What feminists and others who blather about “toxic masculinity” or how men can “do better”- whatever that means- fail to recognise is that in an emergency, it is men who get together to protect the community.

It is men who used what was at hand (a milk crate and a chair!) to arrest a deranged man and hold him until the police arrived.

It is usually men who run into burning houses to rescue neighbours and men who grab people out of burning cars.

Yes there are women in the police and fire services who do amazing jobs and are equally brave.

But when somebody goes off their head in a women’s safe space, you had better hope there is a man nearby.

Ephesians 1:8

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Ephesians 1:8

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 1:8. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.

“that he lavished on us in all wisdom and understanding”

God has “lavished” His grace upon us. The word “lavish” always makes me think of a child pouring outrageous amounts of topping on her ice cream. It is generous, abundant, and over-indulgent.

God does not give us just enough grace to live this life and then scrape into heaven by the skin of our teeth. His grace is lavished upon us – abundantly, pressed down and running over.

God pours out His grace, which is His love, mercy and provision of supernatural ability. With God there is always more than enough.

The feast in heaven is a wedding feast, a celebration with an abundance of food, drink and dancing. There is joy in God’s Kingdom because God lavishes His grace.

No holding back! It is all full on with God’s grace.

The awesome power of the world’s great waterfalls illustrate this. The water at Niagara Falls in America or Victoria Falls in Africa goes on for ever. It is limitless in its volume, and it falls with power over the edge of a mountain.

My local equivalent is called “Dripping Rock” where water flows after rain, and even in drought there is still a drip of water.

We often think of God’s grace as like Dripping Rock- a scarce quantity doled out to those who are good. But God’s grace is Niagara, where you get a good soaking even if you don’t deserve it because that is the nature of grace.

This grace is lavished in all wisdom and understanding. It is not a foolish act, although it may seem so.

God loves all people, even those who are set against Him. He wants them to be reconciled to Him so He pours Himself- His grace, love and mercy- into them. He knows that if we can only see His heart of love, some will turn to Him. That is not an expense it is an investment.

We were once alienated from God by our guilt and fear of judgement. He sent Jesus to pay the price of our sins and to declare an amnesty. Our sins are forgiven. Now we can come to Him not as Judge but as Father.

Who would have thought of such a plan but God who is Wisdom? He gave us a way back to Him, a plan for salvation, a way of reconciliation.

Wisdom is the ability to find the best way in life’s decisions. Whenever we make choices, we choose between options which either build us and others up or else pull others and ourselves down. Wisdom allows us to see consequences of choices, and to prefer the best for others as well as ourselves.

Understanding is the ability to take hold of information and see why. There is a difference between a child who memorises a series of movements and one who dances. There is a difference between a person who memorises a mathematical proof and one who sees why it is important.

The Lord lavishes grace upon us with wisdom and understanding. He sees the thirst in our souls for Him, and He gives Himself to us.

Key points from this verse:

  • There is no limit to God’s grace
  • God holds nothing back from us
  • God lavishes His grace with wisdom and understanding

Another One Bites The Dust

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Marty Sampson, a well respected Hillsong musician recently announced in social media that he has either lost or is losing his faith. The original posts have been deleted, so it’s hard to find the exact message.

I’m not here to condemn anyone, but there is a long list of ministry fatalities in Hillsong and other mega churches.

I suspect that most mega churches are great leadership raising machines that spit out amazing people, but it seems the fatalities are also amazing. My observation from attending years of Hillsong conferences was that there is a huge amount of pressure put on people to perform to a high level of excellence. Some thrive, and others crash and burn.

Looking through Scripture I don’t see that model being promoted anywhere. There is pressure, but the pressure is from persecution rather than from driven leadership.

In fact, Jesus demonstrates a very laid back approach. Jesus made this very laid back invitation

Matthew 11:28-30 
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I feel that the church in many places has lost track of something important: our primary task is to love God and love people. If only we can love extravagantly, then many of the issues that come from burnout, disappointment and unrealistic expectations could be headed off.

I have been reflecting a lot on the parable of the lost son. It seems to me that Jesus is trying to show us a God who loves us abundantly (prodigally) despite our poor performance. If only we can get our heads around that kind of love and start living from that place.

The trouble with love is that it takes time to pursue. Loving God is more than a 5 minute devotional. Loving people means investing ourselves into them, and that takes time, empathy and sometimes money. In our culture, time is too precious a commodity that we are reluctant to give it away.

This isn’t just a city phenomenon. Country people can often feel pressured by long commutes or the pressures of surviving in drought.

Churches must develop a culture of love, investing in solid relationships that strengthen over decades. We have found cell church is an effective way of doing this- combining large group and small group worship. The advantage of cell church is that people are weekly encouraging each other to go deeper in their walk with the Lord and to share the gospel in little ways as a part of normal discipleship.

If any of the big name falling away christians were to turn up in our church, we would encourage them into a cell group and help them to find their way back to Jesus. We would find ways of loving them until they can see Jesus again. It isn’t a formula or a process, just what Jesus calls the church to do.

Reflection on John 1:1-18

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Scripture

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Observation

In the beginning was the Word who was with God and was God. The Word made everything, and His life is the light that shines in the darkness.

The Word came into the world, but the world rejected Him. He came to His own people, but they rejected Him. But to all who receive Him, He gives the right to become children of God.

Application

Jesus is the Word of God who brings eternal life. He gives us the right to become children of God.

In the beginning, we were created in the image of God. Human beings are meant to be like God in character and in motivation. Sin has defaced that image, so that, far from being God’s children, we are like rebels living as if we control our own destiny.

We were created to be God’s children, but we have run away from home and rejected our Father’s blessing.

Everyone who receives Jesus the Word and believes in His name now has the right to be called a child of God. This is restoration of our birth right.

John says that we must believe in the name of Jesus. This means we must trust in Jesus, own Him as Lord and follow in His path. It is not as simple as saying a prayer. It is wholesale dedication to serving Jesus, recognising that nothing else will save us.

We were drowning in the middle of the ocean, but a life vest floats past us. The only way to be saved is to receive that life vest and believe that it can hold us safely in the water.

Everyone who receives Christ, who makes Him their Lord, will be saved. Everyone who trusts in Him is adopted into God’s family. To be saved is to come home to the place of safety, warmth and love.

Prayer

Thank you Jesus for dying for me. Thank you for this awesome promise that if I give my heart to you, you will make me a part of your family. What a promise! Amen.

Today’s Sermon

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The sermon for August 11th 2019 is now available on the New Life web-site.

In this sermon, Margaret Bates talks about how her experiences of God’s directions have influnced her appreciation for God’s presence.

Click here to listen in your browser, here to download the mp3.

Click here for information about how to download our sermons through podcasting.

Inertia Is A Good Thing, Really

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A minor hiccup in power supply threw the south east of England into an unplanned “Earth Hour.” And it was all caused by wind generators.

Just before the blackout, the National Grid reported that fully 47.6% of the nation’s power was being generated by wind. Suddenly two small generators- one wind and the other gas- went offline. These generators account for less than 3% of power demand.

Immediately, the grid frequency fell from 50 Hz to 48.9 Hz and the power grid shut down to protect itself.

What is this Hz thing? Well, electricity mains systems use alternating current which in simple terms means that the electrons that flow to give us power are oscillating backwards and forwards at 50 times per second. If the frequency changes by a significant amount the whole grid can become unstable. In order to protect transformers etc, there are automatic switches that shutdown parts of the grid when the frequency gets out of a very narrow range.

This is what happened in London, and in South Australia three years ago.

In a traditional coal fired power system, electricity is produced by forcing high pressure steam past enormous turbines, which weight 200-800 tonnes. They are huge things and, once started, maintain a very steady speed even if there are changes in the rate of steam flow. Their inertia keeps the whole grid stable, so that if something goes wrong somewhere else, they still keep pumping out their power at 50 Hz.

But when smaller, more dispersed power generators dominate the grid, there is much less inertia to keep the power supply stable and things turn to custard very quickly.

The giant battery in South Australia is not there to keep the quantity of power flowing- it only has enough storage for a few minutes of power demand. It’s main role is to keep the frequency stable. Now power companies have to pay the battery for a service that coal powered generators provide for free- that’s progress.

H/T to Jo Nova for this analysis

All of this talk of grid stability and inertia made me think of how unstable our society has become, particularly over the last decade. What was once unthinkable has become normal, and it seems that every week there is some new perversion being promoted. Pornography is everywhere, families are disintegrating, and an epidemic of fatherlessness is being played out in mass shootings, suicide and violence.

The reason for this, I believe, is that we have bought into the lies of individualism. People think they have the right to do whatever they like, to indulge whatever desires and whims they might have, and all without any consequences.

Individualism has been around for a long time. Some people trace it back to the New Testament and the idea that ever single person is loved by God.

Previous generations had the church as the equivalent of the steam turbine. The morality and ethical standards of christianity have been taught, and continue to be taught, unchanging through the centuries. The word goes out steadily year after year, Sunday by Sunday, moderating the wild impulses of human flesh.

Then in the 1970’s people stopped going to church.It was deemed to be irrelevant and oppressive. People decided they could set their own moral codes. Everyone can do what they like without reference to anyone else, and it is all coming unravelled.

Without the steady inertia of the church, the moral grid of the nation has slowly turned to custard. The lights are going out, and we call it progress,

Mario Murillo: Don’t Feel Helpless

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A powerful word from Mario Murillo

YOUR POWER

Posted on August 9, 2019 by mariomurilloministries

Mass murder, debauchery, and the stress of nations—these things press on us daily.  We can feel the crushing weight of inadequacy. We ask:  Can we stay sane?  Is the moral situation so far gone that we must withdraw into our ‘faith cocoons’ and just endure, hoping we outlast the madness?

Ephesians 6:10 says, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.’  But, how do we apply all that power and might to this flood of evil and stress that is bombarding us every day?

Not only can we apply it, we are expressly called—and uniquely equipped—to express the power of God.  The legacy of our faith demands it. The nature of the Holy Spirit—and the Word of God demand it.  There is no holding-pattern for us.  God only leads forward.

The religions of the world teach escape.  They deem the world to be too dangerous for their devotees.  Whether it is a Buddhist Monastery or a Muslim Caliphate, the message is clear: They can’t coexist with secular culture.  They require physical separation, cleansing rituals, strict diets, or the total subjugation of infidels.

With just a few simple words, Jesus revealed the vast superiority of our victory compared to all the religions of the world.   He prayed to the Father, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:15)

Supernatural peace can quell the deep frustration from hearing the insane ideas and words of politicians. 

When Jesus prayed that prayer, He was praying for us, His flock, to remain in the culture. We are to be warriors. We are to be salt and light. These are not just fighting words—they are an in-your-face smack down of evil.

While cultural contact withers the faith of false religions, it enhances the Christian—it sharpens their faith, brightens their light, and deepens their authority.

You must understand why you are here.  You must see the astounding picture of the army you belong to.  Our very presence on earth is God’s way of saying, victory is available.  He keeps us here because we can win!

Think of soldiers in an army who are only aware of the battle they are fighting in their own little sector. They are being hard-pressed, and things are going against them. If, for one moment, they think it is just their fight, they will soon be defeated. But when they remember they are only a part of a great and mighty army, and that the Captain, their Leader, the God of the Armies of Heaven is directing it, immediately the situation is transformed. In other words, we have got to realize God is involved in this battle with us. We are only here because of God.

The 3 steps I am about to declare will bring victory over the present evil and stress.  They hit me, when I saw two groups of people. They were hundreds of years apart and in totally different circumstances, but they took these identical 3 steps to victory.

One was a prophecy by Daniel around 600 B.C. The other, occurred in 31 AD.

In his prophecy, Daniel described how the Maccabean revolt would triumph in 167 BC.  The second instance happened when the people in the land of Gennesaret welcomed Jesus.  The former liberated Israel—the latter wiped out sickness and disease.  Again, they both took the same 3 steps.  Here are the scriptures:

Daniel 11:32 “Those who do wickedly against the covenant, he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.”

Mark 6:53-56: “When they had crossed over (the Sea of Galilee), they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carryabout on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.”

Here are the 3 key words in both these victories: KNOW, STRONG, CARRY.  The first group knew God. They were strong. And they carried out exploits.  The second group did those same 3 things.  They recognized (knew Jesus).  They ran (showed strength).  They carried others who received miracles (exploits).

Take these 3 steps to defeat today’s stress and evil:

1. Obey God’s pull. He is pulling you to know Him in deep intimacy: Psalm 27:8 says “When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”  What is your reaction to God’s call? He wants to do a secret work in you.  Are you saying, “Yes”?

I believe Jesus is using this message from me to draw you into special closeness with Him.  If you say, “Yes,” special things will begin to happen.  You will instantly conquer fear and worry.  Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. “

Your faith for mighty things will multiply.  Jesus said,” If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)

God not only knew that the insanity of today was coming—He took steps to prepare a special relationship that would produce special powers for His children.  We can blame no one but ourselves if we neglect this astonishing invitation.

2. Become strong. What did Isaiah say would happen to those who heeded the call to wait on God? “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

Your new-found and deep connection to God the Father will create strength.  Note once again, the amazing parallel between the phrases, “they shall run and not be weary,” and “they recognized Him and ran.”

‘Touchy-feely’ faith is out.  This is the era of strong Christians.  Tomorrow belongs to Christians who are stronger than any headline—stronger than threats—stronger than anything unfolding on the earth.

3. Accept your mission: You have a mission, you have an ordained exploit. It is ironic that the true cure for today’s fear and stress is: to think big and take on massive vision.  Fresh vision always chases away depression.

An exploit that summons up all your talent and every drop of your courage and combines it with His limitless resources, is comfort food for the Spirit-empowered believer.

The bottom line:  We are subjective creatures. We live in this unhealthy psychological generation that starts with man and ends with man. Most of our troubles are due to that. We are full of self-pity. We are always looking inward and feeling sorry for ourselves. We are always looking for something to help us. Get rid of those things! Forget about yourself for a moment, and realize that the battle belongs to the Lord!

You can know Him. You can become strong.  And you will accomplish amazing things in Him!  

Ephesians 1:7

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians 1:7. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.

Ephesians 1:7

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”

In Christ we have redemption. Paul could have written “through Christ”, but he uses the word “in”. We have to be “in Christ,” that is taken into His being, His person. We cannot stand back and let Christ do it at a distance, an agent, so to speak, of redemption. No, it is in Christ that we have redemption, in relationship with Him, close up and personal, sharing in His suffering and glory.

In Him we have redemption. The New Testament uses many words or analogies to illustrate or describe the atonement.

The word “redemption” in Greek means to be set free after payment. It was used to describe the setting free of slaves and the release of captives.

We were slaves to sin, but Christ redeemed us. We are no longer slaves to sin or to the devil. As Paul writes elsewhere, “you are no longer under obligation to sin.”

Before we came to Christ our entire existence was bound up in our sinful nature. We were born in sin, we lived in sin, and we would die in sin. People talk about free will as if doing good is an option. We were slaves to sin with no free will at all. Our programming always defaults to sin.

Because of our slavery to sin we were also slaves to satan. We could not please God through our own abilities, so were always serving satan. The brilliance of satan’s plan for humanity is that he has to do nothing, and we still do his bidding. He wins by default, or at least that was his plan.

But Jesus came and paid the ransom to set us free. We should not think that Jesus paid anything to satan or anyone else. This is only an analogy and it breaks down when we push the details too far.

So now those who are in Christ have been liberated, set free, released from captivity. Like the inmates of a concentration camp, the liberation army has come and set us free from a harsh regime whose only aim is to multiply suffering and death.

We were redeemed through Christ’s blood. That is the “ransom” or the slave price. The perfect blood of the sinless Son of God was poured out to redeem all who will receive His freedom.

In the Old Testament one blood sacrifice redeemed one sin for one sinner. Every sin had a price- a sheep, a calf, a dove. The price for sin was the blood of an animal.

The price for all sins is the blood, not of an animal, but of the Son of God Himself. God incarnate, in the flesh, is sacrificed as the perfect Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

There is no limit to the effectiveness of this blood, because it is of ultimate worth. This blood is worth the ransom of every sinner who has ever lived.

This redemption is the forgiveness of our sins. Our names have been taken from the Book of Death and transferred to the Book of Life. We have been reclassified as “not guilty” by God the Father. He sees that we are “in Christ”, that our sins have been covered over by the blood of Jesus, and He sees us as untainted by sin.

Forgiveness has two dimensions to it.

The first is a legal status. We have been found guilty of breaking the law. We are criminals in God’s eyes. But, on the basis of Christ’s death, the shedding of blood, we receive a full pardon. This is a declaration that we are not guilty. It is not that we have served our time and paid a price, and therefore earned our freedom. It is because the King sees fit to declare that we are not guilty and our sin is overlooked.

The second dimension of forgiveness is the relational side. God loves us so much that when we turn back to Him and receive His grace, He forgives us out of His love. The whole project of salvation is not a legal manoeuvre to get people out of trouble. Salvation is God’s love on display.

It pained God to see us so alienated, separated and distant from Him. He was determined to bridge the gap and bring us back into friendship with Him.

Forgiveness is about restoring a broken relationship. When we forgive someone, we choose to let go of the offence that we have suffered for the sake of a person we love. We might feel justified in feeling hurt, but we choose to release the offence and relieve the person of the burden of guilt.

Forgiveness is always an act of grace. It originates in the heart of the forgiver and demands no reparation or penalty.

We cannot force the person we have offended to forgive us. No plea, no payment, no promise is by itself sufficient. If the person we have offended is not willing to forgive then forgiveness will not happen.

Forgiveness is the price we are willing to pay to those who have hurt us. It is a reverse ransom in a way.

So God’s grace is shown by the fact that He is willing to forgive and has demonstrated that in giving up His own Son fir us.

Key points from this verse:

  • We have been redeemed in Christ
  • We were slaves to sin, but have been set free
  • Forgiveness is both a legal and a relational term
  • God’s longing for relationship with His people is so huge that He gave His one and only Son for our sake.