We tend to think of forgiveness from God in the same sense as a courtroom, that God is a legal entity, like a municipality, that has set up laws in order to maintain the public peace and I think that is where we have lost the battle. When we begin to think in those terms, we lose the real sense of the matter. We lose the understanding of relationship that underlies the situation, we de-personalize the matter of sin.
My relationship with the state isn't horribly compromised by driving over the speed limit unless I get caught and then I pay a fine and we are at peace with one another except I now have points on my driver's license which means I can do fewer things wrong without losing the privilege of driving a car. If I don't get caught, I don't carry a load of guilt around for having exceeded the speed limit. I haven't compromised my relationship with the state of North Carolina in any way. I certainly feel no need to confess that transgression.
There is an enormous difference between being a citizen and a child. When we pray the Lord's Prayer we begin by stating the relationship, "Our Father..." When we de-personalize the law, we diminish both the relationship and our transgressions. David understood that his sins of murder and adultery were primarily sins against God and this was the grief that drove him in Psalm 51. We aren't simply citizens, we are children of a heavenly Father. Relationship is primary.
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