What is forgiveness? What is identity?
The Hebrew word often translated as forgive is (na-sa), whose root thought is best conveyed as drawing up or near to. Jacob drew up (na-sa) water from the well for Rachel. That picture fits. Jesus and we in him were drawn up to sit with him in the heavens. In Greek, the word is (a-fi-i-ni). This means leaving off, leaving behind, or even divorce. This fits, too. God, in Christ's death, has divorced us from Mr. Sin.
Between the two, God has divorced us from sin (not trusting His love for us).
"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe (trust) Me;" (See John 16:8-9 italics mine)
So what is this all about? Thanks to Adam and Eve, we were married to Mr. Doubt. The spirit of distrust in God was glued to our souls when they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We doubted ourselves, our neighbors, and, if honest, God.
We needed a better spouse. God prepared ONE. Jesus drove up to your home, snatched you from Mr. Sin, and drove you to the cross where with him you died. Now free from Mr. Doubt, you can be married to Mr. Trust, who trusts Father has always loved you more than himself.
"So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." (Romans 7:3-4 Italics mine)
What is my new position? Well, that can best be defined by asking and answering these age-old questions—Who am I? What am I here for?
1. You are a child of God.
2. You are here to act like God and love everyone indiscriminately.
But how can you do God stuff while this albatross of flesh hangs on? Well, you can't do God, but God can do you even if, for some reason, you forget you are dead, and your life is hidden in God by marriage to His Son, Jesus Christ.
Your new identity is Christ identifying with you.
When a child, my mother's name was Mrs. Lionel Devillo Chicquette. By the time she died, she was Carol Joyce Bellin Kline. She had gone from having another's name, rights, property, and privileges to nothing but a hint of who her husband might have been.
Just the opposite has happened for us, as Christ's bride. I am the Spouse of Mr. Lord God Jesus Christ of Nazareth. My Identity is not in who or what I have or can do but totally in another. That's why I am lifted up in Christ to be with Christ forever in Father God's house.
Now we have the full picture. Father proved he had forgiven me and lifted me up as His Son's Bride with all the trimmings. In the end, this is all about our living out this union with God from the heavenly realm in this earthly realm just as Christ then trusted Father, still reproducing His trust through us. The new 'US' is my identity, and I know forgiveness because I forgive, gather in, and lift up those I meet in person to that grand hall of acceptance. There, we dance, sing, feast, and embrace every new wave of Mr. Love Himself.