Forgiving Others
Forgiving others is a challenge many will struggle with at various times throughout their lives.
It is basic human nature to want payback when someone wrongs us. Justice is a divine principle. God our Creator is just – in fact, He MUST be just, or he would not be perfect (If He was not perfect, we would be in big trouble, never knowing what to expect from Him). But often there is a desire for much more than justice – for punitive revenge even greater than the crime.
Read Matthew 6:12 – 15
The 18th-century poet Alexander Pope wrote, “To err is human; to forgive divine.” It’s not natural for fallen human beings to forgive and it sometimes seems impossible. Yet our Saviour clearly told us we will only be forgiven for our sins when we forgive others. Does God ever tell us to do the impossible?
I The Principle of Forgiveness
- When you forgive others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- If you do not forgive others, your heavenly Father will not forgive you.
- These are hard words!
II It Has to be Real
- Just saying you forgive someone is not enough. It must be real.
- What is in your heart is who you really are. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” (Proverbs 23:7)
- God sees your heart. “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
III Forgive and Forget
- When God forgives you, He forgets your sin. It’s not that God has a bad memory; God puts your sin aside and no longer thinks about it.
- “As far as the east is from the west,so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”(Psalm 103:12)
- “I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25)
- God puts our sins out of His mind. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us oursins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
- This is God’s principle for us – forgive and forget. Forgive those who wrong you and consider it cleansed from between you – removed and gone forever.
- Again, God our Saviour says you won’t be forgiven by Him if you don’t forgive others. And unless God forgives you, you are lost and on your way to hell.
IV But How Many Times?
- When Peter asked Jesus about this, it was an interesting conversation. Peter probably really struggled with the answer!Turn to Matthew 18:21 – 35
- “Seventy times seven” was a term that simply meant “unlimited.” In other words, keep on forgiving, because that’s how God is with you.
- Remember, once you have put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, you can’t lose it. “That weshould be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” (Ephesians 1:12, 13)
- God forgives you for everything the moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ.
V Our Nature by Birth
- The nature we inherit at birth is from the first man, Adam. “Wherefore, as by one man sin enteredinto the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”(Romans 5:12)
- It is not in our human nature to forgive. The ability to truly forgive and forget is evidence of the presence of something divine. We do not have the ability to put that into ourselves.
IV Grace
- The Bible tells us that Christ died for us, even though we were his enemies. That’s grace!“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” (Romans 5:8 – 11).
- Again, the Bible tells us there’s nothing we can do to receive God’s forgiveness and gain everlasting life. We don’t deserve His forgiveness, but He offers it to us freely as a gift, anyway! That’s grace. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (or made us alive) together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:4 – 9)
V The Enabling Power of God
- Some amazing things happen the moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you.
- Your sins are all forgiven, and you have everlasting life.
- You are born again as a child of God (John 1:12, 13)
- You were filled with the Holy Spirit who gives you the ongoing power to live the Christian life. This is the power that makes it possible to truly forgive.
- This is because it is not your own power, but the power of God the Holy Spirit living in you.
Conclusion
- God does not forgive anyone who does not forgive others. Forgiving others is a hallmark of Christianity. But He gives the power to forgive to anyone who accepts His gift of salvation. In that moment when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, trusting him to have paid for all your sins with His blood on the cross, he saves you, gives you everlasting life, fills you with the Holy Spirit and seals you until the day of redemption. That’s the day you meet Jesus, face to face, and get a brand-new body that will never die. And in that moment, you gain the will and ability to forgive others, no matter what.
- The ability to forgive is not what saves you. It is evidence that you ARE saved. It is God’s divine presence, God the Holy Spirit, living in your heart.
- Be sure you are saved. If there’s anyone in your life you find you can’t forgive, make sure you have put your faith in Jesus Christ. It’s not enough to just say some words or pray some prayer. The Bible says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9)