Daily Bible Study – Immanuel experience…

LEARN and PRACTICE the WORD of GOD

1 Peter 1:18-19 For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” .

Hebrews 9:22 Our forgiveness comes through Christ’s death and the spilling of His blood for the sins of man.

Forgiveness does not mean

• Condoning the offense. The Bible actually condemns those who claim that bad actions are harmless or acceptable.—Isaiah 5:20.

• Pretending that the offense never happened. God forgave King David of serious sins, but he did not shield David from the consequences of his actions. God even had David’s sins recorded so that they are remembered today.—2 Samuel 12:9-13.

• Allowing others to take advantage of you. Suppose, for example, that you loan money to someone, but he wastes it and then cannot repay you as he had promised. He is very sorry and apologizes to you. You could choose to forgive him by not harboring resentment, not rehashing the matter with him continually, and perhaps even canceling the debt altogether. However, you might also choose not to loan him any more money.—Psalm 37:21; Proverbs 14:15; 22:3;Galatians 6:7.

• Pardoning with no valid basis. God does not forgive people who are guilty of willful, malicious sin and who refuse to acknowledge their mistakes, change their ways, and apologize to those whom they have hurt. (Proverbs 28:13; Acts 26:20; Hebrews 10:26) Such unrepentant ones become God’s enemies, and he does not require us to forgive those whom he has not forgiven.—Psalm 139:21, 22.

  What if you are the victim of cruel mistreatment by someone who refuses to apologize or even admit to what he has done? The Bible advises: “Let go of anger and abandon rage.” (Psalm 37:8) While not excusing the error, you can refuse to be consumed with anger. Trust that God will bring the person to account. (Hebrews 10:30, 31) You can also take comfort in knowing that God will bring a time when we will no longer feel the deep pain or hurt that may burden us now.—Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:4.

• “Forgiving” every perceived slight. Sometimes, rather than pardoning a so-called offender, we may need to admit that we had no valid cause for being offended in the first place. The Bible says: “Do not be quick to take offense, for the taking of offense is the mark of a fool.”—Ecclesiastes 7:9, footnote.

• Forgiveness is Not Saying… 
  • You were not hurt by what the other person did.
  • Your pain is gone.
  • You are back to being the person you were before it happened.
  • Life can now pick up where you left off, you feel the way you did before, as if what happened never happened.
  • You no longer believe the other person was responsible for causing harm.

Power of forgiveness…

I. Forgiveness is a command of God – it isn’t optional

We are commanded not to judge others. On top of that, we also have a positive duty to forgive them. Moreover, we are not merely advised to do so. We are commanded to forgive. It is stated very clearly and on many occasions, for example:

God’s call to forgive is not merely a suggestion. It’s a command.

Colossians 3:13 tells us, “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Luke 6:37 says, “forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Matthew 6:15 goes on to say, “but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

God does not take forgiveness lightly. As followers of Christ, we have been forgiven by God, and we are without exception called to give that which we have been given.

We are commanded not to judge others. On top of that, we also have a positive duty to forgive them. Moreover, we are not merely advised to do so. We are commanded to forgive. It is stated very clearly and on many occasions, for example:

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³²Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. 

Matthew 5:21-22 You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘you shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ ²²“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵“But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Moreover, it is assumed by God that we will obey these commands to forgive others. In what has come to be known as “the Lord’s prayer”, which really ought to be called ‘the disciples’ prayer’, Jesus shows us the manner, style and attitude that we need to have when praying to God. We are not meant to say this prayer by rote, as most people seem to do, but to see it as a model or precedent.

At any rate, the point is that in praying for God to forgive us, Jesus assumes that we have already forgiven others, i.e. at least stepped aside and left their cases to be judged by Him. It is taken as a given. Or you could say that it is treated as a combined package of events. That is He links together our forgiveness of others with God’s forgiveness of us.

In this instance, what Jesus is referring to goes beyond basic, narrowly defined forgiveness. It also includes a duty to release others from their debts to us, i.e. the guilt of their sins, in the same way that we want God to release us from our debts to Him, i.e. the guilt of our sins:

Matthew 6:11-12 Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

But Jesus goes further than just telling us to forgive others, or to release them from their guilt or debt to us. He also states that unless we forgive others, God will not forgive us. That is a very worrying statement, but it is clearly what He said:

Mark 11:25-26  Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. ²⁶“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”

So, that is clearly the command. We have to forgive others. That therefore makes it all the more essential that we know what exactly we must do and how exactly we are meant to do it, in practical terms. We have to ask, what is real forgiveness and how can we be sure that we have achieved it in our own particular circumstances? We shall therefore examine forgiveness more closely in the pages below and try to answer these questions fully.

In particular, we shall need to look further at the definition (or definitions) of forgiveness and get very clear on what it does, and doesn’t, include. How else can we know whether we have obeyed the command to forgive others unless we know exactly what forgiveness involves, and how far we have to go?

Most importantly, when we disobey one of God’s commands, such as the command to forgive, we sin against Him. In refusing to forgive another person, we sin against that person, but also against God. Considering that God puts our transgressions as far from Him as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), He expects us to extend this same grace to others. Our sin against God is infinitely more egregious than anything another person can do to us. Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-35) illustrates this truth. The servant had been forgiven a massive debt—symbolic of the debt of sin we owe to God—then refused to forgive a minor debt of a friend. The lesson of the parable is that if God’s forgiveness toward us is limitless, so should ours be limitless toward others (Luke 17:3-4).

Prayer: Abba Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past unforgiving sinful life toward You and others. I confess it as a sin. Please forgive me, and help me to avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive today, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me to obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. Amen.