What is the true meaning of forgiveness? What did the Lord, Jesus Christ, say about forgiveness???
Quite a bit, actually. And it would seem He should be the primary Person we go to on this topic (as every other).
For one, He’s the One that came to forgive others, His enemies even, to the point of purposely dying in their place!
Secondly, He was more than qualified, being both God incarnate, and also being a man “without sin”. (see Joh 1:1-14, Heb 4:15)
Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of people, even so-called Christians, who REFUSE to forgive people who have sinned against them.
It’s like they have become professionals at holding grudges, but they don’t realize it’s to their own detriment.
As the Bible clearly teaches, when we refuse to forgive someone, WE are the ones who suffer in our souls, becoming made rotten by a root of bitterness! (see Pro 14:10,30, Heb 12:15)
And yet, as believers in Christ, we have a great amount of forgiveness to be grateful for!
Do we sometimes lack forgiveness because we forget how much our Lord has forgiven us?! (unbelievers are still UNforgiven, unless and until they finally repent/believe in Christ from the heart, see Rom 10:9-11)
For the one who admits his sins against God and humbly turns to Christ, he’s forgiven, and has even been declared righteous, because of God’s great grace and mercy! (see 2Cor 5:21)
And he knows he should hold no grudges or lack of forgiveness toward others because of all he’s been forgiven of.
And when we add up all the sins we’ve committed against God in our whole lives, plus transgressions and iniquities we aren’t even aware of, we should always be willing to forgive our brother or sister of much less, comparatively speaking.
If I were to take the time, I could fill up a whole 5-Subject notebook with a list of my sins, if I were ready to be honest!
When I stop and think of all the ways I’ve sinned against God in my life, it’s daunting…
… if it weren’t for the amazing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!
As a start to all that Jesus said about forgiveness, let’s look at His encounter with a sinful woman who KNEW how much she’d been forgiven by His grace, and therefore her love for Him was so great…
Luke 7:36-50 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment (this was EXTREMELY expensive, approximately worth one year’s salary), 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”
40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Phew!!! – If this doesn’t humble us, what will??!
Do you realize how much you have sinned against God throughout your life, even up until today?! (if not, please go visit the 10 Commandments, just for starters)
We are all terribly guilty of disobedience towards our God and Creator and His ways.
And it is surrendering to this reality that makes us so grateful for the Lord’s forgiveness, at least towards those of us who have believed in Him.
And receiving His love and forgiveness like this will compel us to forgive others whenever they sin against us.
I pray that everyone hearing this message goes home and prays about this particular thing!!
We all need to look in the mirror on this; especially if we’re holding onto grudges against others. Who the heck do we think we are?!
Ps 8:3-4 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Honestly, we’re arrogant creatures; that’s what we are when we refuse to forgive others after being forgiven so much by our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It is truly a miracle that God even thinks about us at all, never mind that He came down to suffer and die in our place of judgment.
That being said, let’s venture into the words of Jesus Himself on forgiveness, which should be the first source of any biblical study on any subject.
He is the centerpiece of the entire Bible, and He is the substance of the Gospel, itself!
First let’s look at the Lord’s prayer, which He gave to His disciples as a guide to good prayer:
Matt 6:9-15 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread,12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
That’s the end of this prayer as we know it.
But then look what the Lord immediately adds as a commentary on forgiveness!
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
GULP! – this should give us all a proper fear of God our Father!
Any good Father disciplines His children when necessary, and here we see a stark reminder of God’s unhappiness with our lack of forgiveness.
Then we have another starling passage, of which we could say we are all guilty of to some degree.
First, we see what the Lord says to Peter about how many times he should forgive his brother, and then we have a parable to illustrate the point of how gratitude should motivate our forgiveness.
Matt 18:21-35 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
First, I hope we all see there is no limit to how many times we should forgive our brother of sinning against us.
“Seventy times seven” = 490 times!
And again, who do we think we are to hold back forgiveness when the Lord has forgiven us of so much??!
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.
31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?‘ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
The Bible is clear that God is after our hearts.
He is not after our religious ways, nor our blind obedience.
God wants us to be motivated by the love that HE has first shown us, even though we’re undeserving.
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
God requires that we forgive our brothers from the heart, as He forgives us through Christ, by His grace.
And for the person who refuses to appreciate the grace he’s been shown by God, there are harsh consequences!
We see similar reminders from our Lord here:
Mark 11:25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
How do you truly forgive someone??
A funny thing about when we sin against one another (which we ALL do at times)…
… usually there’s some kind of guilt on both sides, and often they’re simply misunderstandings.
It seems when we have a disagreement with a brother or sister in Christ, we should go to them being ready to both apologize and forgive. 🙂
That’s just something to humbly think about.
It’s not always “easy” to forgive, but that’s because our flesh gets in the way of doing what’s good and right.
Jesus also said: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)
If we rely upon His Spirit within us, forgiveness will be a cleansing, freeing experience for all involved, as it’s meant to be.
And remember, LOVE is what motivates forgiveness. Through the love of Christ, we can do all things. (see 1Cor 13, Phil 4:13)
—–
Look what our Lord Jesus said here:
Luke 17:3-4 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Here we see what we might call experiential forgiveness; the right way to forgive in life, practically speaking.
God ALWAYS wants us to carry forgiveness in our hearts, never bitterness. But in practical daily living, we EXPERIENCE forgiveness when we relate to others in the right way, as above.
There should be a repentance, such as apologizing, and a forgiveness in return.
A good example would be between a good father and his son; the father still loves his son who has sinned against him, but he’s waiting for him apology/repentance before he shows him forgiveness.
And, we also should be careful as fellow sinners to not be a blow hard ourselves! – to not be holding things over other people’s heads when they ask us forgiveness!
When someone comes and asks forgiveness, we should be EAGER to give it and show it and to take them back with open arms, just as Christ does for us.
Do you remember the parable of the prodigal son???
Here’s the part of it where the father’s disobedient son turns around (repentance) and heads for home…
Luke 15:20-24 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
We should be EAGER to forgive others, just as our Lord has done for us, without making us feel condemned.
Let’s remember, Jesus voluntarily SHED HIS BLOOD for our forgiveness:
Matt 26:26-28 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
His perfect love motivated Him to do such an outrageous thing for us. That should motivate us to love like He does, every single day.
Because of His great, selfless work on the Cross, we can and should proclaim the offer of forgiveness for all who are willing to repent towards God.
Luke 24:45-48 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
And this might be the Lord’s greatest expression of forgiveness, when He prayed for the very people that hammered the spikes into His hands and feet…
Luke 23:32-34 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
What can we say about that kind of GRACE?!
And in the face of this compassionate prayer, how can we hold grudges against anyone??
Jesus also said many other things about forgiveness, which you will discover by reading the Gospels for yourself.
Let’s leave with this: the Lord told us to reconcile with our brothers BEFORE we come to worship the Father…
Matt 5:21-26 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
