| Subject: Forgiveness |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 20:18:32 08/05/14 Tue
Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Forgiveness or the ability to forgive is something that comes easy to some, hard for some and impossible it seems to others. Perhaps it has to do with personalities of individuals. Also in the equation will be the nature of the act that would need forgiving.
Possibly the first actual act of great forgiveness shown in the Bible between man and man is the forgiveness of Esau with Jacob. Jacob had grievously wronged Esau with the stealing of his blessing from his father Isaac by Jacob's cunning deception of presenting himself as Esau before his aged and blind father. (Gen. 27) Hatred is hard to overcome but time did heal the hurt and Esau was able to forgive his brother. Jacob also felt deep contrition over what he had done to his brother and made amends.
A similar situation is found with Joseph and his brothers who sold him into slavery because of jealousy. Joseph not only forgave his brothers but blessed them immensely in the end.(Gen. 50:16-21)
The greatest act of forgiveness is of course Jesus forgiving in his agony and His unjust crucifixion for the sins of mankind. Having such great love for His fallen creation and from the cross in the throes of death He cried; "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. " (Luke 23:34)
What sin or trespass against us could be compared to the trespass against a pure and innocent and Holy Jesus. What an act of compassion toward evil men to be shown as the last act of His mortal life.
As Christians we have not only a need to forgive as Jesus forgave but we are commanded to forgive. One of the worst things in a Christian's life is to nurse a grudge against someone. No matter how great the wrong it is commanded of us to readily forgive. Matthew 18:32-35 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Harboring hate or feelings of revenge in our hearth kills fellowship with God. We cannot even utter the Lord's Prayer in sincerity if their is animosity toward someone who has asked forgiveness of you. Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
A Christian may say; I don't have it in me to forgive that person for what he or she did to me!
To say such a thing is to deny the Holy Spirit residing within that empowers us to act as Jesus did. For a person claiming to be a Christian to say that, either means that person is totally out of fellowship with God or is not truly a Christian. When a person is "born again" (born of the Spirit, John 3:3-7) the Spirit comes in and unites with the soul of that man or woman. They are inseparable until the flesh returns to the earth and the soul is released to heaven.
The question arose among the Apostles one time about how often should they be required to forgive a person who kept on trespassing against them. Luke 17:3-4 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
In a similar fashion Peter evidently wanted to be legalistic and wanted to know for sure how often he was required to forgave a person. Possibly he was not with the disciples when Jesus told the others in Luke. Matthew 18:21-22 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Now I don't for a minute believe that Jesus was setting an exact number but was rather telling him as long as he asks forgiveness then you forgive. I think the 70 X 7 is a play on words and is in a sense going back to a prophecy in Daniel. Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks (70 X 7) are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
The prophecy is not finished yet. There have been 69 weeks (verses 25-27) of the prophecy fulfilled and one more week, the tribulation "week" which is 7 years long will finish the prophecy. In essence then Jesus is saying "until I return you just keep on forgiving." Another way of saying it is "as long as you have breath, you keep on forgiving."
As long as a Christian harbors a grudge and will not forgive or let it go that Christian cannot have full joy. To refuse to forgive is a sin against God. He commanded us to forgive and He expects us to keep His commandments. There are only two we have to worry about keeping.
Matthew 22:36-40 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Both commandments are LOVE ! It is impossible to love a person and not be able to forgive that person. Love and forgiveness go hand in hand. 1 John 4:20-21 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
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