We live in a world that doesn’t work the way it should. We all know that. One of the very real results of living in a fallen world is that people will wrong us. People we don’t know, people we know a little, and people we know intimately, will all, at some point and in varying degrees, wrong us. Scripture is adamant that in these circumstances we are to show grace to those who do wrong and to forgive them.
It’s why Jesus tells us to pray -- “...forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…” He continues, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:9ff)
It’s why Jesus tells us that our forgiveness of others should know no bounds -- “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?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21-22)
It’s why Paul tells us that our forgiveness needs to mirror the forgiveness God has granted us in Christ Jesus -- “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) And again -- “if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 2:12-13)
Forgiveness is not easy, even though we all recognize its necessity from these passages and many others. It should be a major marker of our Christian character and our church but it often is not because forgiveness is not not simple or enjoyable. It costs us so much to forgive and we often do not want to pay the price to do so. This is why it is important for us to understand the true nature of forgiveness. We will progress according to the grouping of texts above over the next 3 blogs and as we do we will take a look at what the Bible says about why and how we are to forgive each other and how we can build the kind of character necessary for forgiveness to become part of our nature.
But before we get there I want us to remember that one of the reasons (and there are many we will discover) why we must forgive is because we serve a God who is a willing forgiver.
We read in 1 John 1:9 -- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” John assures us that God will always forgive us - seventy times seven and more - when we sin against him. He has always been this way toward his people. In the Old Testament we read,
The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression… (Numbers 14:18)
I acknowledge my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:5)
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:10-12)
In the New Testament we read that this has continued,
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:28)
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38-39)
To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. (Acts 10:43)
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace… (Ephesians 1:7)
God has been, is, and always will be a forgiving God. He offers us forgiveness for sin full and free in Jesus Christ. Whenever we sin, he forgives. No questions asked to exceptions. For us to forgive, then, is to reflect his nature, and submit to his will.
Soli Deo Gloria