The Freedom of Forgiveness

A great evangelist once said, There is one sin that gives Christians more trouble and holds back the power of God in their lives more than any other. That sin is unforgiveness. I agree! When Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, He said, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12). In the midst of the Lords Prayer, Jesus taught us great principles of forgiveness. Ask God to forgive your sins, He said, and then extend the same grace to everyone who has sinned against you. Then in Matthew 6:14, Jesus promised, For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS

FORGIVENESS SETS PEOPLE FREE
Whenever you forgive someone who has hurt you, you set a prisoner free. And that prisoner is you! There are two great enemies of the soul that imprison people. One is guilt, and the other is bitterness. So many people in this world are absolutely driven into the ground spiritually, psychologically, and physically by guilt and bitterness. Theyre imprisoned by them. But Jesus shows us how to overcome guilt and bitterness. Forgive us our debts (shed guilt), as we forgive our debtors (dislodge bitterness). When we are forgiven, we are set free from the prison of guilt. And when we forgive others, we are delivered from the prison of bitterness. There is little else that will do more damage to body and soul than our indulgence of guilt and bitterness. Therefore, one of Gods greatest gifts to us is forgiveness.

FORGIVENESS CANCELS A DEBT OWED

Think about what a tremendous truth this is. Our sins indebted us to God. We were created to love and serve Him, but we dont do it. As a result, we are brought into heavens court and sued for damages we can never pay. We are sentenced to eternity in debtors prison, and the only way we can be set free is to be forgiven. Hallelujah! We are free! If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36) And with freedom, comes responsibility. We must also forgive. When I forgive somebody, I cancel that persons debt to me. The word forgive means to bear the burden. If I forgive you, I bear the burden of your debt.

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For example, if you owe me $1,000 and cannot pay, I can say, Very well, then, I forgive your debt. That act of forgiveness will cost me $1,000. It is very expensive to forgive. But remember, salvation may be free to you and me, but it cost the Lord Jesus everything.

FORGIVENESS IS AN ACT OF GRACE

Ephesians 1:7 says, In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Out of the riches of His grace, the Lord Jesus paid for my forgiveness. That is the reason we define grace as Gods Riches At Christs Expense. God does not overlook our sins. On the contrary, He personally paid our debt on the cross, through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgiveness never overlooks sin; it simply pays the debt another cannot pay. And as God forgives us, we must forgive others. If we withhold forgiveness from someone else after having been forgiven, we dam up the stream of Gods forgiveness in our own lives, and that stream stays plugged up until we repent.

FOUR COMPELLING REASONS TO FORGIVE

Because offenses are always personal and often go very deep, it sometimes does not seem to be enough for us to be told we need to forgive. Our fleshly sense of fairness cries out, Why should I forgive? Our wounded pride demands to be avenged, and a terrible spirit of self-righteousness may grab hold of our soul. But no matter who has done us wrong mother, father, husband, wife, brother, sister, boss, employee, pastor, neighbor, or friend we must forgive. No matter what that person did to us or to someone we love, we must forgive. There are at least four good reasons for letting bygones be bygones.

TO SHOW GODS GRACE

We should forgive because God has so willingly forgiven us. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32). God has shown grace to us and, therefore, we must show grace to one another. Many years ago, evangelist Sam Jones said, I had a hard time forgiving people, until I made up my mind that I wasnt going to fall out with anyone until he treated me worse than I treated Jesus. Friend, we crucified the Lord Jesus Christ! We must show grace to one another!

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TO BE RELEASED FROM GUILT

We bear the guilt when we dont forgive! For instance, have you ever thought of how dangerous it is to pray the Lords Prayer? We are actually asking Him to forgive us in exactly the same way we forgive others. If we dont forgive, then weve asked God to deal with us the same way. Well, someone might say, Ill forgive her, but Ill never have any more to do with her. Then God says, All right, Ill forgive you, but Ill never have any more to do with you. Or we say, Well, Ill forgive, but I cant forget. So God says, All right, Ill forgive you, but I wont forget what you did to Me. It just doesnt work, does it? Our unforgiveness toward others shuts out Gods forgiveness toward us. In other words, an unforgiving spirit is unforgivable in Gods sight. The person who will not forgive destroys the very bridge over which he himself must travel.

TO AVOID GRIEF
A third compelling reason to forgive is to avoid personal harm and grief. An unforgiving spirit keeps us in bondage. When our carnal sense of justice cries out, I will not let them get away with this! Ill keep them on the hook, then we are hooked right along with them by our unforgiveness. Or someone might say, Ill get even. Then Ill forgive. But that isnt so. When we get even, we come down to where the offender is; when we forgive, we lift the offender up to where we are. In addition, when we refuse to forgive and allow the bitterness to remain, it slowly but surely turns to hatred. And do you know what that does to you? Bitterness and hatred are an acid in your system that destroys its container. It is slow suicide. And it creates grief beyond measure.

TO GAIN A FRIEND
When we forgive someone who has hurt us, we not only get rid of the resentment and bitterness that will destroy us, but we gain a brother. Jesus said, Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother (Matthew 18:15). Again, Jesus taught in Matthew 5:24, Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. According to Jesus, a brother is a precious thing too precious to lose!

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When brothers and sisters fail to forgive one another, it disgraces their father. When my children do not love one another, I am shamed. And when brothers and sisters in the Lord hold offenses and bitterness against one another, it is a disgrace to our Father in heaven. In addition, it discourages the saints. Few things hurt a church quicker than an unforgiving spirit. It also disgusts the lost. Unsaved people are quick to see when there is a rift in a family, a rift in the church, a tear in the fellowship. And many of them are not saved because of the sin in our hearts and lives, the sin of an unforgiving spirit. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you ... (Romans 2:24). Finally, failing to forgive delights the devil. Satan, more than anybody else, loves to see a Christian bound up with an unforgiving spirit. Psalm 133:1 says, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! And Proverbs 6:19 warns that one of the six things God hates is he that soweth discord among brethren. Jesus prayed, That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me. (John 17:21-23) When, therefore, we allow ourselves to be divided by bitterness and unforgiveness, we declare to the world that God did not send His Son and that He does not love His people as He loves His Son. And that, my friend, is nothing short of blasphemy. But the person who sinned against me is an unbeliever, someone says, not a brother or sister. Then we should pity him all the more, because he is blind and does not have the grace and power that we have. An unbeliever is already lost and on his way to hell, and does not need a Christian to drive him further along. He needs our love. The person we forgive, whether believer or unbeliever, is more than a person who has hurt us. He is a person who needs us. And grace is giving people what they need, rather than what they deserve.

THREE COSTLY REQUIREMENTS OF FORGIVING

Let me repeat myself. Forgiveness is extremely expensive. When we forgive our debtor, we pay up. But since Jesus paid the most, He is our model.

FORGIVE FREELY
Jesus said, freely ye have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8b). But some people forgive only after theyve collected their revenge. Theyve been wronged, and they want the individual to know it. They want him to know how badly he has hurt them.

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So they criticize, castigate, scold, and freeze out. They do everything they can to cause that person to squirm like a worm in hot ashes. Finally, after theyve had their pound of flesh, they say, I forgive you. And the forgiven person feels like saying, Never mind, Ive already paid the price. Forgiving freely also implies forgiving quickly. If we are not in a hurry to forgive, bitterness will waste no time in infecting our wounds and making it much more difficult for them to heal. Again, Jesus set the example of forgiving quickly when, in the midst of His agony on the cross, Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). The Bible teaches that were to be so anxious to forgive a brother or sister that we seek him or her out. Earlier, we read that Jesus told the offended one to go, not the offender (see Matthew 18:15). Look at Matthew 5:23-25 and youll see the same principle. Jesus said, Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. (italics mine) It makes no difference that he is the one who did wrong. God says it is our responsibility to take the initiative. Isnt that what God did in the Garden of Eden? Adam and Eve sinned against God, and the Bible says, And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? (Genesis 3:9). That was not the voice of a detective, but the voice of a broken heart. Adam was the one who was wrong, but God went to Adam just as the father ran to his son in the parable of the prodigal son (read the entire story in Luke 15:11-32). One of the greatest obstacles to forgiveness is pride. When a person asks us for forgiveness, pride says, Oh, dont worry about it. Its all right. It doesnt matter. That is not forgiveness. The truth is, the offense did matter. We were hurt, but we dont want that person to know. Forgiveness is not a courtesy or being magnanimous. It is also not acting big, taking it lightly, or making out as though it really didnt matter. When we come to God for forgiveness, He will never say, Oh, dont worry about it. God is not interested in our apologies; He is interested in justice and righteousness. Sin does matter to God; it cost Him the precious life of His only Son. There can also be pride on our part when we have committed the offense. If we go and say, If I did you wrong, Im sorry. Thats nothing but pride. Why? Because we preface our apology with the word, if. In the first place, if we offend someone, we did something wrong whether we realized it or not. The point is that someone was wounded by what we said or did and needs to be set free by forgiving.

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FORGIVE FINALLY
Forgiveness is not merely forgetfulness. Dont tell a person who is asking for forgiveness, Thats okay, just forget it. First of all he cant forget it in the true sense of the word, and neither can you. Forgetting is the result of forgiveness, not the means. God says, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34b). That means the sin has been forgiven and will never be brought up again. When God forgives, He forgets. That does not mean God forgets intellectually. God can never learn or forget anything. If He ever forgot in the sense that He couldnt remember, He would have changed. But God cannot change and still remains omniscient. When the Bible says God forgets our sins, it means that He holds them against us no more. He is not holding a grudge. Psalm 103:8-12 says, The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will He keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. Thats better than Good News. Thats Great News! It is costly to forgive freely, fully, and finally. And probably the biggest test as to whether we truly did forgive is whether we bring up the offense again. We need to be careful that we dont become like the businessman who had everything meticulously filed in his office. One day his secretary came in and said, Sir, we need to clean out these files. Theres a lot of stuff in here we need to take out and shred. I guess youre right, he said, We cant just keep saving all this stuff. Go ahead and clean out the files, but first be sure you make a copy of everything. Isnt that what we do sometimes? We say were going to clean our memory files, but somehow we do not truly forget the way God wants us to. When our brother offends us again, we whip out a copy of our Past Offenses list and enthusiastically read them off in his face. But we must forgive finally.

FORGIVE FULLY
Forgiveness is a two-sided coin. First, God does something for me (forgives my sins). Then He does something through me (teaches me to forgive others, regardless of the cost). If you have ever forgiven someone who hurt you deeply, you know how expensive your forgiveness is. The greater the offense, the higher the cost to forgive. You can get a little idea of how offensive our sins are to God when you think of Jesus writhing in agony and blood on that cross. Hebrews 12:2 tells us, Love Worth Finding Ministries www.lwf.org

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Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Our forgiveness cost Jesus His life. He paid the price for the sins of the world. He endured the cross, despising the shame. Why? For the joy that was set before Him. God incarnate said, It is worth it. I will shed My blood for the joy of seeing Adrian Rogers saved. I will shed My blood for the joy of seeing [insert your name] saved. Forgiveness costs, but it is worth the price. You say, All right pastor, that was Jesus, but I dont have what it takes. If you knew that man who raped my daughterif you knew the way my husband has squandered everything we have and is now running around with another womanif you knew what my boss did to meyou would understand. I just cant forgive. Youre right. You cant. But God in you can. Jesus said, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26, italics mine). Let me show you how. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12). Paul did not say work for your salvation. He said to work it out. And why? For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. God Himself does two things in you. He gives you the desire and He gives you the dynamic. Just begin to work out your salvation by saying, God, help me to love that person through me. And Gods perfect, supernatural love will begin to flow. Eighteenth-century English poet Alexander Pope wrote, To err is human, to forgive divine. His little proverb was right in line with what God says. We are to forgive one another, even as God for Christs sake forgave us. Corrie ten Boom and her family hid a number of Jews from the Nazis in Holland during World War II. And as a result, her family was arrested. Corrie and her sister were taken to a concentration camp called Ravensbrook, where they were brutalized by the Nazi guards. Those young women were stripped naked and put in the showers to be deloused, while the guards leered at them raping them with their eyes. Corries sister died in Ravensbrook. But Corrie survived and spent the rest of her life as a precious witness for Christ. After the war, Corrie was sharing with some people about forgiveness. As she closed, a man walked toward her smiling. She knew that face. She could never forget it. It belonged to the most cruel, wicked, and obscene of her Nazi captors. The face was the same, yet it was different, because now this man belonged to Jesus. Corrie, he said, I want you to forgive me. Then, he put out his hand. Love Worth Finding Ministries www.lwf.org

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I froze, Corrie recalled. A chill went over me, and when I saw that man that I knew to be the very mirror of evil, I knew I did not have the power to forgive him, and I did not want to forgive him. I breathed a prayer and said, Oh, God, help me to forgive. And as an act of obedience, I put out my hand, and when his hand touched mine, liquid love began to flow through me. And I found out that Gods grace is sufficient. How did she do that? Was it Corries strength? Her joy at seeing him redeemed? No. It was God working in her both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

THE QUESTION OF REPENTANCE

That brings up an important question. Obviously that former Nazi guard had repented of his sins and given his heart to Christ. But what about those who continue to sin against us? While they are gossiping, defrauding, and betraying us, are we to be forgiving them? Not in the same way. We are to be storing up forgiveness for them. Let me explain. In order for there to be forgiveness, there must be repentance. God does not forgive you or me without repentance. Neither can we forgive someone else without repentance. Luke 17:3-4 says, Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 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. Now, that word rebuke does not mean to scold him. It means tell him he has done wrong, and if he repents, forgive him. What if he refuses to repent? What if he sees no need for forgiveness, what do you do? You do exactly the same thing that God does. You forgive him in your heart. You store up forgiveness for him. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He died for all men those who would repent and those who would not. Forgiveness for all is in the heart of God. So for the brother who will not repent and for the sister who sees no need of forgiveness, there must still be forgiveness in our heart, stored and ready for them to receive.

THREE CERTAIN RESULTS OF FORGIVING

The first result of forgiveness is release. You will set a prisoner free, and then realize that the prisoner is you! You will slide off the hook, throw off the burden of unforgiveness, and empty yourself of the corrosive acid of bitterness. If the person who offended you receives your forgiveness, there will be reconciliation. A brother regained is a precious thing. Finally, there will be revival. Do you know what revival is? It is more than just getting right with God. Revival is tearing down the walls and getting right with one another. But you know, my friend, we can have a forgiving spirit toward others only when we have first received forgiveness from God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It all begins with our own repentance and salvation. Love Worth Finding Ministries www.lwf.org

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Do you know the Lord Jesus? Have you received His forgiveness for your sins? If not, I encourage you to pray a prayer like this right now: Lord Jesus, I have sinned against You. And I cant pay You back and make it right. My only hope is that Youll forgive me and cancel my debt. I dont deserve it, and I cant earn it. Please forgive my sins. Thank You for giving Your precious life for mine. Now I want to give my life to You. I want to live for You from now on. Please work in me both to will and to do of Your good pleasure, for the rest of my life. Amen. If you just made this your sincere prayer, be assured that God heard you and has already answered you. Jesus said, All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out (John 6:37). And elsewhere we read, But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12) And now, as you have been forgiven, so forgive! You will be released from bitterness. You will be reconciled to those who have hurt you. And there will be genuine revival!

A CLOSING PLEA
Admit Your Sin First, you must admit that you are a sinner. The Bible says, "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). It is our sin that separates us from God and from fulfilling our deepest needs and longings. Sin is an offense against God that carries a serious penalty. According to Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death [eternal separation from the love and mercy of God." Abandon Your Efforts Second, you must abandon any efforts to save yourself. If we could save ourselves, Jesus' death would have been unnecessary! Even "getting religion" cannot get you to heaven. The Bible says it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His [God's] mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5). Salvation is by God's grace, "not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Acknowledge Christ's Payment What you cannot do for yourself, Jesus Christ has done for you! "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). He died on the cross for you and then rose from the dead to prove that His payment was acceptable to God. But you must acknowledge and believe this fact. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). Accept Christ as Your Savior Salvation is God's gift to you. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). When someone offers you a priceless gift, the wisest thing you can do is accept it! This very moment, you can receive Christ's gift of salvation by sincerely praying this simple prayer from your heart: Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that You love me and want to save me. Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God, who died on the cross to pay for my sins. I believe God raised You from the dead. I now turn from my sin and, by faith, receive You as my personal Lord and Savior. Come

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into my heart, forgive my sins, and save me, Lord Jesus. In Your name I pray, Amen. Friend, if you have not yet made a decision for Christ, I urge you to receive Him today. You'll be eternally glad to know the love worth finding!

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