Forgive Them (Part 3)

The bible gives several examples of how God responds to our unforgiveness of others:

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”⁶

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?'

Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me he begged, and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go. But when the servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”⁷

What this is saying is that we who have been forgiven much by God must forgive the little things from others. Should I expect God to forgive me for every sin I’ve committed while I won’t forgive someone for a slight? I need to remember this when I pray because I want God to hear me, I want God to forgive me and I want God to bless me. To forgive means that I accept the atonement of Jesus Christ, not only for myself but for everyone else as well; His blood covers us all. This enables me to forgive.

The final step to forgive is restoration. This means to give back that which was lost. When someone offends me, they lose value in my eyes because what they did becomes more important to me. This is contrary to what God did for us.

“…it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ…”⁸

The Hebrew word for restore is shuwb (shoob) which means to turn back. My thinking of biblical restoration is to return to the starting point. It’s like taking a sheet of paper and folding it in half; the beginning edge of the sheet and the ending edge are both at the same point. Anything written on that sheet of paper becomes irrelevant because the folding has covered up all the writing.

The blood which was shed by Jesus Christ serves as an eternal atonement for our sins. This does not give me a license to go on sinning. On the contrary, it means that I should live my life in the best possible way to please God. It does not mean if I sin I am lost again, because I have an advocate with God the Father. That advocate is Jesus Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for me (always).

“…I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense---Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”⁹

As a result, we are restored to our status as sinless before the eyes of God. Restoration is critical to forgiving. When I no longer place value on the offense (through substitution), I am acknowledging that Jesus Christ atoned not only for me but for everyone else as well, I see others as God sees me; forgiven.

Restoration is not the same as reconciliation or repentance. A person may never acknowledge they hurt me but I will not put any obstacle in their way hindering them. What I'm learning is that the responsibility to forgive is with me.

If you are harboring hurts, memories and pain from others, you need to free yourself and those who hurt you. Don’t be like the Three Stooges, following a Niagara Falls scenario through life, turning back, time and time again. That would be like a DVD that won’t track because of a smear or scratch on the disk. It’s time to let it go and give value to one truly deserving, Jesus Christ. Won’t you forgive? I often find that it helps when I answer the question, What is of greater value to me?

1. Jesus Christ, or
2. the offense

Let us forgive one another and be an example of Christ to others.

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 6:14-15, NIV
2. Matthew 18:21-35, NIV
3. Ephesians 2:5-6, NIV
4. 1 John 2:1, NIV

References:

1. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, By James B. Strong, S.T.D, LL.D., Riverside Book and Bible House, Iowa Falls, Iowa 50126
2. Unger's Bible Dictionary, By Merrill F. Unger, Moody Press, Chicago
3. The NIV Study Bible, Edited by Kenneth Barker, Donald Burdick, John Stek, Walter Wessel and Ronald Youngblood, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530, USA

Forgive Them (Part 2)

Biblical forgiveness is the work of God to make us right with Him; without this action by God we would all be condemned for eternity. I believe the bible reveals three steps that enable us to forgive:

1. substitution
2. atonement and
3. restoration

To forgive us, God provides a substitution for all. Through substitution, God places greater value on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ than on my sins.

“…He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but have everyone to come to repentance.”²

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”³

There is no Hebrew word for substitution but the biblical concept is documented.

“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.”⁴

“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”⁵

Any one of us can pay the cost of sin in our life by accepting the punishment of death but what’s the benefit in that? None of us wants to be condemned, punished and die for the sins of our life. I suppose for some, choosing salvation may seem a coward’s way of facing the consequences of sin but the truth is that each of us looks for a way of escape. When you’re stopped by a policeman for speeding, you don’t say, “I broke the law, give me a ticket officer”. No, you offer a substitute (an alibi) in an effort to excuse your actions. When the officer says, “I’m not going to give you a ticket this time. Please drive the posted speed limit.” You don’t get angry and demand a speeding ticket. No, you say, “Thank you officer” and go on your merry way. Yes, the world's answer to consequences is escape. People take their life (e.g., suicide), sabotage (e.g., addiction) their life and frustrate their life (e.g., greed) in an effort to escape.

The same is true for salvation. You and I know we deserve the just punishment of God but none of us would argue with God when He freely accepts the substitutionary life of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world (you, me and everyone else). When we accept Christ as savior, God sees His life poured out as a sin offering for all. As a result, no further substitution is necessary. God forgives because of the substitutionary act of Jesus Christ. God values Jesus Christ more than sin. When someone offends me, I need to substitute Jesus Christ for that offense; giving greater value to who Christ is than what someone has done to me. To do otherwise would mean that the offense is more important to me than Jesus Christ. Recognizing Christ is greater than the offense towards me enables me to forget.

The second step towards forgiving is atonement. The Hebrew word for atonement is kaphar (kaw-far’) which means to cover. In God’s eyes, atonement can only be achieved through death; blood must be shed, someone must die. When I look at the biblical form of forgiving, I recognize that God requires atonement (or covering) for sin. Each of us is guilty of sin and the verdict of death has been given. Either I must die or someone must atone for my sins. That sounds harsh but that’s the just penalty for sin. Someone has to die for your (and my) sin before God is satisfied the punishment has been executed. The interesting thing is that because we all are under sin, not one of us can atone for someone else. The truth is that even if I could die for your sin, so that you would live, I wouldn’t choose to. It’s like being on the ship Titanic, everyone on board knows the ship is sinking and everyone behaves under the rule of, every man for himself. I can’t help you because I’m too busy helping myself.

I need to understand that the blood of Jesus Christ covers me (once and for all). This means that when the accuser of our brethren condemns me, God sees the blood of His Son; I am righteous before God. This is my vindication. In accepting the atonement of Christ on my behalf, I must now see others as God sees me.

But how does the forgiveness of God help me forgive others?

Tomorrow I will conclude atonement and the final step to forgiving.

Footnotes:

1. 2 Peter 3:9, NIV
2. Romans 5:8, NIV
3. Genesis 22:13, NIV
4. Isaiah 53:5, NIV

References:

1. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, By James B. Strong, S.T.D, LL.D., Riverside Book and Bible House, Iowa Falls, Iowa 50126
2. Unger's Bible Dictionary, By Merrill F. Unger, Moody Press, Chicago
3. The NIV Study Bible, Edited by Kenneth Barker, Donald Burdick, John Stek, Walter Wessel and Ronald Youngblood, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530, USA

Forgive Them (Part 1)

Note:This post was written some time ago. At the time, I was blogging my thoughts on faith so I decided write down these thoughts that were initiated during my morning prayer; hoping for the right time to post on this topic. I am always blown away by how the Lord is patient with me and I give Him the praise. This topic has three parts so I hope you extend me some grace for writing a scroll.

Have you ever found your thoughts drifting to something you forgot about while praying? I have. I found myself doing that this morning as my mind remembered someone who offended me. I’ve come to realize that forgiving isn’t easy for me, especially when I think someone else is wrong. I may lose sight of what someone said or did but that doesn’t mean I've forgotten or forgiven them. Thinking along this path brought me to the question:

What does it mean to forgive?

I’ve heard it said that, “to forgive means to forget and never remember again; to not condemn a person for a wrong they’ve committed”. But what does it mean to forget? How can I forget when remembering is so easy to do? This morning I allowed myself to drift from prayer to meditation; contemplating the subject of forgiving.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”¹

To have the ability to understand, that human thought is incapable of knowing how to do what is right without guidance from God, is truly remarkable. Only God has that ability; to know and do what's right. Understanding that we just don’t know what is right also means that we often don’t know what we’re doing.

How do we tap into the mind of God and forgive others? Well, I understand that I’m not God but when it comes to unforgiveness, I tend to act like a little god. I hold on to those past hurts, offenses and grudges. Why? Because I believe someone needs to be punished for what they said or did to me. I take things personally, very personally! I want vengeance, I want to return the hurt and I want to know you are being punished.

While I was meditating, it occurred to me that before Christ died for us, God knew the kind of rebellious person I would become when I entered the world, but He didn’t tell His Son, “Never mind”. Before the beginning (of creation), God (always) knew what each of us would be like and yet, He made a covenant with mankind to save us from sin and death. Every wrong act of betrayal, every rebellious act of indifference and every lust-craving attempt to satisfy our lives meant that God would have to forgive and forget.

Forgetting is the key to forgiving. How do I forget?
Have you ever misplaced something and couldn’t remember where you left it? I know that’s happened to me more times than I can count. Losing track of or misplacing something or someone is an unconscious act; we’re just not aware. That’s exactly what the thinking is behind the Hebrew definition of the word, forget.

The Hebrew word for forget is shakach (shaw-kakh’ or shaw-kay’-akh), which means, to mislay. In other words, to forget is to become oblivious of something due to the absence of memory or attention. Forgetting is putting something down and having a mindset that says, “I don’t value this at all”, so that I’m not aware of it as I walk away. I don’t typically lose things which are important to me; I value them. Something (or someone) can grab my attention causing me to lose focus and walk away from something I value. When I realize that thing I value is gone, I use my memory to recall where I last left it. I re-trace my steps until I return to that place, and there it is, just where I left it! This is why I appreciate structure in my life.

However when it comes to forgiving, you need to do more than lose focus; you need to mislay what was said or done in a way that you can no longer remember it. You see, we remember because we always go back to that place of offense. We retrace every word and action, bringing back the pain someone caused us.

I remember watching a Three Stooges sketch called Niagara Falls. Every time the phrase, Niagara Falls, was spoken, it served to remind Moe of his quest to find the man who stole his wife. It was the line, “Slowly I turned. Step by step. Inch by inch”, that always preceded a beat down of Curly. That’s what we do in remembering an offense; we turn around and go back, moment by moment, replaying every second of the offending event. We do this because:

1. We are unwilling to devalue what happened so we make ourselves unwilling to forget.
2. We are unwilling to forget what happened so we refuse to forgive.
3. We are unwilling to forgive what happened so we condemn a person to punishment.

Tomorrow, I will begin discussing the steps to forgiving.

Footnotes:

1. Luke 23:34, NIV

References:

1. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, By James B. Strong, S.T.D, LL.D., Riverside Book and Bible House, Iowa Falls, Iowa 50126
2. Unger's Bible Dictionary, By Merrill F. Unger, Moody Press, Chicago
3. The NIV Study Bible, Edited by Kenneth Barker, Donald Burdick, John Stek, Walter Wessel and Ronald Youngblood, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530, USA