Forgiveness
Notes
Transcript
Forgiveness is the release, on the part of the creditor or offended party, of any expectation that a debt will be repaid or that an offender will receive punishment for an offense.
When describing the removal of an inappropriate offense in this way, the removal does not condone the behavior or suggest approval for the offense.
forgiveness is not deserved but rather offered in Love.
it is the very act of Love and Mercy extended purely by the simple act of unselfish kindness.
Types of Forgiveness
Types of Forgiveness
Forgiving others
self forgiveness
Godly forgiveness
The concept of Forgiveness
The concept of Forgiveness
In the ot, the most direct words for forgiveness are סָלַח (sālaḥ, “forgive”) and סְלִיחָה (sĕlîḥâ, “forgiveness”). Forgiveness can also be expressed by stating that one will not “remember” (זָכַר, zākar) the offense or “count” (חָשַׁב, ḥāšab) the offense against someone.
this concept refers to the fact that when we forgive someone, we don’t hold the offence against the person any more.
this is true forgiveness....
Forgiving Others
Forgiving Others
The mercy of God is one of God’s communicable attributes, an attribute that humans can emulate in their relationships with each other.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
meaning that we should emulate the mercy that has been shown to us.
We ourselves desire and seek forgiveness from God for our trespasses and sins that we have committed and have allowed to enter into our lives.
the bible tells us that we must forgive others to receive forgiveness ourselves.
14 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 is the response to a plea from a person that is seeking it.
and is an indicator of remorse or regret....a change of attitude or the recognition of bad behavior.
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.
forgiveness is to those that ask from a repented heart.
so forgiveness is not something that is just good to do but is rather, mandatory in the eyes of God for those seeking it.
the bible doesn’t merely tell us we must forgive someone one time, but rather, as many times as it takes or as many times as the offender asks for forgiveness.
the question comes up....How many times must i forgive others or how far should my mercy be extended.
21 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.
the bible wasn’t giving us a finite amount of times we should forgive but rather, referring to an endless number of times...
there is a very good example of this in the bible.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 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.
this is a very powerful example of forgiveness....in like manner as we have been forgiven, so should we forgive.
so apparently this issue is a very important issue in regard to God and our salvation and forgiveness or mercy.
to forgive someone means having a type of forgetfulness.
one of the few times that forgetfulness is good.
to truly show mercy and forgiveness is to no longer hold the offence against that person, to completely release the offender from the penalty of the offence.
many times we say we forgive but we continue to hold the offence against the offender.
this is not true forgiveness....if we do this, where does that leave us?
Self Forgiveness
Self Forgiveness
forgiveness must be extended to ourselves.
why??
the devil will use our past against us every chance he gets..
self forgiveness is one of the devils best and most used tools of his arsenal.
if he can get us to not except our forgiveness…he has in essence, made null and void the blood of Christ in our lives.
he has, in essence, turned us from a believer to a non-believer.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
this victory happened at Calvary…this is what Calvary was all about.
our accuser has been bound by the sacrifice made by Christ Jesus and the application of his blood upon the mercy seat for our internal peace.
the power of sin has been removed.
the devil can no longer use this tactic against us in truth....unless we allow him to.
If we don’t forgive ourselves, we can never truly move on and be victorious in Christ.
because in our minds, we will always be guilty
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: And my sin is ever before me.
though our sin is ever before us and always in our past, we can be free from the guilt of said offences and sins.
in forgiving ourselves, the power or leverage of the adversary is completely and utterly taken away and rendered powerless.
the only way that the adversary can have the victory is in the remembrance of our minds..
According to the bible knowledge commentary: those who believe in Him have inner peace rather than inner anguish or grief, and can and will experience true spiritual healing.
Godly Forgiveness
Godly Forgiveness
the whole entire purpose for Christ and the crucifixion was for the removal of our sins and the victory over death by the eradication of those sins.
to reestablish a relationship between God and man.
The mercy of God describes his focused disposition of compassionate forgiveness toward his people, especially in light of their distressful and dire circumstances.
the only reason we have been offered this great salvation and atonement is because of the compassion and love of God for us.....period.
Paul was commissioned to go to the gentiles with the message of truth and deliverance.
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.
meaning: the reason he was wounded and bruised was for the direct purpose of eradication and removal of our transgressions and sin.
unless we except the forgiveness extended to us by God, we are unable to experience true inner peace
instead, we hold within ourselves inner anguish and grief
We cannot experience true inner peace and spiritual healing unless we forgive ourselves.
It goes on to say....the chastisement of our peace was upon him, meaning:
in my opinion, based on definitions and research....this means that he bore our iniquity and transgressions by his suffering (by whipping or beating)..he carried our judgement of sin upon his shoulders that we may obtain true peace and be completely free of guilt and judgement.
Jesus Christ corrected or set straight the record.....that by his stripes we are healed.
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
we then must answer the question....how can a man receive this forgiveness and healing from God....how is the blood applied.
when we talk about the forgiveness of God…we are talking about the mercy of God by the remission of sins.
we know that in order to receive this forgiveness, there must be the shedding of blood and the application of the same.
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
without the shedding of blood there is no atonement or payment for our sins which in turn, leaves us still with our sins upon us.
the bible points us towards Jerusalem to answer this question..
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
you could say that the plan was fulfilled in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and that now we are saved through faith and belief alone.
if this is the case.....then what do we do with what Christ told Nicodemus that a man must be born again of water and spirit or he cannot even enter into the kingdom of God.
therefor, to attain forgiveness from God is to be born again.....the bible way.
it is important for us to understand these three types of forgiveness:
for without:
forgiving others
Godly forgiveness
according to the bible, we cannot even be forgiven making salvation virtually impossible.