Forgiveness

“Forgiveness” Part 1

Colossians 3:13

Scripture before sermon

Psalm 103:8-12

8 The Lordis merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 He will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Illustration

Matthew 18:23-35

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

· To us, it is easy to judge this unforgiving servant – knowing this isn’t right

· But how many times have we done this very thing – I certainly have

Jesus addresses this when people were condemning woman who committed adultery “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Introduction

· Been learning about living Godly as a church family in VS 3:12-17

· The motivation for this is in VS 3:12 – We have been raised with Christ to new life receiving redemption and salvation

· In these VS, Paul starts with individual characteristics of Godliness: 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience

· Exhibiting these characteristics affect every area of our life – in this case, life in the church

· These characteristics are necessary for a healthy, thriving church

· They are needed for a harmonious church

There are times when harmony is disrupted

· Every church will experience broken relationships and tension

o Times when we are offended by the actions of others

o And times when we are the offender

· These can cause destructive divisions in the church and can possible tear a church apart

· When we offend one another, these individual qualities of VS 12 are tested

o Easy to say, hard to do

· When this happens it is imperative to heal and restore these relationships

· This starts with forgiving one another

· Because showing grace and mercy to forgive helps foster true community among believers

Same grace and mercy of forgiveness Jesus showed us

Main Text

Colossians 3:13

13 Bear with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

· Most important in VS is “As the Lord has forgiven you”

· It is our motivation and power behind forgiveness

· We learn here that there is an interdependence between forgiving and being forgiven

· This means: THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING FORGIVEN LEADS TO US FORGIVING OTHERS

So, what is the motivation behind forgiving others? What does it look like?

· Forgiving others is all based on the pattern of Jesus who forgave us

· It’s only through the gracious act of Christ forgiving sinners that makes it even possible for us to forgive others

· We take the love and compassion we’ve received and extend it towards others

What is forgiveness, what does it entail?

· Forgiveness comes from the root word for grace

· Means Grace and forgiveness are inseparable

· Grace is free forgiveness

· It’s releasing the person who has offended you without any expectation on the part of the offender

· Now forgiving the sins against us doesn’t mean we forget about it, impossible to do

· It also does not condone the behavior

· Less to do with those who hurt us and more to do with us and God

· IT’S REPAIRING A RELATIONSHIP

· Notice text is written to the one who forgives (The one offended) not the one who did the offense, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT

· FORGIVENESS STARTS WITH US, WE TAKE THE INITIATIVE

· We don’t wait for them to apologize

· Waiting means they must earn our forgiveness

· But this is not so for God, He initiated forgiveness through grace and mercy

1 John 4:10

10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

What are the results of forgiving one another?

Individually:

· Harboring resentments and grudges only hurts us

· They take our peace away

· Forgiveness releases us from anger and gives us back our peace

· Since forgiving others is a command from God, it shows our obedience to God.

· Forgiving is evidence that we are obeying the 2 greatest commandments: Loving God and loving others

· Evidence of being a disciple of Jesus: Putting others above ourselves and being at peace with one another

· Evidence of our salvation

This is what Jesus is referring to in Matthew 6:14

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

· Why won’t He forgive us if we don’t forgive others? I thought forgiveness can’t be earned but by grace

o Means we know Jesus forgave sins is just cognitive – Not a true relationship therefore not saved

o Means we have not receive forgiveness ourselves

o It’s possible we don’t even recognize our need for forgiveness

o But when we have come to faith in Jesus being forgiven our sin we receive salvation

o This transforms our lives so much we can’t help but forgive

o Freely received, freely given

Collectively

· We have a strong church family

· We have a healthy, thriving church

· We have a harmonious church

· Represent Jesus to our community

· GIVE EXAMPLES OF OUR CHURCH

Conclusion

· Forgiving others is not easy, maybe one of the hardest things to do as Christians

· I don’t have all the answers

o Sometimes I have to pray for just the willingness to forgive

o We bounce back and forth between forgiving and not forgiving

· There are times we think the sin so bad it’s unforgivable. A natural feeling

· But let’s look Christ’s forgiveness regardless of what He experience

o They beat Him to a bloody pulp

o Then crucified Him

Luke 23:34

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

· If we are to forgive others, we must have the mind of Christ and think and act like Him toward the offender

· Application: Approach forgiveness through the lens of the forgiveness and salvation God has given us through Jesus

There are ways to not let things go too far that forgiveness is need

Communication is key – for intentional and unintentional sin – Helps to lot let anger and resentments build – Makes it much easier to forgive

· Ask what they meant

· Tell how you feel

· Restore relationship before broken