To Forgive
Notes
Transcript
Today we are going to start a look at forgiveness and what God’s word teaches us about forgiving others. We must start with confrontation. What do I mean by that, well confronting those who sin against us, who wrong us in some way. We will start of with what is called the biblical pattern for church discipline, and then we will move into forgiving. The Before we start on any of it lets define forgiveness.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a release from an obligation, a decision not to consider a debt or an offense.
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Again these verses give us the biblical pattern for church discipline, but I think we can also apply them to our personal lives as well.
Why Confront
Why Confront
How many of you like confrontation? Well I know I do not, but it is something that must be done at times, and I want to be clear confrontation is not always what we think, I mean it is not always harsh, or mean, in fact when done in a biblical manner it is loving. I have four reasons the believer should confront another who has sinned against them.
1. It shows the value of the straying sheep
2. It is the hope of forgiveness and family restoration
3. A little laxity leads to a lot of lapsing
4. It is a command from Christ.
We need to keep all these in mind as we move through the text.
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
We see the word “brother” used to show us this is between two believers. The term “brother” is used in a broad sense—like mankind— it refers to men, women, and children who have put their faith in Jesus, and come to a saving relationship with Him. Now this verse is very important to the process, we must pay close attention, and follow it. Go to your brother alone, one on one. Well why is this so important the phrase “tell him his fault” in the Greek means to convict or convince. We are to go to the person and discuss the issue privately in hopes of resolving the issue. Often times sadly people do not follow this and everyone else knows the problem before the person who made the offense. This needs to be the first step also to ensure it was not just a misunderstanding. Maybe you heard something and took it wrong, or you only heard part and took it out of context. Now all of this should be done in a loving and caring manner, we must be gracious with others even if they have wronged us, or we think we have been wronged. We go to that person in a loving, caring manner. “If” the first word of this verse shows us this is only done “if” our brother has sinned against us. The next key word is “sin”, if our brother sins against us—sin is behavior that is clearly and consistently contrary to Christ’s commands. Not a bad personality trait, or you do not like how they talk, how they dress, it is actual sin. Now we do this to gain our brother. If they have truly sinned we want to see them come to repentance. We see here we are to take the first step “to go”. So, this verse deals directly with the sin of a brother and sister in Christ. It also gives us a pattern for how we should handle other confrontations in our lives, as I mentioned before—go one on one—seek out the person whom you feel has wronged you. We have a love of the sinner and a hatred for the sin. Read Dietrich Bonheoffer’s quote
Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation. Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light [But] In confession, the light of the gospel breaks into the darkness and seclusion of the heart. The sin must be brought to the light. Since the confession of sin is made in the presence of a Christian brother, the last stronghold of self-justification is abandoned. The sinner surrenders; he gives up all his evil. He gives his heart to God, and he finds the forgiveness of all his sin in the fellowship of Jesus Christ and his brother. The expressed, acknowledged sin has lost all its power. It has been revealed for he has cast off his sin from him. Now he stands in fellowship of sinners who live by the grace of God and the cross of Christ.
16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
This is step tow of the process. After the one on one, if they have sinned and refused to repent, then you take one or two other believers and continue the confrontation. Now remember this is still all being done out of love, we are not taking a mob with us. The person is still being given a chance to come to a realization of their sin. This is done for three reasons 1. so there are no false accusations or exaggerations. 2. If the brother has sinned hopefully with several people bringing this to them they will repent. 3. To be witnesses if they must go further. If the brother has truly sinned, and ignores the one on one confrontation, and after being confronted by the two or three still refuses to repent, then the believers move to the next step. You see the progressive nature of what Jesus is teaching, it stats of small and then grows, but it is always done lovingly and out of a desire to see the person restored.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Here is the last step and the most sever. Now the accused, the accuser and the witnesses take the matter before the church. They present the problem—the sin— the witnesses support the findings and they are found guilty, right or wrong they are still given the opportunity to repent. All of this done to bring them to repentance—back into the fold. What does the good shepherd do He leaves the 99 in search of the one. But if they still refuse then they are to be excommunicated from the church. They are to be treated as an outsider. Remember this entire process is in hopes to bring them to repentance.
18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
We are going to look at verses 18-20 together. Now we must remember who Jesus is talking to—His disciples— we Jesus giving them authority to bind or loose, that is to allow or not allow people into the church, to forgive them or to excommunicate them. This is only done if they are following the guidelines set forth by Jesus in verses 15-17. They and the church following Jesus instructions carry His authority “on earth” just as “in heaven”. Verse 19 reiterates verse 18. When they follow the guidelines and are prayerful truly seeking God’s will in the situation they are working in and under His authority.
Verse 20, is probably one of the most misused verses in the Bible. This does not mean that you don’t have to come to church as long as there is at least three people in your house. It is Jesus giving them His blessing of trying to reconcile this brother. He is with them throughout the entire process.
To Forgive
To Forgive
When we look at texts like this people get uncomfortable because the church is supposed to be place for the sick to come. While yes, this is true, the church is here for the sinner and the saint, we must be very careful to not allow sin into the church. As believers we have a responsibility for the purity of Christ’s bride. We must not be afraid to confront those who are sinning. We can also use this pattern to a point for our personal lives. If their is someone we have an issue with (it may not be a sin), we should confront them in a loving and caring manner, one on one and start to work through the problem. We must remember we will not always see eye to eye on everything, but we must be gracious with each other and follow Christ’s example.
