Forgiven, now to Forgive
The topic of forgiveness is one that everyone can relate to. In this imperfect world, there is a lot of known and unknown hurt that we have all experienced and made someone else experience too. We know that holding onto the hurt in our heart towards another is not good for us, but sometimes we keep it there anyway to validate the injustice we feel. Forgiving someone is a process of letting go our feelings of hurt towards that person’s words/actions, releasing them from the hold of the injustice in our hearts. It takes understanding and maturity to do this, and it may not be easy or quick. However, we shouldn’t just think of forgiving someone as our right to do/not to do. I would like us to think what Jesus says about forgiveness to understand the true and deep reason that we must in fact work on forgiving everyone.
In the words of Mt 5:38-48 Jesus said to love even one’s enemies. In Mt 6:14-15, Jesus said, “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.” And let’s not forget what Jesus says in “The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant”:
Matt 18:21-35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who 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 bags of gold 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.
“At this 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, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. 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 it back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled 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 handed 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 or sister from your heart.”
Why did Jesus say these very straight forward words about the need to forgive one another?
We can understand well from this parable: The first master in this parable is Jesus, and the first servant is a believer. We all are this believer who cannot settle the account of our sins that lead to death before God. But when we realise this debt, and repent before Jesus begging for it to be taken away**, He takes pity on us and cancels our debt by paying for our sins himself with the cross. This debt that we cannot ever re-pay, has been wiped off our records through grace and in the greatest act of love, so that we can receive salvation, heaven and eternal life.
Our salvation is given to us when we receive forgiveness of (atonement for) sin.
However, if we are forgiven from the greatest sin (and therefore are set free from eternal punishment), then how can we hold a grudge and not forgive others for their sin that is less than that?
Yes, if we receive forgiveness from Jesus, we should forgive others for their sins that are much less towards us.
The forgiveness of our sins is what grants us the right to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and receive eternal life. **Jesus teaches what it means to repent before him in order to have our sins forgiven:
John 3:5-7
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
We can see here that if one is born again of water and spirit that they are those that repent, receive forgiveness of sins, and therefore can enter the kingdom of God. This is not physical rebirth of course, but spiritual!
If people are already born of God’s seed, then why would Jesus say to be born again?
He said to be born again of water and the Holy Spirit since people have not been born of those things.
👉Being born again of water is learning and believing the proper understanding of Jesus’ Words which wash a person’s heart (John 15:3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.)
👉 Being born again of the Holy Spirit is receiving the seed (Word of the Holy Spirit) of God in order to become God’s child that can inherit heaven (John 6:63 …The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.)
Jesus said that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Word) cannot be forgiven (Mt 12:31), so it is important to make sure we have the true meaning of the Word of the Holy Spirit in our hearts!
Those who repent by being born again spiritually with the proper and complete understanding of Jesus’ Words are those born again of water and the Holy Spirit, and they are those who Jesus bears the sin of in order that they can enter Heaven. This is the work of salvation as shown in the scriptures, right?
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In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said to pray: “Forgive us as we have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Those who have received forgiveness from Jesus must forgive the people whom Jesus forgave. Thus, one must always think of the Lord’s Prayer. One should not sin again after his sins have been forgiven (atoned for), and he will need to forgive those who sinned against him.
Jesus loved the world just as God loved it, and he even bore the sins of sinners instead on the cross. If we are those who have been born from him, then we will need to do as he does.
So if we perceive and value the love and sacrifice of Jesus bearing our sins on the cross for our salvation, we will be those that realise the need to forgive others just like how Jesus forgives us.
Weather it is hard or easy, let’s all do what is good and right and let God be the judge.
- Christine xx
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A beautiful post. Thank you, Christine.
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