This last Sunday I spent a few moments preaching about forgiveness. Anytime I do that, I always feel like I leave too much unsaid. So, over the next few weeks, I am going to write a few articles about forgiveness. Hopefully, they will help us recognize what forgiveness is (and is not), and encourage us to live in a spirit of forgiveness.

Forgiveness of sins is at the heart of Gospel truth. The Gospel assures us that all of our sins have been forgiven in Christ: Past, present, and future. This is a great comfort, and something for which we should live in ongoing gratitude. However, along with God forgiving us, He has also empowered us to live out His character in an ever increasing way as we mature. Growing in Christ is really just agreeing with God’s design that we would live more like Christ. Part of living like Jesus is learning to release to others the same kind of forgiveness that we have first received from Him. As simple as that may sound, we will likely already recognize, that this is often extremely difficult. All too often, our hearts will try and justify unforgiveness with thoughts such as: “they don’t deserve to be forgiven”, or “they haven’t apologized”, and even “if I forgive, they will just do it again”. These justifications are only a few in the myriad that we can conjure to resist this essential Christian mandate. However, justifications aside, we have a motivation that can reduce them all to “white-noise”. Our great motivator rests in the fact that we have first been forgiven!

It is so easy to under-estimate the degree to which we have sinned against God: Every thought that we harbored too long, every action that violated a mandate, every sin that we attempted to cover with self-righteousness. I think of defendants standing in a human court and hearing the charges read out against them…I don’t not want to know how many counts a Holy God could read off against me! God help! But the Gospel means that if those sins were to be read aloud, My Lawyer…Jesus my Intercessor…would stand in my place and boldly declare “NOT GULITY by reason of My sacrifice”. Jesus would approach the Throne and declare that although the charges are all true, the penalty has already been paid and His righteousness has been conferred to me in its place. I have not only been forgiven: which is the acknowledgement that I did something wrong, but I will not be punished for it. I have also been justified: which is a declaration that I am to be recognized “just – if – I’d” never sinned in the first place. This is really Good News, when you consider that breaking any of God’s laws are eternally punishable by spiritual death! If you ever catch a glimpse of how great your forgiveness is, it will forever change you!

With this kind of extravagant forgiveness in mind, it should become our motivation for forgiving others. Anytime I struggle with forgiving someone, I remind myself of all that I have been forgiven. One thing is certain: No one has ever sinned as often or as grievously against me, as I have sinned against God…yet He forgives! And I am mighty glad He does. If you find yourself struggling to release an offense, my encouragement would be for you to stop focusing on the offense that has been done to you…and pause for a moment and be thankful for all the offenses that have been forgive of you. It can put forgiveness into a whole new perspective.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian