Forgiving

On my last post I talked a little about asking for forgiveness, but what about forgiving others? Are we to just forgive people whether they ask for it or not, or are we supposed to wait till they come to us? When and how do we forgive? Let's see what the Lord says in His Word.

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."
- Mark 11:25

"And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one."
- Luke 11:4

"Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."
- Luke 17:4

"And be kind to one another and forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."
- Ephesians 4:32

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do."
- Colossians 3:12-13

"But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared."
- Psalm 130:4

The Lord, full of mercy and compassion, and justice forgives us of our sins when we come before Him in repentance and not before (1 Samuel 7:3; 2 Kings 17:13; 2 Chronicles 7:14, 30:6; Isaiah 55:11; Jeremiah 36:3; Ezekiel 18:21, 33:11; Zechariah 1:3; Matthew 3:2; Acts 17:30). This tells us that we cannot expect to be forgiven of our sins without asking Him for forgiveness.

The grace of God is something that we can't earn or work for, but it certainly isn't given to those who are not seeking Him. The professing church today has been preaching a message of grace without truly understanding what God's grace is really all about. In fact, most of us have no idea what grace even means.

Grace
G5485
χάρις
charis
khar'-ece
From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): - acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

The grace of God is His influence on our hearts which then reflects, or shines, outward in our lives. In other words His will in our life produces fruit. That's how James can say that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).

So what is God's influence? It is His Law written upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit because of Jesus' atoning sacrifice, and all of which reflects through our lives in good works which God had prepared before hand (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:27; Matthew 5:16-19; Ephesians 2:8-10).

So the forgiveness that God brings and which is unchanging because HE is unchanging, cannot be given unless we come to Him first. Does this apply with us forgiving others? What's interesting about the Scriptures that we read earlier is that almost (if not every) situation seems to be dealing amongst the body of Christ. But even if a non-believer asks for forgiveness it would appear that we are to forgive them, but most certainly if it is a brother or sister in Messiah. There is no doubt that we are to forgive those who have sinned against us but then come asking for forgiveness. If they show fruit bearing evidence of repentance then we are commanded by the Lord to forgive them.

But should we forgive those who don't ask for forgiveness? Though we are certainly NOT God, we are to follow Him as our example and walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). However, again because we are NOT God we are not without sin. Our relationship with other people is affected by this. Christ, who was/is without sin, forgives us of our sins when we come to Him in repentance. Can we do the same being sinners ourselves? Though we are sinners, if we are IN Him and abide in His love then the Holy Spirit gives us the strength to obey His voice. He also brings about fellowship among those who individually have fellowship with Messiah. If a brother sins against us it does not appear that we should automatically forgive them unless they come to us and ask for forgiveness. Until they come, though, we should certainly be praying for them, showing them love and grace in our actions and words toward them.

The context of passages like Mark 11:25 is clearly dealing with our sin against our brother or sister - the sin of unforgiveness.

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."
- Mark 11:25

We are clearly told not to harbor anger unjustly toward anyone (Psalm 4:4; Ephesians 4:26) and surely the Lord will not forgive us if we will not forgive those who come to us asking for it.

Paul writes in his second letter to the church in Corinth,

"so that on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices."
- 2 Corinthians 2:7-11

We really should know better as to what the enemy of our souls is doing to get us to turn away from the Lord. If anyone has been made to sorrow (a godly sorrow to be exact) then we should forgive them and not give Satan an open door in which to bring division in Messiah's body. That person which was sorrowful was obviously experiencing a godly sorrow which produces repentance leading to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10)! Who are we to deny forgiveness to someone who has repented?! The only way Paul could say to forgive someone is if they were in that place where they had experienced the sorrow of the Lord and asked for His forgiveness, which then would lead any who are already His to forgive that person.

We can become too haughty, too self absorbed to notice that we are in the same place as everyone else - we ALL need to seek the Lord of heaven and earth for salvation and to set our minds on things above rather than on things of the earth (Colossians 3:1-3). In other words looking unto Him rather than ourselves or the things of the flesh (our sinful nature).

I have often noticed that I am quick to judge, but slow to listen and seek His guidance. If I listened to my Savior more often I would see others as He sees them. I would reach out to others as He reaches out to them, and I would forgive those who need and want it. I've been forgiven and I don't deserve it. That should say it all. His commandments, His statutes, His judgments are righteous and true, they speak His truth and I hold them close because they are His words. In them I see that His love is greater than anything I could imagine and yet simple enough for a child to understand. I'm forgiven because He was forsaken. Amen.

Hallelujah! His mercy endure forever!

Asking for Forgiveness

It always seems that when you know you have to ask for forgiveness from someone it's the hardest thing in the world to do. The feeling of shame, embarrassement, humility....all rise up inside and seem to push and pull you away from doing the right thing and going to the person you've wronged.

No one wants to feel bad, right? We shouldn't be made to feel bad....right? Well my friends, our flesh (sinful nature) is telling us this lie!

There is a HUGE difference between just feeling bad about ourselves and knowing that we are sinners who sin against the Most High God. If I feel bad about myself it's just a selfish pity party that I'm throwing....and no one's invited! It's just for me!...how ridiculous! What have I got to feel bad about. I'm above ground and breathing, right?! God could wipe us off the map for just some of the thoughts we have throughout the day, much less the things we actually do! His mercy endures forever!

One thing that I have to remind myself of is that my flesh fights against my spirit and is hostile toward God. It CANNOT be subject to God's Law (Romans 8:5-7). How then can I expect it to do good things?

But there is a sorrow which we should experience from time to time. A godly sorrow that actually nourishes us and brings us back closer to the One who purchased us with His own blood. The apostle Paul says it best:

"Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. for you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For a godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death."
-2 Corinthians 7:9-10

Isaiah spoke of this sorrow:

"And in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth."
-Isaiah 22:12

A wordly sorrow actually produces death! But how? By feeding our flesh which is a enemy of God. Everytime we feed our flesh we've sinned and everytime we sin is a step away from God. Nothing can remove us from His hands (Romans 8:37-39), but we can remove ourselves (Hebrews 6:4-6).

So if I don't ask for forgiveness (to the LORD first and then to the person) I'm sinning. If I sin against an individual, I haven't just sinned against them, but against the LORD!

Look at 2 Samuel;
After Nathan had confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband Uriah, we read:

"So David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the LORD.'"
- 2 Samuel 12:13a

David knew that though his sin involved people, it was primarily against YHWH that he sinned.

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." - Matthew 10:28

Jesus was pointing to the fact that if we sin against God there is no escaping His judgment. Therefore we need to repent and ask Him for forgiveness. Though it may be difficult to swallow our pride and humble ourselves before Him, we'd better get to swallowin'!

Paul said that love is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:14) and so in that I say that pride is the bond of imperfection. Our pride holds all our sins closely together and refuses to let go lest we humble ourselves before the King and Judge over all creation!

If we don't repent then we don't have access to the free gift of salvation that God offers us through His Son Yeshua/Jesus. If we do repent and exalt Him as Lord and Savior over us then we have entered His covenant and must now walk in that covenant by adhering to its terms -which is obeying His voice (commandments, statutes, judgments, laws). Each time we disobey, we begin to walk away from Him, BUT we can always turn back to Him and ask for forgiveness. His mercy endures forever!

Look again at 2 Samuel 12:13 -

"So David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the LORD.' And Nathan said to David, 'The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.'"

Blessed be the name of YAHWEH! When David knew in his heart that he sinned against the LORD and then confessed it, the LORD had forgiven him!

That same forgiveness is promised to us when we come before Him and seek His forgiveness;

"Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
Isaiah 55:7

"Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnatn of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy."
Micah 7:18

"Therefore brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
Hebrews 10:19-23

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the LORD and He will lift you up."
James 4:7-10

-We can see that what James writes here and what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 is what the Lord called for through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 22:12.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:9

Going to someone we've sinned against, whether it be because we've lied to them, had an outburst of wrath against them, mocked them, or whatever, is the most crucial thing we can do as a follower of Messiah. Whether they be our enemy, friend, or especially a brother or sister in Him, we MUST go before our Father first and then them in asking for forgiveness! We cannot let our sin tear at the relationship we have with HIM and with them. If they are an enemy or friend, then our opportunity to be a light to them for the sake of Yeshua is up to us whether or not we apologize and seek forgiveness. If they are a part of His body, then we have surely sinned against Him as well as them. If we don't seek them out and hear from the Lord through them then we will eventually be cast out from His body (Matthew 18:15-17).

Asking for forgiveness is a hard thing to do, especially if we're living in the flesh (our sinful nature). But the more we crucify our flesh by obeying His commandments (Romans 7:14,18,22-25; 8:3-8)then we will begin to see things as He sees them (Psalm 111:10) and offer ourselves up as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him (Romans 12:1-2).

If we can then humble ourselves before the God of the universe, then why wouldn't we humble ourselves before those who are just like us....people in need of HIM. For YAHWEH is God and His mercy endures forever!