Christian Forgiveness

Ephesians 4:31–32 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

There are two things that cause great psychological, emotional, and spiritual damage to many people, including most if not all here this morning. Those two things are  guilt    and  bitterness .

Guilt comes from our own personal choice, a personal choice to do something we know we should not have done. Bitterness is our reaction to someone’s wrong done to us, or our perception that someone has wronged us.

Guilt and bitterness do more damage to Christians and their testimony and witness than anything else, but forgiveness releases us from guilt and bitterness.

When you truly forgive from the depths of your heart, you set two people free. One is the person you have forgiven, and the other one is you. If you want to get rid of guilt and bitterness from your life, forgiveness must be involved.

Some of you have had some terrible experiences. People have done you terribly wrong, but the key to escape the bitterness that comes from what was done to you is forgiveness.

Now, do not get the wrong idea.

Forgiveness is  NEVER    free. There is always a  PRICE  attached to forgiveness.

To forgive actually means to  pay a debt . Do you remember what Jesus prayed?

Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Jesus, in the model prayer, said that we are to ask God to forgive us as we do what?  As we forgive others !!!

Did the forgiveness of our sin cost something? Ephesians 1:7.

Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”

You and I had a sin debt that we could not pay, and payment of that debt took the blood of Jesus. Our forgiveness definitely cost God something. In the same way, when you forgive, it will always cost you something, mostly our pride, but regardless, forgiveness will cost you something.

Forgiveness always has a price, but we are commanded to forgive as we have been forgiven.

Why are Christians to forgive?.

1. The Reasons for Forgiveness.

A. The Grace Factor.

Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Why should I forgive you if you sin against me? Because God forgave me when I sinned against Him. That is the grace factor.

You are to forgive because you have been  forgiven .

Now, there are some really bad things done to us, and there are some trivial things done to us, and both make us bitter because we will not forgive as we have been forgiven.

Sam Jones: “I made up my mind I’m not going to fall out with anybody until they treat me worse than I treated Christ.”

If you have experienced God’s grace, you can forgive. It is the grace factor.

B. The Guilt Factor. Matthew 6:14-15.

Matthew 6:14–15 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

I do not know what to say about these two verses except to say Jesus is saying what He means.

Can I share with you what I think Christ is saying to Christians?

On occasion, we feel stuck. We do not seem to be growing spiritually. We seem to be bitter. We seem to feel isolated. We pray, and seemingly, nothing happens. The reason is that somewhere along the way we did not forgive as we have been forgiven, and until we rectify that, we are going to be stuck in a rut.

 Forgiving and  being forgiven  go together in the Bible.

***The only person who can afford not to forgive is the person who will never need forgiveness.***

If you are never going to sin, do not worry about forgiving someone because you will not need forgiveness. Who meets those requirements?

If you say something like you could never forgive so and so, you are saying, in essence, that you do not need forgiveness, and you will become a bitter person full of guilt even though you are the one who has been wronged.

I know this is hard-hitting, but you and I need to forgive because you and I need to be forgiven daily. Only a person who never sins can afford not to forgive. I am telling you that is why some of you feel guilty or are bittern. You have not forgiven as you have been forgiven, and God is convicting you of your guilt concerning a lack of forgiveness.

C. The Grief Factor.

In the parable in Matthew Chapter 18, the man who failed to forgive endured the most severe discipline.

Hebrews 12:15 “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;”

What does the Bible mean by the root of bitterness springing up?

It means that if you do not forgive, you are going to experience unusual grief in your life that will trouble you deeply. Do you know that it is very possible that some of the crises you face are the results of a lack of forgiveness on your part which causes the roots of bitterness to spring up?

An unforgiving spirit harms you personally, it harms your family, and it harms this church. If you are unforgiving, it damages the testimony of the church because if you are an unforgiving person, everyone in the community knows it.

Let me share an example.

Someone does something to Jessica at the soccer match that really hurts Jessica. She overhears someone talking badly about her children. Jessica’s first reaction is to say, “I am going to get even and talk about her freckle-faced kid that wears braces and that can’t play soccer.”

Do you know what Jessica has done? She has lowered herself to the level of the person that said something about her kids. Jessica says. “Pastor, you just don’t know how bad that hurt my feelings. I just cannot forget that.”

By saying that and having that reaction, Jessica has placed herself on the same hook as the person who said whatever it was that she said, and if Jessica wants to have fellowship with God, wants to grow spiritually, and wants to serve the body of Christ, she must forgive that person.

If she does not forgive, that lack of forgiveness will bring her great grief. A bitter, unforgiving spirit will wear you out and turn you into a guilt-laden, bitter person.

 Conclusion:

You and I are to forgive as we have been forgiven, and I believe it is one of the main things that keeps the church from being the witness this world needs, and it keeps Christians from growing spiritually.

Families and churches are torn apart because of the lack of forgiveness. Who am I to withhold forgiveness when God did not withhold my forgiveness?

I believe that only Christians can truly forgive because Christians have been truly forgiven. If you are saved, you have the indwelling Holy Spirit who will make it possible for you to forgive as you have been forgiven. When you do that, you will be freed from guilt and bitterness.

If you have not experienced God’s grace through forgiveness, today is the day you need to do that. You need to get saved today.

TO be saved, you just need to believe with your body, soul, and spirit that Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Son of God who lived a sinless life who died on the Cross for your sins who was resurrected on the 3rd day. He is waiting to forgive you, but you must ask. If you ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins this morning, will you come down and make that decision public?

Jesus said He would not confess anyone before the Father that did not confess Him on earth. Will you do that today? If you will, you will start living in forgiveness, and you will be able to forgive freely.