TUESDAY JANUARY 18, 2011

Read Luke 24

Hebrews 10:30, Romans 12:19, Deuteronomy 32:35 et. al.

• Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

If we are to take Psalm 103:10 and these verses on revenge seriously then when we decide to forgive someone:-

• We relinquish our right and our desire to take revenge.

Luke 24:46-47

• He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”.

When Jesus died on the cross it was evident that the pain of our rebellion and sinfulness towards God was born by Himself. He chose to bear our sins (1 Peter 2:24) upon Himself. He suffered for our forgiveness.

The implication for us?

• If we are to forgive someone for their sins we choose to bear their sins upon or within yourself. This is closely related to the previous point. We choose to bear the pain of their sinfulness.

This can be a very painful step. For Jesus, it was exceedingly painful. Being whipped and beaten, being crowned with thorns, being nailed to a cross with nine inch nails was painful. But being rejected by His infinitely close Heavenly Father and being cursed by Him was spiritually painful in the most unimaginable way! When we choose to forgive another, we choose to bear the pain of their sin against us.

Hosea 14:1-4

• Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say, 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion."

“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.”

When God called the Israelites to repentance they were, among other things, to seek the Lord’s forgiveness. When they asked God to forgive them He made a startling and amazing and overwhelming statement. “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them”. If we are to forgive others as the Lord forgave us (Col 3:13) then we must follow vs 4. We cannot heal people of their waywardness but we can do the other two things:-

• When I forgive someone their sins against me I choose to love them freely.


• When I choose to forgive someone their sins against me I choose to turn my anger away from them.

If we take this passage as a serious consideration in forgiveness (which the Lord Himself does!!) then we see clearly that forgiveness is closely tied to relationship, to reconciliation and repentance. They are so closely and intimately linked that we really should not be separating them. But more later. Any talk of forgiveness without relationship and love and repentance is bordering on, if not already, heresy.

Putting all these together we get a picture of what it means to forgive

someone their sins against us.

When I forgive someone for sinning against me I choose to:-

• never again accuse that person of that sin.


• not to bring it up in the future.


• not to bring it up in another argument or clash.


• not to talk about that sin with another person.


• not to treat that person as their sins deserve.


• to relinquish my right and desire to take

revenge.

• to bear their sins upon myself, i.e. to bear the pain of their sinfulness.


• to love them freely.


• to turn my anger away from them.

This is no easy ask. It is not a simple thing to do. You will only forgive someone (as the Lord forgave you) as you grow in love and appreciation for all that the Lord has done for you. In effect, your life will mirror what you understand or appreciate that you have received from the Lord. Luke 7:47.

Take Note.

Forgiving someone for their sin against you does NOT mean that you accept their actions or deeds as right. At no stage are we called to change the truth about the sinfulness of their actions. The other person sinned and what they did/said etc will always remain a sin.

Prayer:-

• Pray that everyone in your church will have opportunity to talk about God’s forgiveness with non-believers. Pray for a growth in God’s kingdom as we seek to share the love and forgiveness of the Lord.


• Pray that the Student Life members who have been on mission will have a refreshing break and be renewed in their walk with the Lord. Praise God for their service and faithfulness. Pray a special blessing of rest upon them before the new year begins.