“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15 NLT)
The bridge to forgiveness is wide and inclusive, but when we refuse to forgive others the way onto that bridge is blocked to us. Why is the cost of unforgiveness so high? Largely because it goes against everything the Lord taught us from the Cross.
Jesus not only paid the penalty for all sin for all time, He illustrated its application by forgiving the very men who nailed Him to the Cross. To not forgive others is to slap our Savior in His holy face, daring to imply the violation against us is more severe than the weight of the sin of all mankind. That’s an arrogance above forgiveness, the result of sin too deep to ignore.
So, what does forgiveness entail? Does it mean we forgive and forget? Not at all. The word used exclusively in the King James Version for the translation of the word “forgiveness” is the Greek term “aphesis” and it can be translated: “remission, forgiveness, deliverance, or liberty” and means “release from bondage or imprisonment; forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty.” (Strong’s Concordance)
Think of the forgiveness the Lord gives me and you when we’re born-again. When I see the word “Justified” I think of “just as if I’d never sinned” because that’s exactly what it means. Jesus took the punishment for our sin on the Cross, freeing us of its death penalty we rightfully owed apart from His sacrifice on our behalf. That’s the beauty of regeneration and new life in the Lord Jesus, but it’s not the end of the story.
We’re not set free simply to continue to sin and disobey the Lord, we’re freed to stay free in the liberty of the Spirit, following His commands, living by His directives, seeking to walk in continued obedience that allowed our freedom to be purchased in the first place. Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:1: “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” The law binds and constricts, but the Son sets us free to become all He created us to become. Sin entangles us, but the Spirit of God gives us wings to fly in obedience to our Savior’s directives.
So, how does that apply when forgiving someone who sins against us? We forgive one another as we’ve been forgiven! Completely and without punishment or self-imposed restrictions. What does that mean? We commit our transgressor into the capable hands of the Lord. Does that mean we just forget about it and move on? Yes, and no. But what if they keep sinning against me? Keep on forgiving!
Of course, there are some practical implications to this principle. If every time I walk through a door a bucket of water falls on my head, I’m going to stop walking through that door. If someone continues to sin against me in the same way I’m going to put separation between me and that person or that circumstance. Forgiveness isn’t ignorance of reality; it’s making judgments based on what we can or must do.
Jesus forgives us, but salvation in Christ is a commitment on our part to live a life of obedience to His commands and directives. But what if we fail? We do and when we seek His forgiveness, if we’re sincere and earnestly seek to turn from our disobedience, He’ll continue to forgive; however, if we persist in our sin and will not repent, there’s no forgiveness to be had. The Lord will not force us to obey Him and we can’t make another person repent of their sin against us, but we can forgive them when they do and move on. There’s so much more here, let’s continue this in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 