WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ABOUT FORGIVENESS

Lesson 2 on Forgiveness

Read Matthew 5:23-24; Luke 11:2-4

-          Jesus Christ taught on forgiveness

-          Without forgiveness there is no act of worship

-          Unforgiving spirit build a wall of barrier between you and God, you and your fellow brothers/sisters.

-          Offering given with an unforgiving heart is not accepted by God. It stops God’s blessings upon your life even when you are faithful in other areas. James 2:9-10.

Forgiveness is at the heart of the Christian faith. The Greek word for forgiveness is pronounced “O apse a mi O”. The word means to send away, to dismiss, to depart. The Bible affirms that our God is loving and forgiving. Read Exo. 34:6-7; Luke 15:32

 Jesus Christ on the Cross still prayed. Read Luke 23:34. The climax of God’s forgiveness is reached in the life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ often called that we forgive those who wrong us. Matthew 6:12, 15; 18:21-35; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37; 17:4; Col. 3:13.

 As Christians we are called to forgive as God has forgiven us, and it should come from the heart. Read Matthew 18:21, 22, 35. We should forgive for the sake of our own well-being and inner peace.

 POSER:

(1) How can the unforgiving heart of a worshipper affects the corporate worship of a church? (Remember Achan in Joshua 7)

(2) Then what can we do to avoid such disruption?

 Forgiveness includes making of no account the sin which has been committed, (Read Mk. 2:5; John 8:11), and the acceptance of the sinner (Luke 15:20-24; Col. 1:13), deliverance from the dominion of the powers & transference to the Kingdom of God Christ, to whom a new life is given and with it the promise of eternal life (Luke 23:43; Matthew 5:43-48; John 14:19).

Poser:   Once beaten twice shy. I have loved before and it almost cost me my life, I have forgiven, should I go on loving, or what do I do?

 To forgive is to send away that for which there was a breach in the relationship. The Bible makes it clear that forgiveness is a possibility and is extended when that party who has committed the offense has repented. Read 1 John 1:9; Luke 17:3.

 A FOUR-FOLD SEQUENCE IN FORGIVENESS

1.       An offense is committed

2.       A rebuke is given by the offended party

3.       The offender repents

4.       The offended person extends forgiveness

 

Read Matthew 6:12. Can you interpret it like this: (please give your comment)

1.       We receive forgiveness from God when we repent of our sins.

2.       We should only forgive the offender when he/she repents

3.       It is not saying forgive us because we forgive others, but Lord just as we forgive others when they repent; please forgive us as we now repent.

4.       If we withhold forgiveness when people repent, God will withhold forgiveness when we confess to Him.

 Sin destroys our relationship with God, so forgiveness takes the central place in Christ proclamation as the means whereby this relationship is restored. Forgiveness stands as the action of God in the face of the sinful behavior of man, and is based on Christ (Col. 1:14; Eph. 1:7), whose power to forgive sins is made know in preaching (Luke 24:27; Acts 10:42ff; 13:38)

 Poser:   As true believers should we go ahead to forgive people who offended us even if they have not repented? Explain.

·         If while we are still waiting for them to come and repent, Christ comes, what will be our hope of eternity?

·         Then what should we do?

 CONCLUSION

Let us forgive as the offender repents, if the offender does not come, we can go to him/her. (Remember Chief Gani Fawehinmi & Asiwaju Bola Tinubu when the later visited the former to commiserate with him on his health problem, in spite of all the litigations he instituted against Bola Tinubu). If the person is not around, let us put our minds off the issue, the offender one day will come to repent. Harboring the offense may push us into doing some ungodly things. So beware.