Forgiveness
Channel: Bible Baptist Church
Date: 09/05/2023

My wife suggested I put church clothes back and just repreach the sermon and record it, but I’m not going to. This is the very condensed version of the sermon.

Forgiveness is a relationship between two parties. It’s not one-sided. There is one party that must be ready to forgive because that is the nature of God Almighty. So you’re not holding guilt over the head of someone who is truly sorry. That’s not right. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. That equitable treatment of souls is a characteristic of God.

Then, there is the other party that must have enough humility to be sorry for their offense. Forgiveness is not giving the offender permission to continue offending, so it requires repentance on the part of the offender. You’re not turning a blind eye to sin. You’re choosing mercy instead of vengeance, but you’re not ignoring the offense.

Which leads to the second thought. Forgiveness and trust are not the same thing. People are regularly accused of not forgiving when the issue is trust. Didn’t you forgive and forget? No. Say I borrowed money, but didn’t pay you back. The debt can be forgiven, but you’re not loaning me any more money. Then I whine, “I thought you forgave me.” You say, I chose forgiveness, but I don’t trust you with my money anymore.

In a marriage where someone cheated, people have worked through forgiveness in those situations many times. But, if you’re the offending party, you won’t be trusted by your spouse in certain circumstances. And rightfully so. If you cheated, you don’t have the right to demand trust from your spouse. You’re the one that brought this to the marriage, not them. They can choose to forgive and continue with you with certain boundaries that would be perfectly reasonable.

Third thing is that forgiveness is a Christian duty. If forgiveness can happen, it should happen. Especially in the life of a Christian. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Peter asked the LORD about forgiveness one time (Luke 17:1-10) and Jesus said, if he comes back and repents forgive him. Even if he comes back seven times genuinely sorry for what he’s done, forgive him. Peter said, Whoa, I don’t trust God enough for that. I need more faith. Jesus then tells a parable of a hired worker who gets paid at the end of the day. Does the boss congratulate him for his work? No. He just did what he was hired to do. Forgiveness is simply the duty of a real Christian.

And it’s something to be taken very seriously when Jesus says if you can’t forgive then how can God forgive you? Someone protests and says, well that’s old testament blah blah blah. But in Luke 17 forgiveness is an act of faith, not some self-righteous work. It’s trusting God by responding justly and equitably toward another soul. I need more faith to stop thinking about vengeance. I need more faith to let go of the burden of bitterness. I need more faith to genuinely pray for this person’s well-being.

Now, because it is the divine nature and Christian duty, forgiveness allows people to be free. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. You can carry around bitterness and hatred and it’ll eat you up. Freedom is in forgiveness.

It allows the offender to be free as well. On the other side, someone truly seeking forgiveness like the Corinthian young man who was having a relationship with his stepmother needs to be given forgiveness. Paul said, look, guilt is the most powerful weapon the accuser has, there is a Satanic advantage when guilt is weaponized.  So withholding forgiveness that should be given is incredibly destructive.  This has become a feature in American culture by the way - persistent victimhood and guilt without possible resolution. It’s enslaving and destroying the minds of people. The reason people play the victim is to get away with doing something immoral. That enslaved mentality says it’s fun to have a pity party. It says if I destroy something it’s your fault. 

But here’s how the LORD treats you, If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins - this is God’s attitude and response. He’s faithful and just to forgive those who seek it out. In Jesus, we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. The LORD Jesus would die on the cross and say, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Would all those around the cross be forgiven? No. Why? Because true forgiveness is a two-way street. It’s something you have to make the choice about between you and the LORD and between you and others for the sake of your soul.