Freely Forgiving
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved
Steve Phillips
ISBN
978-978-56754-3-6
A composite English translation
Of the Bible has been used throughout
Behold Print Ventures
Plot 7, Elegbede Layout,
Wofun Olodo Jenriyin,
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
+234 805 450 5578
+234 802 719 6424
bolarinwatt@yahoo.com
Freely Forgiving
Judgment will be merciless to the one
Who has shown no mercy
James 2:13
Should you not also have had mercy
On your fellow servant,
In the same way that I had mercy on you?
Mt.18:33
1
Bitterness in the heart blocks forgiveness from heaven. Malice against man means mercy is missing. Holding grudge against others withholds pardon from the Father above. Seeking vengeance upon people brings God’s wrath upon ourselves.
You cannot be forgiven by God if you do not forgive men. “If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” [Mt.6:15]. This is the blunt and raw decree of heaven.
The word “forgive” means to send away: a dismissal/release. Nothing is kept in the heart against another; it is released and sent away. No bitterness abides.
Malice, that vicious character wishing harm to others, is absent. Envy with its displeasure at others’ blessings along with the smoldering desire to see them deprived of it, has vanished.
You have forgiven; you are holding nothing in your heart for harm against another, because you have sent that away.
That is forgiveness. The memory of a misdeed done may remain, but it is not being remembered against them in anger, bitterness, and grievance.
In forgiveness there is freedom from an agitated heart, stirred by anger and fueled by resentment. If we have released our desire to see calamity befall one who has wronged us, then we have forgiven. We are free.
But the person who retains anger, resentment, bitterness, malice, and grudge is never free; he is a prisoner of his own disturbed heart and the sin lurking therein. And every time the bars of his cage are rattled by a memory, a mention, or an appearance of the offender, his chain tightens.
The eyes will narrow; the smile flees, darkness clouds his brow, lips curl in contempt, the neck stiffens, and the tongue is let loose with flames.
One moment he may be blessing God above, the next he is cursing men who have been made in His image. My brethren, these things ought not to be [Jas.3:9,10].
And why is it so? Because he has not forgiven. The wound is fresh and bleeding still, and he wishes the other to bleed as well. And thus he forfeits forgiveness from heaven.
“When you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your sins” [Mk.11:25,26].
Lack of forgiveness keeps us prisoners still and shows that we are yet captives who have not known the freedom of Christ’s glad gospel [Isa.61:1]. Do not deceive yourself; in the final day, this will determine the verdict of the King against each one.
“Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you? And his Lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother his sins from his heart” [Mt.18:33-35].
Forgiveness is not optional if you wish to be forgiven.
2
Our one new man in Christ Jesus is not characterized by “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul abusive speech” [Col.3:8]. No, these are the things that we have laid aside having been joined to Christ, the One who forgives.
Those are the old things that have gone. “Slander no one, be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people. For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another” [Tit.3:2,3].
Yes, once we were so, but not now. A wonderful change has taken place in the heart of every true believer joined to Christ. Things are different within now. Forgiveness has come.
“Therefore, as the chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you” [Col.3:12,13].
These are the things that characterize every true believer in Christ Jesus. They are thus because Christ is thus. He does not hold grudge. He is not seeking revenge against us for our misdeeds. He does not retain anger against us for our sins against Him. He is not wishing evil to befall us. No payback against us for our wickedness is being held in His heart.
Jesus has forgiven us and so all those things have been sent away. He retains no wrath and condemnation against His own. This is Christ.
And so it is also with those within whom He dwells. Since Christ is living in the hearts of His people, they also have put away evil thoughts and desires against others. They forgive because Christ forgives.
And they forgive in the same way He forgives. “And their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more” [Heb.10:17].
He knows what evils we have committed, but He has sent away all thoughts of punishment or wishes of harm against us because of them. This is forgiveness.
“He [God] made you alive together with Him [Christ], having forgiven us all our transgressions” [Col.2:13]. This is the wonderful forgiveness all real Christians have received and experienced. It is the same type of forgiveness that we are to extend to others.
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” [Eph.4:31,32].
How? How are we to forgive even as God has forgiven us? “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities… As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” [Ps.103:10-12].
He has removed/sent away our sins; this is forgiveness, to send away thoughts of punishment and revenge so they are never seen or brought to mind again. It is what we are to do towards those who have offended us.
“You have cast all my sins behind Your back” [Isa.38:17]. Our sins are not before His face or kept in His heart against us; they are cast behind Him. There they cannot be seen or called to remembrance in vexation. Let us then forgive in this same way.
“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?” [Micah 7:18]. Yes, He passes over them, not rising up in wrath and rage, punishment and harm.
We must forgive as He has forgiven us; this is the repeated message of the Scriptures. How like our God are we in this? In what ways does our forgiveness resemble His own?
“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions” [Prov.10:12]. “He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends” [Prov.17:9].
“A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression” [Prov.19:11]. “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins” [I Pet.4:8].
Love does not stir up sin and evil; it does not keep digging it up to avenge wrongs done. Love and forgiveness send away offenses. Love releases any thoughts of punishment and harm against the offender.
It is true that God’s people forgive as He forgives. Those are the true believers. It is also true that God forgives us as we forgive others. “And forgive us our debts [sins] as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors [who have sinned against us]” [Mt.6:12].
But any who lack forgiveness, are blind or shortsighted, or have never encountered at all the Christ who forgives. “Do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven” [Lk.6:37].
Indeed, Jesus has taught us to pray: “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to [has sinned against] us” [Lk.11:4]. In effect we are asking God to forgive us in the same way we forgive others.
Do we forgive quickly? Is our forgiveness complete? Are we holding grudge and malice? Is it our wish to see offenders against us punished? Are kindness and mercy extended to those we forgive? Do we actually wish God to forgive us in the same way we forgive others? It is a prayer.
How do we wish God to answer that prayer? In what way will God forgive us? Let us be freely forgiving.
But how often must we forgive? “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” [Lk.17:3,4].
“’How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven’” [Mt.18:21,22].
Forgiveness of others is to be extended an uncountable number of times. Do we actually keep record? Are we taking note of any and every offense, however small it might be?
How many sins has God forgiven us? “My iniquities have overtaken me…they are more numerous than the hairs of my head” [Ps.40:12]. How many hairs are on your head? How many sins has God forgiven you? How many times must you forgive others? If you will forgive as God forgives you, you must forgive an uncountable number of times. It is what God does; it is what true believers do. Forgive.
3
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” [Rom.12:14]. “But I say to you, ‘love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you’” [Mt.5:44].
A forgiving heart is at peace with obeying these commands. But a disobedient heart is never at rest. It is always vexed and discontent. It remains struggling and resistant against Christ and His forgiving purposes. It does so because that heart is unwilling to freely forgive.
Vengeance belongs to God. He alone knows the hearts of men. Only God truly knows the proper judgment and punishment. Our judgment may be too severe, or it may be altogether insufficient. The Lord is the only One who can justly judge.
“Do not say, ‘I will repay evil;’ Wait for the Lord, and He will save you” [Prov.20:22]. “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the Lord will see it and it displease Him, and He will turn away His wrath from Him” [Prov.24:17,18].
We dare not seek revenge; that belongs to God. We dare not delight in the calamity of others; that also belongs to God.
Whether then we are either seeking harm or are glad when it occurs, our hearts are not right. Malice is present in both cases. Forgiveness is absent in either situation.
“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but give place to wrath, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” [Rom.12:19]. We are not qualified to avenge evil. We excuse what God condemns and we punish what God excuses. We are unfit for this work.
Vengeance is His; forgiveness is ours. Ours is to forgive, to hold no grudge, to seek no calamity, to send away thoughts of disaster and harm. When we do that, we are free from guilt because love triumphs in our hearts.
Forgiving also gives “place to wrath.” It clears the way for God to judge properly.
It commits to His justice the righteous judgment that He alone knows needs to fall upon evil men. When we forgive, God will act for the sake of His servants; He will act for the sake of His great Name.
Our part is to forgive. God’s part is to either forgive or avenge; that is His right. “O Lord our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them, and yet an avenger of their evil deeds” [Ps.99:8].
Beloved, let us forgive. God forgives us when we forgive others.
But God judges us when we seek to judge others. Let us forgive; leave vengeance with the Lord.
Brethren, “see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by this many become defiled” [Heb.12:15].
The grace of Christ is the cure for bitterness, resentment, grudge, malice, vengeance, hatred, and anger. These evils defile not only you, but everyone you come in contact with.
But the fruit of the grace from God is forgiveness. That grace enables us to send these things away, to release those poisonous bitter roots in the heart, to freely forgive.
“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, there is disturbance and every evil thing” [James 3:14-16].
It is no small matter, this thing of forgiveness.
So what are you waiting for? Uproot the poisonous defiling bitterness from your heart. Dismiss all hatred and resentment. Pour cold water on the smoldering fires of vengeance.
Release the caged birds of malice. Be free.
Freely forgive.