​“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15) Forgiveness is a vital part of the Christian’s life. We have been forgiven beyond measure, and yet we so easily can become offended and unforgiving to those who wrong us, who lie to us, who break our hearts, and/or who hurt our egos or our feelings. However, forgiveness is not just given to those who seek it, we are called to forgive whether they seek our forgiveness or not. Christ Himself exemplified this while being crucified, near death, He prays to the Father “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Not to say there is not a place for those who profess Christ to be rebuked when wronging another fellow brother or sister, but even then, if they repent, if they seek forgiveness, who are we to withhold that? “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4)

Our Lord taught us through the Lord’s prayer that we are directed to pray to the Father, seeking forgiveness through Him, based completely and solely on the work of Christ Jesus. However, only by the Holy Spirit having quickened us, having regenerated us, can we then recognize our need for forgiveness and seek the Father’s pardon through His Son. God is able to perfectly exemplify forgiveness through Christ without comprimising the fact that He is just, as He ordains His Son to take our place, to bear the weight of our sin and shame, and suffer in our stead the wrath of God that we deserve. He forgives us by the propitiatory sacrifice of His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In so doing, God is able to be both just and the justifier. “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at this present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26) 

​Does forgiveness entail a forgetting of those wrongs done? No, it does not. In fact, we are told, that if we do start forgetting things, that something is severely wrong, we are either dealing with amnesia, brain damage, trauma, drug usage, or Alzheimer’s disease. God does not forget our sins either. “He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19) God clearly casts away our sins, far from His sight, however, if we can not forget them and often times that feeling of guilt can resurface, then how much more can God who is omniscient be unable to recount our transgressions? We are told time and time again to forgive, or we can be certain that we ourselves are not forgiven. “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25-26)

​“Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, 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 in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:26-27,31-32) We must be very careful to not allow ourselves to become unrighteously/unjustly angry at anyone, for that is a sin as we are told by our Lord. “You have heard it said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” (Matthew 5:21-22) The puritan Thomas Watson has best said “Sin gratifies Satan. When lust or anger burn in the soul, Satan warms himself by the fire.” We give place to the devil in our lives when we act in such a manner as that which is contrary to what is Christlikeness. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) 

​As the lyrics in the Sovereign Grace Music song “Judge of the Secrets” has so rightly put it, “So how can I judge the ones who fall? I know in my heart I’m just like them all.” We have no right to harbor feelings of bitterness, resentment, anger, or unforgiveness when we have been forgiven such a debt as the one we incur in our lifetime toward God. “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, 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. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him saying ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then this master, after he called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” (Matthew 18:21-35)

​If you’re struggling to forgive, ask yourself why you refuse to let the offense go? What good can come from refusing to forgive? You ultimately end up hurting yourself, leaving the relationship in a state of ruin, and we all know that life is too short to cling to our pride and our ego by not forgiving someone. “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14) God has commanded us to be a forgiving people, as it reflects His character. If that be the case, then unforgiveness is a breaking of His command, it is therefore sin. This means it is no less offensive than fornication, drunkenness, adultery, and/or murder. Unfortunately, the sin of unforgiveness is more commonly found among the people of God than that which we would consider to be the more heinous or egregious sins. However, Scripture is clear, God abhors an unforgiving spirit as witnessed above in Matthew 18:21-35. Upon salvation, we are given the new nature, that nature bears a Christlikeness. Forgiveness then is an essential part of the Christian’s nature. To be unforgiving and claim to be a Christian is a contradiction. A stubborn “Christian” who refuses to let go of the grudge they cling to, leaves good reason to question the genuineness of that person’s faith.

​Who are we to think we can exact justice, or that we are due something better than what we receive? As discussed before in previous blogs past, we are owed only the wages due us for our sin, that being death, and after that the judgment that leads to condemnation, eternal condemnation. Let us lay aside our pride, our selfishness, and accept with grace those wrongs done to us. “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21) If we seek to glorify God in all things, as we ought, we would be wise to heed His word when it comes to this subject. Fight the flesh by the power of His Spirit who resides in us and be merciful and gracious to those who, like us, do not deserve it. 

​“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:5-10)