Mat 6:15
“But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
– English KJV
“ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἀφήσει τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν.”
– Greek Text
“ean de mē aphēte tois anthrōpois ta paraptōmata autōn oude o patēr umōn aphēsei ta paraptōmata umōn.”
– Greek Pronunciation
Forgiveness is one of the primary subjects of the Bible. The very reason for the covenant between man and God is based on the fact that man sinned and must be forgiven.
The problem is that as humans we are very shortsighted and we need God’s Word to help us. The nature of our flesh is to hold grudges and to refuse forgiving others. It is evident in the world today.
The Bible is clear that if we do not forgive others their trespasses, God will not forgive us our trespasses. This is clearly indicated in Matthew 18:21-35:
Peter decided to ask Jesus how many times he should forgive. “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (Matthew 18:21). Today we may think that Peter was being funny by suggesting such a small number, however, Peter was actually being very generous! During that period the rabbis taught that you only need to forgive three times. This is probably due to the references in Amos 1 where God forgave Israel’s enemies three times (Amos 1:3, 6, 9 and 13). Therefore Peter thought he was fairly safe to suggest such a “high” number, until Jesus decimated the incorrect doctrine by stating that you forgive seventy times seven trespasses.
This must have been a very thought-provoking lesson for a generation of people who believe that you do not forgive more than three times. We have to understand the reality of the culture at the time. Not everyone was educated and not everyone had the ability to figure out what the answer to the equation is…and that is the whole point! Jesus did not give this statement as a mathematical equation to be figured out, but rather as a number implying infinity. It was meant to indicate that we should forgive every time and not keep count.
Two kinds of forgiveness:
1) Judicial Forgiveness
When we trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are forgiven for our sins. This is judicial forgiveness. This is where we are saved from eternal judgment. We come to God as an unsaved being, meaning we are on our way to Hell, at this point God is a judge towards us, not our Father. Once we receive this forgiveness, God becomes our Father.
2) Parental Forgiveness
When we as believers go to our Father and ask forgiveness for faltering and stumbling we are forgiven for our mistakes. This is parental forgiveness. We now come before God as His children and under the grace of Jesus our Lord. Here God is no longer some distant judge, but our Father, with whom we have a personal relationship.
When an unsaved person comes before the Lord it is a court of law, where things are sorted out by the book. When a born-again Christian comes before the Lord it is a home, where things are sorted out as family matters
The Strategy of the Enemy:
God takes forgiveness very serious. If we do not forgive, He will not forgive.
It is our nature to hold grudges and the enemy is using this against us. The enemy knows that one of the easiest ways to keep you from the peace of God is by offending you in such a way that you do not forgive. We must be watchful every single day because it is very easy for the enemy to put offense in our way.
Let us look at an example of how powerful the traps of the devil can be:
In the early days, before the invention of modern weapons, the days of spears, bows and arrows, the men of old would scheme up ways to catch the great Grizzly bears of North America. Instead of tackling the bear head on (which would have been very stupid), they would first dig a hole in the ground and cover it with brush then they would taunt the bear until it became irritated, angry and charged them. The men would then run towards the hole they had dug and at the last moment jump aside. The bear, in its rage, would be unable to stop and crash through the brush into the hole.
The men then had two choices. They could either kill the bear in the hole, strip it of its coat and bury it right there, or they could leave the bear and periodically return to feed it. The bear, unable to escape, would eventually become dependent on the men and ultimately become so tame and broken in spirit that they could tie a rope around his neck, release him from the pit and use him as a circus bear.
Satan works in the same way. His plan is to taunt us by offending us. When we react to this offense it is too late, we are caught in his trap.
If you harbor an offense it could, just like the story of the bear, cause you to act in such a manner that it:
- Would cause your spiritual death in that you blame everyone and everything around you, even God, and cause you to reject faith.
- Would cause you to always carry in you the feelings of anger, fear, regret and rejection, which will severely limit the relationships you will develop, even your relationship with God.
- Would cause you to never realize your true call and potential in life.
Harboring an offense will make you a slave to sin, just like the bear.
If you do not forgive a person, you will never realize the plans God has for you. You can imagine it like this:
Your friend offends you. If you refuse to forgive him you can imagine that a rope binds the two of you. God now has a destiny for you and a destiny for your friend. Your friend will be moving towards his destiny, which is in the opposite direction from yours, however, the only way you can move towards your destiny is by cutting the rope and forgiving that person. If you refuse to forgive then you will have to move along with the other person. The longer you wait to cut the rope, the further away from your destiny you will be.
The enemy loves creating offense because it is such a basic and easy strategy. We must be watchful of the enemy and refuse to let offense stay in our hearts. If we become offended we must forgive immediately! When we do this we turn the tables and the enemy is in hot water because Jesus said “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!”.
The enemy might be using a basic and easy strategy, but it can quickly become very dangerous for him as well. So we must be vigilant and ensure that when we encounter this strategy we defeat the devil in his own game!
It is also important to avoid being the offender. Do not allow Satan to use you for his own game. Defeat him before he even starts! Always be mindful of what you are about to say or do to ensure that the enemy does not use you for his own purposes.
Remember the basic rules:
Forgiveness can be initiated from either the offender or the offended. So initiate forgiveness!
Forgive the moment you realize that you have been offended.
Forgive even if no forgiveness is sought.
Never hold back forgiveness, give it freely.
Always ask for forgiveness, do not let the other suffer at the enemy’s hands when you can end the suffering and beat your common enemy together.
So how important is forgiving? According to Matthew 5:23-24 forgiveness takes priority over everything, even worship! This means that un-forgiveness stands between us and a true relationship with God.
Many of us need to ask ourselves some very serious questions:
Am I up to date with my forgiving?
Am I holding a grudge against anyone?
Do I harbor bitterness in my heart?
Am I talking too much about what others have done to me?
Have I asked for forgiveness where needed?
What is true forgiveness:
True forgiveness is forgiving someone and restoring that person the position they had before they offended you. Here is an example:
A husband works all day to support his family. Everything he does is for his family because he loves them so much, however, one day he catches his wife cheating on him. His world seems to fall apart around him. Now this wife is sorry for what she has done and asks for forgiveness. True forgiveness would be for that man to forgive her and restore her to her position that she held before she cheated on him. This means not only forgiving her, but TRUSTING her as much as he had before she cheated on him!
This might seem like an extreme example and can seem impossible to do, however we must remember that there is very little difference between this story and our relationship with God. Adam and Eve chose to follow Satan, rather than God. They effectively cheated on God. Today, if we place things before God (money, work, friends etc) we are cheating on God. God must be first in our lives and if He is not, we are cheating on Him. But guess what? If we ask for forgiveness God will forgive us and restore us to the position we held in His eyes in the beginning, before Adam fell!
So the example may seem extreme, but God is forgiving us for far greater things every single day. That is how much He loves us! That is how much we must love each other.
