Today we continue our series examining the "one another's" of the Bible. Our focus this week is on the command to forgive one another and we'll be using Paul's instructions in Ephesians 4:32 as our primary text.

It goes without saying that you will be hurt in life, and often the people who cause the most significant hurts in our lives are those who are closest to us. People do and say things, that cause hurt. Sometimes intentionally, other times unintentionally. Regardless of their motive - the end result is the same: hurt. One of the greatest skills we can develop in life is to learn how to deal with these hurts in a healthy way, because how you choose to deal with life's hurts will greatly influence the degree of joy, peace, and contentment you experience in life. You can choose resentment or forgiveness. Our natural human response is resentment - we want to hang onto the wrongs that have been done against us, we want the victims to pay, we want justice - we want to get even. But resentment will lead to bitterness and ultimately destroy us.

On the other hand, when we choose forgiveness we are making the choice to let it go. We are giving up our right to exact revenge and justice. You may ask "why"? Why should I forgive the person who has hurt me so deeply? The Bible gives us three reasons:

(a) Because God has forgiven me.

(b) Because Resentment does not work.

(c) Because I'll need forgiveness in the future.

The forgiveness we are called to extend is only possible through Christ. I can forgive because Jesus has forgiven me. This is both the reason and the means of forgiveness.

The word forgive means to release a person from an obligation or repaying a debt that's owed. It means to cancel or forgive a debt. Forgiveness is what we are called to do and who we are called to be.

Forgiveness is part of who God is. It's why Jesus came. And it's what Christians do.

Today we continue our series examining the "one another's" of the Bible. Our focus this week is on the command to forgive one another and we'll be using Paul's instructions in Ephesians 4:32 as our primary text.

It goes without saying that you will be hurt in life, and often the people who cause the most significant hurts in our lives are those who are closest to us. People do and say things, that cause hurt. Sometimes intentionally, other times unintentionally. Regardless of their motive - the end result is the same: hurt. One of the greatest skills we can develop in life is to learn how to deal with these hurts in a healthy way, because how you choose to deal with life's hurts will greatly influence the degree of joy, peace, and contentment you experience in life. You can choose resentment or forgiveness. Our natural human response is resentment - we want to hang onto the wrongs that have been done against us, we want the victims to pay, we want justice - we want to get even. But resentment will lead to bitterness and ultimately destroy us.

On the other hand, when we choose forgiveness we are making the choice to let it go. We are giving up our right to exact revenge and justice. You may ask "why"? Why should I forgive the person who has hurt me so deeply? The Bible gives us three reasons:

(a) Because God has forgiven me.

(b) Because Resentment does not work.

(c) Because I'll need forgiveness in the future.

The forgiveness we are called to extend is only possible through Christ. I can forgive because Jesus has forgiven me. This is both the reason and the means of forgiveness.

The word forgive means to release a person from an obligation or repaying a debt that's owed. It means to cancel or forgive a debt. Forgiveness is what we are called to do and who we are called to be.

Forgiveness is part of who God is. It's why Jesus came. And it's what Christians do.

Religion is often used to control people. We see the terrible effects of this kind of control in many countries of the world today. Christianity is supposed to be different. It is a religion of emancipation. Countries based on the Christian ethic tend to talk a lot about freedom: freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, etc. But the most important kind of freedom cannot come from government policy or constitutional rules. The most important kind of freedom is freedom from the terrible bondage of slavery to self. By this I mean slavery to our sinful natures, that tendency to do those things that are destructive to ourselves and others. Only Jesus provides the solution for this most insidious kind of enslavement. Paul comments in 2 Corinthians 3:17 that "where the Spirit of the Lord is; there is freedom." In fact freedom is the hallmark of the Christian life.

Paul writes the letter of Galatians to address those who worry that the freedom we find in Christ might be used to fall back into the sinful ways of pagan 1st Century life. Their solution was to impose laws to keep everyone on the straight and narrow. Paul strongly protests. This would be a return to another kind of slavery. Rather than slavery to sin it would be slavery to the law. This is not the freedom that Christ won for us.

Paul insists that the solution to the sin issue is for the people of God to serve one another in love. The power of the Spirit will enable us to live clean and free lives as we purpose to love one another in this way. This kind of determination actually fulfills the Old Testament law as Jesus instructed in Matthew 22:39. This "living in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16) is the sure fire way to be free from the tyranny of the sinful nature and the restrictive requirements of the law.

The paradox here is that Paul is suggesting that the key to be free from slavery is to become slaves to one another under the direction of the Spirit. (The Greek word for "serve" in 5:13d is also translated "to be enslaved.") It is really an exchange of taskmasters. But it is better to be a slave to the Spirit than to be a slave to anything else. For the Spirit is in fact the Spirit of Jesus who loves us and gave himself for us. This new kind of slavery has also many benefits completely unknown in other kinds of slavery. It brings joy, it produces good fruit and it is in keeping with God's master plan and design for us. In this kind of service we find our true meaning, our real purpose, our best selves.

Religion is often used to control people. We see the terrible effects of this kind of control in many countries of the world today. Christianity is supposed to be different. It is a religion of emancipation. Countries based on the Christian ethic tend to talk a lot about freedom: freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, etc. But the most important kind of freedom cannot come from government policy or constitutional rules. The most important kind of freedom is freedom from the terrible bondage of slavery to self. By this I mean slavery to our sinful natures, that tendency to do those things that are destructive to ourselves and others. Only Jesus provides the solution for this most insidious kind of enslavement. Paul comments in 2 Corinthians 3:17 that "where the Spirit of the Lord is; there is freedom." In fact freedom is the hallmark of the Christian life.

Paul writes the letter of Galatians to address those who worry that the freedom we find in Christ might be used to fall back into the sinful ways of pagan 1st Century life. Their solution was to impose laws to keep everyone on the straight and narrow. Paul strongly protests. This would be a return to another kind of slavery. Rather than slavery to sin it would be slavery to the law. This is not the freedom that Christ won for us.

Paul insists that the solution to the sin issue is for the people of God to serve one another in love. The power of the Spirit will enable us to live clean and free lives as we purpose to love one another in this way. This kind of determination actually fulfills the Old Testament law as Jesus instructed in Matthew 22:39. This "living in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16) is the sure fire way to be free from the tyranny of the sinful nature and the restrictive requirements of the law.

The paradox here is that Paul is suggesting that the key to be free from slavery is to become slaves to one another under the direction of the Spirit. (The Greek word for "serve" in 5:13d is also translated "to be enslaved.") It is really an exchange of taskmasters. But it is better to be a slave to the Spirit than to be a slave to anything else. For the Spirit is in fact the Spirit of Jesus who loves us and gave himself for us. This new kind of slavery has also many benefits completely unknown in other kinds of slavery. It brings joy, it produces good fruit and it is in keeping with God's master plan and design for us. In this kind of service we find our true meaning, our real purpose, our best selves.

This is the third sermon in our series of "one another" statements in the New Testament. We are in the process of sampling these statements from several of the New Testament books. We have looked at "love one another" from John's Gospel and "be devoted to one another" in the letter to the Romans. Now we are turning to 1 Corinthians and discussing "agree with one another" from 1 Cor. 1:10.

It should not surprise us that the Corinthians needed to agree with one another. Their divisiveness is at the core of the reason for Paul's missive. They were in disagreement over several issues: Paul's credentials; loyalty to various teachers, the importance of certain spiritual gifts, and the incestuous relationship of some of the members of the church. But the issue at stake in our text trumps them all. It is about the essence of the Gospel. While some may have been enamored with the wisdom of certain philosophers and the promises of certain polished orators, Paul insists that only the power found in the cross of Jesus can truly save. On this topic the Corinthians must be of one mind and heart. They must agree on this essential.

Paul does not suggest that Christians must be uniform or monotonous. In chapter 12 he celebrates the diversity of the Church. We know that Christians will disagree about many things, as do friends and married couples. But the key is for those disagreements not to become divisions or reasons for unresolved discord. Interestingly, Paul uses the Greek word for "rents in clothing" when he refers to "divisions," and he employs the word for "net mending" when he appeals for them to be "united." We might paraphrase this by saying: "Don't allow your differences to tear you apart but work at mending your differences." Anyone who has watched fishermen who use nets to catch fish knows that along with the job of casting the nets and retrieving the haul, much time must be spent on maintaining and mending the nets. In Mark 1:19 the Gospel writer introduces us to some of the disciples employed at just such a task.

From our text we learn that while there is a lot of diversity in the Church there are certain things we must all agree upon. We must learn to deal with our differences and not allow disagreements to tear us apart. With Christ we can find unity and harmony.

This is the third sermon in our series of "one another" statements in the New Testament. We are in the process of sampling these statements from several of the New Testament books. We have looked at "love one another" from John's Gospel and "be devoted to one another" in the letter to the Romans. Now we are turning to 1 Corinthians and discussing "agree with one another" from 1 Cor. 1:10.

It should not surprise us that the Corinthians needed to agree with one another. Their divisiveness is at the core of the reason for Paul's missive. They were in disagreement over several issues: Paul's credentials; loyalty to various teachers, the importance of certain spiritual gifts, and the incestuous relationship of some of the members of the church. But the issue at stake in our text trumps them all. It is about the essence of the Gospel. While some may have been enamored with the wisdom of certain philosophers and the promises of certain polished orators, Paul insists that only the power found in the cross of Jesus can truly save. On this topic the Corinthians must be of one mind and heart. They must agree on this essential.

Paul does not suggest that Christians must be uniform or monotonous. In chapter 12 he celebrates the diversity of the Church. We know that Christians will disagree about many things, as do friends and married couples. But the key is for those disagreements not to become divisions or reasons for unresolved discord. Interestingly, Paul uses the Greek word for "rents in clothing" when he refers to "divisions," and he employs the word for "net mending" when he appeals for them to be "united." We might paraphrase this by saying: "Don't allow your differences to tear you apart but work at mending your differences." Anyone who has watched fishermen who use nets to catch fish knows that along with the job of casting the nets and retrieving the haul, much time must be spent on maintaining and mending the nets. In Mark 1:19 the Gospel writer introduces us to some of the disciples employed at just such a task.

From our text we learn that while there is a lot of diversity in the Church there are certain things we must all agree upon. We must learn to deal with our differences and not allow disagreements to tear us apart. With Christ we can find unity and harmony.

Continuing in the One Another Summer Series

Continuing in the One Another Summer Series

Our Summer Series focuses on One Another in Kingdom Community.

Love, Devote, Build, Urge, Agree, Teach, Serve, Bear ... one another.

In our text this week the Apostle Paul is writing to the church in Colosse. Although at this time he was under house arrest, Paul was anything but idle, choosing instead to make use of his 2 year incarceration by writing several letters to churches in the Roman Empire. It appears that Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon were all penned at this time.

Paul writes Colossians to correct a theological problem in the church. It seems that the folks there had been confused over some teaching that we sometimes call proto-gnosticism. It was a heresy of the early church that put an emphasis on ceremonialism, asceticism, angel worship, and secret knowledge while at the same time depreciating the supremacy of Christ. In the letter we find some of the strongest affirmations of the deity and all sufficiency of Christ.

Paul has several friends in Colosse. Some of whom we are familiar with from other letters and some of them are new to us. Tychicus and Onesimus carry the letter back to Colosse to be distributed to the other towns in the area. Onesimus has a history in Colosse since he had escaped slavery from Philemon's household. The letter of Philemon fills in the details. It is intriguing that Paul is sending him back home; a reformed renegade.

Epaphras is with Paul. He founded the Colossian church and probably is the one who has told Paul of the theological trouble in Colosse. He is working hard on their behalf and praying for their spiritual maturity. Paul has a rather cryptic instruction for Archippus to complete the work he received in the Lord. This could mean a number of things but it is likely that Paul is prompting him to carry on with something Paul has instructed him to do but is unwilling to mention publicly. Perhaps there is some unfinished reconciliation work between Philemon and Onesimus that needs to take place.

Some of the lessons on friendship from Colossians:

- Christians Have a Wide Circle of Friends

- We Need to Cultivate Friendships

- The Deepest Friendships Are Forged in Difficult Times