Welcome to a new season of the Essential Bible Studies podcast. In this first episode of season six Steven Macfarlane and Tim Young talk about the vast subject of forgiveness in the Bible.
- Part of who God is – Ex 34:6-7; Num 14:18 “God is forgiveness”
Part of the example of Jesus – 1 Pet 2:23Ultimate Example – Forgive them, for they know not what they do – Lk 23:33-34Condition of God’s forgiveness to us – Mt 6:14-15Eph 4:30-32 – forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave youWe all sin – Jn 8:7So others will forgive us – golden rule James 2:8Only response to God’s forgiveness – Col 3:12-15Principles of Forgiveness:
- Faith – Gal 3:6 (believe God forgives us) – Heb 11:6
- Helps lift the burden of guilt/shame
Repent – Acts 2:38 (change)- Recognize sin, confess sin, change
Repent is changing…but not our ways, our thinking. That’s the definition of the word ‘the think differently or afterwards’ – from ‘meta’ – to transfer (metamorphosis) + ‘noieo’ – the mindConviction & Conduct (Islip Collyer) – ‘every deliberate act is the outcome of deliberate thought, and it therefore follows that control of thought must lie at the root of all reform’Back to the garden – forgiveness didn’t mean there was no consequences for sin (Gen 3:16-19); Forgiveness is based on repentance (3:21) Forgiving Attitude – Mk 11:26 (forgive others)Why is Forgiveness so Difficult:
- We’re hurt – solution: time, suffer ourselves to be defrauded (emotionally)
What we struggle with is harder to forgive in others – solution: God forgave our fault/struggleMakes us vulnerable – solution…exactly. This is the solution!“To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and discover the prisoner was you.” Colin Attridge (Fruit of the Spirit)Mt 12:34 – forgiveness we think is outward, we say it, we show it…but out of the heart, the mouth speaks – forgiveness if really inward focused. We can say things and not mean them…then not truly forgiving someone.- No discussion – unintentional offence, little consequence, minor
Two-Way communication – danger of repeating offence, affects our faith, sin through ignorance (Mt 18:15)With witnesses – Mt 18:16 – if not responding to v15- Being aware of what was wrong, and choosing to forgive
- Not keeping a record of it (story of Moms little black book)
Not punishing, but being merciful (Lk 6:36)Unlimited and immediate – Lk 17:3-4. Don’t demand anything back, don’t expect anything back, don’t hope for anything back (Lk 6:35) -- Keep forgiving…forever. Pray for them.- Col 3:12-13 – so you also must forgive
Matt 6:9-15 – as we also have forgiven our debtors – Christ spoke often of forgivenessRom 12:17-19 – vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the LordPsa 103:11-12 – as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us2 Cor 5:18-19 – Message of reconciliation…1 Cor 13:4-5 – Love is not resentful…keeps no record of wrongs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/essentialbiblestudies
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