Forgive and Be Forgiven

Matthew 6:12-15; 18:21-35

“‘For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions’” (Matt. 6:14-15, NASB).

Forgiving others and being forgiven is one of the most important factors that affect our relationships including God and other people. The article “Forgive: An Antidote for Bitterness” was written May 24, 2017, and it can be found in the archives of this website. In this article we discuss how our unwillingness to forgive can cause health problems. In this article for today I want to emphasize that forgiving others is necessary if we expect God to forgive us. Why am I revisiting the subject of forgiveness at this time?

During the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing of Supreme Court Justice Nominee Brett Kavanaugh I occasionally hear news reporters using the word “revenge.” They report that there are groups that will look for ways to get revenge if the Judge is confirmed. Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed and I think about this word revenge. It troubles me because when a person seeks to get revenge there is no intent to forgive. I believe that the scriptures support my belief that forgiveness, not revenge is the best way to bring about reconciliation between two opposing parties. Revenge divides people and the fact that people want revenge tells me that a lot of the leaders in our country are trying to unite the country in a way that the Bible tells us is impossible.

What concerns me most is that there are a lot of good church attending folk that pay their tithes, read their bibles, and pray that also seek revenge instead of forgiving those who they feel have done wrong. I wonder, how many people have ever read the two verses above. These two verses come at the end of the prayer that Jesus teaches His disciples. These two verses tell us that if we do not forgive others, our Father in heaven will not forgive us. Think about this. Someone has done me wrong. I am hurt and angry and I am determined to get revenge. I am determined to get even. In my anger, I have no thought of forgiving the other person. Yet, I want the Father to forgive me. The scriptures tell me that God forgives me on the condition that I forgive those that transgress against me. So, I want to give a few nuggets to explain scripturally why this is necessarily true.

First, this truth is seen in the prayer that Jesus teaches His disciples. He says, “‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors’” (Matt. 6:12). I come to God asking Him to forgive me because I have forgiven the one that has sinned against me. I do not ask God to forgive me and at the same time refuse to forgive my debtor. The truth that I must be willing to forgive in order to be forgiven is based on our being connected to the “true vine” (Jn. 15:1) allowing His words and His Spirit) to flow in us. We love because He first loved us. We forgive because He first forgave us our sins, cleansing us from all unrighteousness; and His Spirit lives in us so that we can be like Him, speaking and living His truth.

Secondly, we are not reservoirs for the gifts and blessings that God give us. Instead, we are conduits of God’s blessings. This principle is seen in God’s call to Abram (Abraham). Let us look at God’s call to Abram. God says, “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3, NASB). God tells Abram that I am blessing you and you are to bless others. You are to pass down through your descendants the same blessings that I am blessing you with. Do not keep these blessings to yourself. Let these blessings flow through you to others. You are a conduit. You are not a reservoir.

Since we are conduits of everything that God gives to us, we must keep the conduit open. This means that we must keep trash and debris out of the conduit. Otherwise, the conduit is clogged up and nothing can flow through it. This is the mistake that the rich man makes in the parable that Jesus tells in Luke 12:16-21. The rich man wants to hold on to everything that he is blessed with. He fails to be a conduit that can be used to help others; especially the poor. Verse twenty-one shows us that when we fail to pass our blessings to others we clog up our conduit, and God can no longer bless us. So, what does all of this have to do with forgiving to be forgiven?

When we refuse to forgive others we collect a lot of trash and debris in our conduit. Our minds and our hearts are conduits that God wants us to use to bless others. When God forgives us our sins He intends for us to allow His forgiveness to flow through the conduits of our hearts and minds to others. The trash and debris that collect in our conduits include the following that Paul calls the works of the flesh. “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing and things like these” (Gal. 5:19-21, NASB). While all of these may not affect every person, all of these are possible pieces of trash and debris that clog our conduit. Jesus tells a parable recorded in Matthew 18:21-35 that illustrates this principle.

Jesus tells this parable because Peter asks a question. “Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’” (v. 21).In the parable the king decides to collect the accounts with his slaves. One of the slaves begs the king to allow him time to time to repay the debt. The king is moved with compassion and released the slave from his debt. However, the same slave beat a fellow slave that owed him a debt. The other slaves saw what was done, and they report what they have seen to the king. The king punishes the slave until he is able pay the debt. Jesus concludes the parable by saying “‘My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of does not forgive his brother from the heart’” (v. 35).

The slave’s heart conduit is filled with trash and debris. God’s compassion and forgiveness cannot flow through him. You see, it is not that God does not desire to forgive us. The problem is that we will not allow God to forgive us. Jesus will not use force to get into our hearts. He says, “‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him, and he with Me’” (Rev. 3:20, NASB).

Will we open our hearts so that God’s Spirit can flow through us to others? Again, Paul gives us the evidence that our conduit is free of trash and debris. He writes: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).

We can say that our willingness to forgive others come from the flow of God’s Spirit. When we refuse to forgive others we stop the flow of God’s Spirit. Without God’s Spirit we are carnal beings, and we cannot do what we ought to do (Rom. 8:4-8). Let us forgive and be forgiven.