Calvary Road Baptist Church
“FORGIVENESS”[1] Part 3
Luke 17.5
Luke chapter 17.
In Luke chapter 17, our Lord provided direction in four areas related to Christian service; being careful to give no offense, being careful to take no offense, exhortation to exercise your faith, and a very brief parable about an unjust steward. As we stand to read from Luke 17.1, we will stick to the first two of our Lord’s cautions, to give no offense and to take no offense:
1 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!
2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
Luke 17.1-3 records our Lord’s warnings against giving anyone offense. In verse 1, the disciples are warned of the inevitability of offenses:
“Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!”
What exactly is an “offence”? The Greek word used here is skάndalon, which originally was the bate-stick on a trap used to catch small animals.[2] The derived meaning of the word, as used here, is that action or circumstance that leads someone else to act improperly or to adopt erroneous beliefs. In other words, it refers to tempting someone to in some way sin.[3]
The Lord Jesus Christ informed His disciples that there was no way to guarantee that you would not be tempted and enticed to commit sins. This also means that there is no possible way for you to escape the temptations and the enticements to turn your back on the Christian faith, to apostatize. The challenges will come, be they from enemies or friends, foes or family.
Notice, however, that the Lord Jesus Christ pronounced a woe upon you if you do the enticing, who does the tempting. Keep in mind that the Word of God very definitely assigns personal responsibility for every sin you commit to you and you alone, but that the enticement you are exposed to is in itself a sin that will be harshly judged, as Luke 17.2 clearly points out. In other words, make very sure you are not the one who entices someone else to sin.
Next, in verse 2, the disciples were warned of the punishment:
“It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”
The specific punishment is not stated, although the severity of the punishment is very effectively communicated. The mental image is of a grinding mill in which grain is ground employing a large circular stone with a flat bottom that is turned upon another stone using a pole attached to a donkey. As the donkey turns the millstone, the grain is ground to flour. Imagine that large donut-shaped millstone hung around your neck before being tossed into the sea. What chance have you of avoiding drowning? None whatsoever.
With this, the Lord Jesus Christ not only warns of the punishment for offending a little one, but since judgment and punishment are proportional to the severity of the crime that has been committed, we see how extremely serious any sin is which lures or entices a little one to believe that which is untrue or to do that which is wrong. Be careful who you follow and the direction you lead those who follow you.
The reference to “little ones” in Luke 17.2 may be an allusion to new disciples who need instruction[4]or perhaps to those who are less mature. Understand that Christians are free. We have liberty. But there is a law that is higher than the law of freedom. That higher law is the law of love. For love, we must not offend “little ones,” be they little children or Christians who are less mature than we are.
Beloved, be careful that you give no offense. Exercise great caution so you will not offend anyone who looks up to you, sees you as an example, or follows the trail in life that you blaze. By offend, I mean entice them and tempt them to behave or believe wrongly.
Next, be careful to take no offense, Luke 17.3b-4. Notice how ready you should be to forgive anyone who sins against you who is repentant, something you cannot do if you take offense and hold a grudge.
3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
If you take Luke 17.1-4 together, you see it implied in the passage a back and forth between you and others, sinning and forgiving, sinning and forgiving. What does this show us? It serves to remind us that being a disciple of Jesus Christ was not then, and is not now, a matter of isolating yourself from other people. He sinned against me, so I will have nothing further to do with him. I sinned against her, so I will allow my feelings of guilt to isolate me from her. Both reactions are improper responses to sins.
Though you must come to Christ by yourself, and the Spirit of God typically brings sinners to a strong sense of their aloneness as a lost person, once you are joined to Jesus Christ, the plan of God for your life is to live in the midst of, to serve alongside, and to constantly interact with, other Christians in the congregation of the assembly, the Church of Jesus Christ. That is the focus and center of your discipleship activities, and that is the focus and center of your public worship activities.
Isolating yourself so you will neither be offended nor offend others is not a Scriptural option. That kind of interaction between Christians who still have sinful natures and who are not perfectly sanctified (an impossibility) will certainly result in offenses, both the giving and the getting of offenses. Thus, Luke 17.1-3a warns against offending others, and Luke 17.3b-4 warns against being offended by others.
There are three critical considerations related to being the kind of Christian who does not take offense, is relatively immune from being offended, and is not one to be overcome with bitterness and a grudge-holding, unforgiving spirit.
First, be sure to rebuke the brother who sins against you:
“If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him.”
Notice several things about this third-class conditional statement, meaning it is not presumed someone will sin against you, but if they do, you have an evident responsibility:
First, the person you are dealing with is a brother. That is, they are a disciple of Christ. Of course, that means you have dealings with Christians, real dealings with real believers. The Lord Jesus Christ presumes that you will interact with other Christians meaningfully and not resort to something like Christian isolationism, showing up at Church only once a week and making sure to keep everyone else at a safe arm’s distance. Keep in mind that Christians are required to like one another and prefer one another, Romans 12.10. When you embrace Christ, you are embracing Christ’s followers. When you reject Christ’s followers by selecting the company and companionship of unconverted people, you are rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ at the same time.
Next, this whole matter has to do with a trespass. In other words, the issue has to be somewhat more important than behavior you do not particularly agree with or happen to like. The offense in question has to rise to the level of a trespass, the overcrossing of a Scriptural boundary by that person. They have to be doing something wrong, not just something you do not like or agree with. Furthermore, the offense has to be against you. To be sure, there are times when you may legitimately address a sin committed against another person, but generally speaking, you need to let other people deal with their own issues and settle their own disputes. Be cautious about functioning in the role of a self-appointed spiritual police officer unless you are protecting one of your children or unless you occupy a position of spiritual leadership.
If a brother in Christ has trespassed against you, the Lord’s directive requires you to rebuke him. Notice that you are not given the option of reacting depending on your mood or reacting depending on whether or not you feel anger welling up inside you. Your feelings are not to be the criteria by which your actions are determined. Rather, the sinning disciple’s behavior determines what you do. He sins against you, and you rebuke him. It is as simple as that. No drama. No pent-up rage to unleash in a firestorm of bitter invective after stewing on it for weeks. Keep it simple. “Charles, you told me you would take care of that before you went home yesterday, and you didn’t. It took me two hours to fix the mess you caused by not keeping your word. If you are going to have any credibility as a Christian, you need to learn to keep your word.” See? Very simple. Very straightforward. Very manly in its directness.
The Greek word for “rebuke” is the word ἐpitimάw. The word refers to sternly warning someone.[5] Obedience to this command requires looking someone directly in the eye and telling them that they have done you wrong and that they need to do something about it. So you see, there is no room here for the wimpy apologizing approach that is so common today, where the offended party seems to be sorry to have to bring it up that he was done wrong. No.
Next, forgive the brother who repents when you have rebuked him:
“If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.”
Does there appear to be a decided lack of drama here? That is because there is a decided lack of drama here. This tendency to wait until you get mad to correct your children, or to wait until you are filled with frustration before you deal with a trespass, is utter nonsense. We must deal with sin cleanly, efficiently, and without the emotionalism that pollutes so much of life.
If you wait until you are furious before confronting someone who has sinned against you, then your emotion will only increase the likelihood that the sinning brother will react to your anger with his own anger. But if you look at him directly, calmly and clearly rebuke his sin against you, then you are far more likely to get the desired response ... from a real Christian: “Joe, please forgive me. I completely forgot about that commitment. Whatever you want me to do to fix any problem I caused, just name it and I will take care of it by tomorrow at the latest. Will that be okay? Wow, I really regret letting you down.”
Remember that your cue that the person you rebuked has repented will have to be much more than him saying that he is sorry. Repentance is far more than saying you are sorry. Repentance will result in wanting to clear up the problem that was caused, or repairing the damage resulting. So, when someone says he is really sorry and offers to do something to make it up to you, don’t dare tell him, “Naw, don’t worry about. I’ll take care of it.” For his benefit and yours, you allow the repentant person to fix whatever he broke when he sinned against you, be it property or a relationship.
When that happens, if that happens, you are obligated to forgive. When that happens, if that happens, your privilege as a Christian is to forgive. Remember Ephesians 4.32:
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Your willingness to forgive sins committed against you is directly related to the forgiveness you have received from God. If you cannot forgive, or if you will not forgive, you quite simply are not a Christian.
Finally, in Luke 17.4, we see that our Lord insists that we keep forgiving:
“And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”
In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ expects and insists upon this from His people. One aspect of belonging to Jesus Christ entails the habitual granting of forgiveness.
This does not mean the Christian is to be mindless or a pushover so that every time someone does you wrong and says “Sorry,” you are obligated to say, “Oh, that’s okay. God bless you.” That lunacy is a caricature of real Christianity. Jesus Christ demands that repentance be genuine. This process of rebuking and forgiving is supposed to benefit the sinning person, not allow them to take advantage of you.
These instructions related to not taking offense are necessary for any child of God who wants to serve Christ because we are all sinners. We will sin against each other. So, we need to practice these disciplines of rebuking and forgiving, as well as being humble enough to accept rebukes and be willing to repent of our sins.
If you are so cowardly that you will not rebuke someone who sins against you unless you first become angry, then you needlessly escalate conflicts that could easily be managed if you had character. On the other hand, if you are so proud and full of bluster, then you cannot admit sinning and doing the necessary repair work to preserve friendships and a collegial spirit, then you will never amount to much as a Christian.
To recap, in Luke 17.1-3a, the Lord Jesus Christ warned against offending little ones, and we had better be careful. In Luke 17.3b-4, He sets forth the means by which we avoid being offended by rebuking those who sin against us, forgiving those who sin against us, and demonstrating the habit of forgiveness.
Verse 5 begins, “And the apostles said unto the Lord.” what, then, was the immediate reaction of the apostles to our Lord’s demand that they genuinely and truly forgive people again and again, so long as they repent? I am quite sure they imagined they would soon be taken advantage of by people. They could have, and on so many occasions did, turned and consulted with one another. But on this occasion, they realized they were not up to the task, had insufficient resources, and were overwhelmed by an essential duty.
It is understandable, therefore, that they would ask, “Lord, Increase our faith.” Two things to note here:
First, the apostles sought greater faith. The word prόsqeV, where we get the term prosthesis, means “to add to, to give in addition, to increase. It involves increasing the substance rather than adding a new substance.”[6] The apostles knew that they were in need and that what they needed they could not themselves provide ... more faith.
Keep in mind that these men have already seen the importance of faith. In Luke 7.50, the Lord Jesus Christ told the woman who had washed His feet with tears, wiped His feet with her hair, anointed His feet with ointment, and then kissed His feet, “Thy faith hath saved thee.”
Then there was the time they were in the storm-tossed boat while the Master slept. When they were overcome with fear for their lives and roused Him, “saying, Master, master, we perish.”[7] He “said unto them, Where is your faith?”[8] Thus, faith is essential, not only at the beginning of your spiritual life but also to sustain that same life. Faith is integral to forgiving and to being forgiven.
You may not think so now, but there will come a day when you will need to forgive or be forgiven. I think of those times when I have sought your forgiveness, so I know what I am talking about. My Christian life was a weekly pattern of humbly seeking forgiveness for my outrageous conduct as a new believer.
It may be when you discover that your spouse has been unfaithful to you and seeks your forgiveness or when you betray a lifelong friend and need his forgiveness. No matter how outwardly successful they appear to be, they are the most miserable of people who neither grant nor seek forgiveness. You see, we are sinners. We continually sin against each other. You sin against people, and people sin against you. How can you establish meaningful relationships with your spouse, children, family members, or anyone else unless you both forgive those who sin against you and seek forgiveness from those you have sinned against?
The problem, of course, is that when someone has sinned against you, there is a feeling of betrayal that leads to mistrust and disillusionment. How can you forgive her after what she did to you? How can you ever trust her again? Or the offense was personally humiliating. But how can one be humiliated who is not to some degree proud?
Allow me to answer those questions related to forgiveness by pointing out three simple concepts:
First, YOUR REQUIREMENT
Your requirement is to forgive. You have to forgive. It is necessary to forgive. So long as the one who sinned against you seems repentant, seriously sorry and willing to make amends, you have no choice but to forgive.
Why should you forgive?
#1, you should forgive because the One you publicly claim is your Savior commands that you forgive. How dare you claim Christ is yours while steadfastly refusing to obey His command to forgive?
#2, you should forgive because you need forgiveness yourself as often as not. There is, you see, a law of sowing and reaping, Galatians 6.7-9:
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
So, if you ever want to, or expect to, be forgiven you will recognize the need to be forgiving.
#3, you should forgive because your willingness to forgive reflects strongly on your own experience of God’s forgiveness. Ephesians 4.32:
“... forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
#4, you should forgive because you have a conscience and because the indwelling Spirit of God is grieved, should you disobey your Savior’s command to forgive. What spiritual Christian wants to live their life with a seared conscience and indwelt by a grieved Spirit?
So you see, you need to forgive to avoid being eaten up with the spiritual cancer of bitterness and a seared conscience.
Then Comes YOUR REALIZATION
It is extremely difficult to forgive someone who has wronged you, embarrassed you, betrayed you, and/or wounded you. If you simply will not forgive your betrayer, you identify yourself as a lost person. They are only those who have never experienced the forgiveness of their own sins who refuse to forgive the sins of others. But when a sinner knows the delight, the joy, the release, the glory of sins forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ, then he sees the value of, and recognizes the benefit of, forgiving someone who has sinned against him ... no matter how grievous the sin happened to be.
But there is a difference between seeing the value of forgiving someone and being able to forgive. Knowing that you should forgive someone who has betrayed or offended you is not the same as being able to forgive your betrayer or offender. The fact is that there are some sins you feel you simply cannot forgive. May I suggest that the inability to forgive is a red flag indicating either ignorance or the presence of pride?
Romans 5.6 shows why you sometimes cannot forgive someone who has terribly sinned against you:
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
Romans 5.6 describes unsaved people. Now read Romans 6.19, where Paul describes believers:
“I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh....”
“Without strength” in Romans 5.6 and “infirmity” in Romans 6.19 translates the same Greek word, ἀsqέnia, which means weak or impotent.[9] What does this mean? It means we do not possess the moral strength or spiritual fortitude to forgive really serious sins committed against us, though our Lord Jesus Christ says we must.
Which Results In YOUR REQUEST
Your ability to forgive someone who has seriously sinned against you must come from outside you. You will never possess the spiritual strength, the moral courage, the necessary freedom from the influences of your own sinful nature and its pride to forgive really serious sins that have harmed you truly, wounded you, stung you, and left you feeling hurt and betrayed. Yet, those are precisely the sins that you must forgive, Christian, if you expect to obey your Savior, preserve your testimony, and enjoy the peace of God in your heart and mind. Enough of this guilt and misery that the unsaved carry with them throughout life. Away with the guilty conscience and the sour countenance. It will only lead to you succumbing to the temptation to somehow justify your grudge, your bitterness, your seared conscience.
That is why the apostles cried out to the Savior, “Increase our faith.” We cannot do this ourselves. We do not have the resources, the strength, the humility, the graciousness, the wisdom, or sufficient love within ourselves to forgive others. How can we trust someone who has shown us he is untrustworthy, who has betrayed us, who has done us harm? We cannot trust that person, but we can trust you, Lord. Oh, Lord, our faith in you needs to be strengthened. Our confidence in you needs to be shored up. Our trust in you needs to be reinforced.
There is no way two people can love each other, live near each other, interact with each other, serve alongside each other, enjoy each other’s company, or in any other way, commune without being able to forgive each other.
You see, we sin ... against each other. So, apart from being able to forgive, we would soon become estranged from each other. We might even become enemies.
But if the sins committed are serious, as they often are, we find that we have not the resources to forgive and be forgiven unless we resort to God. Only He gives us faith to forgive. But He only gives faith to forgive to those who have already been given faith to be forgiven.
So you see, there will come a day when you sincerely want to be forgiven and feel the desperate need to be forgiven. You’d better hope and pray that person whose forgiveness you need is a Christian, or the faith they need to forgive you will be out of their reach.
Someday you will be able to forgive someone who desperately needs your forgiveness and truly wants your forgiveness. However, unless you are already a child of God, already forgiven yourself, you will neither want nor be able to forgive, ending that once valued relationship forever, be it a marriage, a friendship, or some other cherished relationship.
There is a link between faith and forgiveness that cannot be broken. Without faith in Christ there is no real forgiveness.
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[1] This series of sermons draws heavily on information found in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia article “Forgiveness”
[2] Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction And Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999), page 279.
[3] Bauer, Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, (Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), page 926.
[4] Darrell L. Bock, Luke Volume 2: 9:51-24:53 - ECNT, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), page 1385.
[5] Fritz Rienecker & Cleon Rogers, Linguistic Key To The Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library, 1980), page 191.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Luke 8.24
[8] Luke 8.25
[9] Fritz Rienecker & Cleon Rogers, Linguistic Key To The Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library, 1980), pages 359 and 362.
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