“FORGIVENESS”[1] Part 4
Ephesians 4.32
Although I intended to establish a solid Biblical foundation for forgiveness by initially addressing the profound need an individual has for God’s forgiveness before addressing the issue of forgiveness as a matter between two individuals, recognize that this short series of messages is an introduction to forgiveness. Believers in Jesus Christ discover the depths of the implications of God’s forgiveness of our sins throughout our lives as we grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and as we plumb the depths of Scripture in our study of God’s Word.
Along the way, we must recognize how obedience and implementation of Biblical truths are correlated to our grasp of the implications and the depths of our understanding of God’s forgiveness. The Savior told an audience of onlookers at the Temple in Jerusalem, in John 7.17,
“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”
God does not want us to learn the Bible that we may know it, but so we might do it. One’s awareness of a Bible truth only begins the process of understanding, with prayerful study, followed by meditation, and culminating in obedience being the features the Spirit of God is pleased to bless by illuminating one’s sense of Bible truth. Knowledge, by itself, apart from obedience, only results in the puffing up of individuals unless there is an application to daily living, First Corinthians 8.1. It is the application of Bible truth to living that requires grace and properly results in humble obedience.
We recognize that forgiveness is important to God. Forgiveness ought to be important to us, not only concerning the blessing of God’s forgiveness of our sins but also the forgiveness that we ought to seek and grant between individuals. I am persuaded that the more devoted we are to seeking the forgiveness of others and granting forgiveness to others, the more our grasp of God’s forgiveness of our sins will develop, and God’s forgiveness of our sins will be all the more appreciated.
The driving verse for these now four sermons is Ephesians 4.32, reminding us that the basis for our practice of forgiving one another is the forgiveness we have received from God for Christ’s sake, especially within the membership of our congregation, which is the setting for this verse:
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
If there is an individual you have something against, someone who has sinned against you, that person needs your forgiveness. It would be best if you also forgave that individual, whether that person knows to seek your forgiveness. Why so? Until you forgive that individual, according to Paul’s inspired directive, you are not to that person demonstrating kindness, tenderheartedness, or forgiveness. Have they sinned against you? You are committing three sins against them until you forgive.
This understood I want to tie up four loose threads to conclude this series of messages, dealing with two at this time and two next time:
First, THE PLACE OF REPENTANCE IN FORGIVENESS
Catholicism teaches penance to be works performed as an indication of repentance. Repentance is an evangelical grace that is frequently confused by even some Christians with the Roman Catholic error of penance. [2] It is wrapped up in the false Gospel taught by Rome that features salvation by a combination of faith and works, which is not what God’s Word teaches, Ephesians 2.8-9:
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Biblical repentance, not to be confused with penance or any acts of contrition that are works righteousness, is graciously given by God, as at least three verses in the New Testament show.[3] Further, rightly understood, repentance is the turning from sin that occurs when a sinner comes to faith in Christ.[4] On one side, the coin of conversion is faith, and on the other side, repentance. There is no coin of conversion to Christ apart from repentance from sin and faith in Christ.
Additionally, repentance is an ongoing feature of the Christian’s life, with repeated turning from sinful practices and attitudes being an activity every growing believer in Christ engages in. With ongoing repentance toward God, the child of God is not directed to seek God’s forgiveness, which believers already possess. Read three passages with me:
Jeremiah 31.33-34:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Hebrews 8.12:
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
Hebrews 10.17:
“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
I understand that many Christians believe that First John 1.9 is a directive for believers to confess sins and seek God’s forgiveness for sinning. But that is based on a misunderstanding of the term confess and the assumption that God’s forgiveness needs to be sought by the already forgiven Christian.
Read First John 1.9 with me:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The word confess, ὁmolegέw, “to acknowledge a fact publicly, often in reference to previous bad behavior.”[5] It is agreeing with God’s judgment about the wrongness and the punishment that is due sin. That understood, this word does not refer to repeatedly asking for forgiveness but describes the actions and attitudes of a repentant sinner turning from sin and embracing the Savior by faith, at which time forgiveness is granted and cleansing from all unrighteousness occurs.
In short, First John 1.9 is the description of a sinner’s conversion, not a description of a believer’s reacquisition of forgiveness. Thus, the single New Testament verse that is most frequently used to justify asking God’s forgiveness whenever the Spirit of God pricks the believer’s conscience justifies no such thing!
Why ask God for the forgiveness He granted once and for all when the sinner came to Christ? We no longer need God’s forgiveness as Christians because we already have His forgiveness! Expressions of remorse to God? To be sure. Acknowledgment of wrongdoing to God? Absolutely! But to ask God for something He granted when you trusted Christ? There is no reason to ask God for what He said (three times in Scripture) He already graciously given. Remember and take comfort from First John 1.7:
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
The cleansing effect of Christ’s once-shed blood is ongoing and continuous.
Though repentance toward God is an ongoing and recurring Christian activity, by God’s grace, and the seeking of forgiveness from God by a Christian misconstrues what we are said to already have in Christ, the place of repentance for a sin committed against another person, and the need to seek that person’s forgiveness, is a thing. Consider the letter written by James, the first of the New Testament books, James 5.16 in particular:
“Confess your faults one to another.”
Appended to the word confess here is the phrase “one to another,” showing that the form of the word used here, coupled with the context in which the word is used, does refer to the process of admitting fault and seeking forgiveness by a Christian to a Christian. Not by a Christian to God. This is because repentance, while not necessitating God’s forgiveness for sins committed against Him (because we already have His forgiveness), correctly prompts believers to seek the forgiveness of other believers we have sinned against. Why? Because we do not have but need to obtain their forgiveness from time to time.
The New Testament pattern is established for seeking another’s forgiveness when prompted by the Spirit of God through repentance for a sin committed. What is to be done by the Christian who knows he has wronged another but has no interest in seeking forgiveness? Or has been wronged by another and has no interest in securing the other’s request for forgiveness so he has the opportunity to forgive? He wants to just let it go. Well, that is the case of a hard heart and a seared conscience, is it not? If your heart was tender, and your conscience was not seared, you would certainly sense a Spirit-prompted repentance for not seeking forgiveness or helping another properly seek your forgiveness. Guess what? In such a case you have just discovered that you have left your first love. What are you going to do about it? Godly sorrow from real repentance is in order, is it not?
Second, THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION AND FORGIVENESS
Having established a pattern in the Christian community of confessing faults one to another in the first of the New Testament Scriptures, James 5.16, we now know two things: First, when we sin (and First John 1.8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” reminds us we all have sin.) there is no need to seek God’s forgiveness since we already have God’s forgiveness in Christ. Expressions of sorrow, remorse, thanking God for forgiveness already possessed since turning to Christ? Yes! All of those things and more, by all means. Christians are not to be indifferent to sins committed against our heavenly Father, but we are to be aware of what we have in Christ even when we sin! However, suppose our sin is against another person, by all means. In that case, we are to humbly seek that person’s forgiveness and do what we can to elicit that other person’s request for our forgiveness when we are sinned against by someone too inexperienced as a believer to know what to do.
Recognizing that Paul doubtless taught these truths throughout his apostolic ministry (How could he not know of and teach truths taught by the Jerusalem Church’s pastor, where he worshiped for a time as a young Christian?[6]), there are things not explicitly stated in First and Second Corinthians that we have a high level of confidence actually took place. Do you imagine there were confessions of wrongdoing and requests for forgiveness prompted in the congregation by Paul’s first letter brought by Titus? Their arguments with each other. Their willingness to look the other way when astonishing sexual sins surfaced in the congregation. The lawsuits they brought against each other. Being confronted by Titus for their refusal to respond to the efforts by those of the house of Chloe. There were a great many apologies offered and requests for forgiveness after Titus read Paul’s first letter he had carried to them and pressed home the responses they were obligated to provide to glorify God, exalt the Savior, and salvage their testimony in the community. There is no doubt they confessed their faults to each other and humbly asked for each other’s forgiveness.
In the second of Paul’s inspired letters to the Corinthian congregation, he pressed home the issue of reconciliation that is accomplished by forgiveness. In Second Corinthians 5.18, he reminded the congregation that God
“reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”
In the next verse, he declared,
“that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, ... and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
Then, in verse 20, he reminded that body of unspiritual and disobedient Church members, who owed each other and their community many apologies, that God
“hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
In the next chapter, he urged them not to receive the grace of God in vain, not to give offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed.[7] And in chapter seven, he rehearsed to them how his first letter to them brought them to repentance, resulting in their reconciliation with each other, which could not have taken place apart from the granting and receiving of forgiveness.[8]
Why don’t we bring this home at the congregational level? You will recall from Acts 6.1 that disputations arose in the rapidly growing Church in Jerusalem, and for what? The Church did not evenly distribute food to the widows in the congregation, related to the language they spoke, Greek or Hebrew. Perhaps the most culturally homogenous congregation that would exist for a thousand years, they had issues that led to squabbling over food for widows. Do you imagine a few apologies were sought and forgivenesses granted over that problem? You can be sure. How could it be otherwise? Turn to First Corinthians 12.4-6, where we see both a great strength and a recognizable vulnerability of the Corinthian congregation and every other Church congregation:
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
Let’s assume the Spirit doles out twenty-two discreet spiritual gifts to believers, six administrations distributed to members, and another half dozen operations associated with a congregation. Thus, the potential is for 792 different combinations of gifts, administrations, and operations in a Church of Jesus Christ. That is astonishing spiritual diversity. And that assumes only one spiritual gift is given by the Spirit per believer. If each Christian has two gifts, there are 1,584 unique spiritual equipment package possibilities. Aside from age, health, education, language, and other cultural differences, the spiritual composition variability alone has a potential of fifteen hundred people who possess unique inclinations, unique preferences related to their spiritual composition, making for wild variations of appetites, yearnings, inclinations, and preferences within a Church congregation.
Some congregations grow to incredible sizes because their congregations are not very personal (most in attendance being strangers to each other), or they are unconcerned (they are after a soft religious experience rather than a meaningful and intense time of genuine worship and service). This amount of variation has the potential of generating incredible interpersonal frictions in a congregation of caring and concerned people, and the likelihood of conflict, misunderstanding, sharp elbows, and not yet considering anything related to cultural differences, the two sexes, educational levels, professional variations, and ethnic differences. The more people actually interact, and the more they actually care about the things of God and each other and genuine worship and service, the more likely they are to create interpersonal friction as an unintended consequence, with the associated necessity of seeking and granting forgiveness to bring about reconciliation is undeniable.
In other words, Church, we must commit to seeking and granting forgiveness and being a people who will not tolerate not being reconciled with each other on an ongoing basis. This not only applies to our established relationships with each other, known members of our Church who we are familiar with, feel safe around, and love. It also applies to the hopeful converts we come into close contact with during evangelism, that is necessarily messy.
Forgiveness is associated with both repentance and reconciliation. Has it dawned on you that both repentance and reconciliation are extremely uncomfortable?
For us to please God, maintain better than merely cordial relations with each other, and effectively reach the lost, we must come to the place we recognize and accept that this matter of forgiveness is very uncomfortable at times.
I often say, “Evangelism is messy.” Well, so is forgiveness. Sometimes you don’t think the person apologizing to you is genuinely sorry. Sometimes you are convinced that person is trying to take advantage of you.
So, you are into judging motives now? When even the Apostle Paul admitted that he did not judge his own motives, First Corinthians 4.3? Wow! You must be really good. Or you are willing to trust God, the only One who truly knows heart motives. So, you grant a request for forgiveness, only to later see evidence it was not genuine. But that is not your problem. That, my friend, is God’s problem.
Your challenge, and my challenge, is for you to do right and for me to do right, letting God deal with person who ended up being less than truly sorry for his sin. Let us mind our store, and let God take care of what only God can take care of. Amen?
We now know a bit more how repentance figures into forgiveness, and how reconciliation is brought about by forgiveness. By God's grace, we do the best we can, trying to get by and please Him, until Jesus comes.
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[1] This series of sermons draws heavily on information found in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia article “Forgiveness”
[2] Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), page 90.
[3] Acts 5.31; 11.18; 2 Timothy 2.25
[4] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, Second Edition, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020), page 861.
[5] Martin M. Culy, I, II, III John, (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2011), page 18.
[6] Acts 9.26-30
[7] Second Corinthians 6.1, 3
[8] Second Corinthians 7.5-11
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