Biblical Forgiveness – Forgiving And Forgetting – Part 4

Before I pick this up, I just read a post on Facebook about forgiveness.  It read …. 

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:14-15 

That was it, just the verse.  My recommendation is that you don’t figuratively throw a verse over the wall and then walk off without an explanation.  Especially verses that are loaded like those.

Let me break this down.  The Bible is not a book of suggestions, but directives from God the Father through His Son or those the Spirit prompted to write the 66 Books.  The Bible says this; “to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” – James 4:17 

This is my point. If you know you are to forgive and choose not to, it is sin. (James 4:17) And, if you sin and do not confess and repent  – which would be to submit to God and forgive whoever you have not forgiven  – then the forgiveness that comes from God toward you cannot accomplish its purpose which is your restoration to the Father.  (Matthew 6;14-15) It is not just that God “will-not” overlook your sin, He “can-not” because of who He is.  And no, you have not lost your salvation.  I guess I will address that issue tomorrow, if I am not still writing about forgiveness that is. 

Back to forgiveness. 

Treating someone like an unbeliever. 

In my experience few churches exercise discipline.  If a church should try, the member being disciplined would most likely just find another church. There are plenty around that say “come just as you are.” It is one thing to love and minister to the lost and unrepentant, and still another to embrace them as if they were not sinning. 

How would you interact with an unbeliever? What would you expect from them?  Bob should expect no more from Fred. Maybe Fred is a relative.  Do you have unbelieving relatives? What is the nature of your relationship with them?  You can’t expect anything spiritual to come from someone who has not been born by the Spirit or, in Fred’s case, has quenched the Spirit through his sin.

I know from experience that at best I am tolerated by those in my family that are not Christians.  As far as Fred is concerned, Bob will have to leave it to God and the Spirit to bring conviction in Fred’s life.  If there is never any restoration, then that would be what Bob must accept.  Most people are not going to come to faith in Christ. Recall what Jesus said about the narrow and wide gates. (Matthew 7:13) I am certain that when people reject God, it hurts God’s heart.  We struggle with a few relationships.  God deals with millions – billions. 

Living with regrets. 

As much as Bob might want to make Fred accept Bob’s forgiveness and be restored, Fred may choose to reject Bob's offer.  It is also a possibility that Bob may not approach Fred because Bob is afraid that Fred will reject his offer of forgiveness.  Or it could be that Fred passes away before the offer can be made or before Bob was able to reconcile his feelings toward Fred.  God can heal that hurt too.  

I will wrap this up and put a bow on it tomorrow …..