An invitation for forgiveness

 

1)      There are seven special words used throughout the Bible to express forgiveness.

2)      Three of these words are in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament.

3)      The other four terms are found in the Greek language of the New Testament.

4)      Today we want to look at just one word for forgiveness, and it is a New Testament word.

5)      We want to consider the idea that God invites man to obtain forgiveness of sins.

6)      Then we will consider how this also applies to our lives.

7)      The word that is the basis for our study means “to send away” or “to let go.”

 

8)      This word occurs as both a noun and a verb in the New Testament; we will start with it as a noun.

 

9)      Our first passage, as you will see on the sheet, is Mt. 26:28.

a)      Jesus was instituting what we call the “Lord's Supper.”

b)      He tells us what the Lord's Supper is supposed to commemorate (show).

c)      He gave His life on the cross for the “remission” of sins.

d)     Remission is one of the special words used to describe forgiveness (it means to send away).

e)      Jesus died so our sins man could be loosed from his sins. 

 

10)  A good illustration of what this forgiveness is can be found in Lk. 4:18.

a)      Jesus was given an opportunity to read some Old Testament scripture.

b)      He turned to the book of Isaiah and read a very well known passage.

c)      The text says, “He sent me to proclaim release from the captives.”

d)     Release is the word for “forgiveness” in Mt. 26:28.

 

11)  We have seen people who were held captive and later freed.

a)      It may have been a very small child; someone abducted them.  Maybe there was a ransom demand.

b)      A person in their 20’s may have been taken captive.

c)      There are reports about Americans being abducted in foreign countries (hostage situations).

d)     In several cases people have been freed.

e)      How thankful men must feel when they are released from a hostage situation.

f)       One day we might be at a bank that is robbed; a gunman might hold us hostage.

g)      Assuming we are freed, imagine the exhilaration at finally being let go.

 

12)  This is what God is trying to express through the word “forgiveness.”

13)  Heaven invites man to have full and complete release from sin.

14)  God is very serious about communicating this point.

15)  One of our accounts of the great commission is found in Lk. 24:47.

a)      Jesus said heaven had a message for people.  He said this message was for all people.

b)      “All nations” is the wording used in Lk. 24:47.

c)      What were all nations to hear?  There is “remission (the sending away) of sins.”

d)     No matter where people are or who they are, their sins can be taken away.

e)      That sounds like a pretty good offer.  One would think a lot of people would accept it.

 

16)  If we want to be completely freed from our sins, how does the process work?

17)  Must we do something, or does God do this automatically for everyone?

18)  Thankfully we have an answer to these questions.  Our answer is found in Acts 2:38.

a)      “Forgiveness” (the word we have been studying) is also used in this passage.

b)      In Acts 2 it was the Day of Pentecost and Peter the apostle was preaching.

c)      There were people who believed in Jesus, but that belief did not free them from their sins.

d)     Today many are told, “Believe and Jesus and you will be saved.”

e)      The people in Acts 2 believed in the Lord, but they were still in their sins.

f)       Faith alone will not cut away a person’s sins.

 

19)  Peter said in Acts 2:38 the people needed to “repent.”

20)  Repentance is necessary (Lk. 13:3), but repentance does not take away the sins of a non-Christian.

21)  Peter said, “be baptized unto (for, in order to receive) the forgiveness of sins.

22)  This statement is about as clear as anyone can make it.

a)      If we want God to send away our sins, we must be baptized.

b)      Without baptism, we retain (keep) every single sin.

 

23)  Over the years many have mocked the importance of baptism.

a)      Thousands of times preachers have said it is important but not essential.

b)      Baptism is said to be something we do after we join a church.

c)      If we tried to come to the church without baptism, we would be filthy, vile sinners.

d)     We would be spiritually unclean in every way.

 

24)  Baptism allows us to contact the benefits of Christ’s blood and then our sins are sent away.

25)  It is therefore not surprising that after baptism people were “added to the church” (Acts 2:41, 47).

26)  Holy people (those with their sins forgiven) were put into the church.

27)  The religious doctrines of men say put unholy people into the church and then baptize them.

28)  Men have gotten the divine plan backwards.

 

29)  Heb. 9:22 says without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.

a)      Sins cannot be sent away without blood.

b)      The blood we need is the blood of Jesus.

c)      We contact the benefits of Jesus’ blood by being buried with Him in baptism (Rom. 6:1-4).

 

THE REFERENCES I HAVE GIVEN ARE SOME OF THE KEY PLACES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WHERE A COMMON WORD FOR “FORGIVENESS” IS USED AS A NOUN.  LET’S NOW TURN OUR ATTENTION TO PLACES THAT USE THIS SAME WORD, ONLY IT OCCURS AS A VERB.

 

a)      Mt. 6:12 is the first passage we want to cite in this regard.

b)      Jesus gave some instructions on prayer; He taught us that prayer should include forgiveness.

c)      He taught the disciples to pray, “forgive us as we forgive our debtors.”

 

2)      God invites us to be forgiven of our sins.  He wants to send away our sins.

3)      God also invites us (and requires us) to forgive others.

a)      What does it mean to forgive another person?

b)      We have already answered that question.  To forgive means to send away; to get rid of something.

c)      When we forgive someone, the matter is put in the trash and burned.  The ashes are buried.

d)     Grass is planted at the burn site.  The matter is completely gone.

e)      This is what the Bible describes, but this is not what we often find.

f)       Certainly this is rare for this type of thing to occur in the world.

g)      This should not, however, be uncommon in the church of Christ.

 

4)      Forgiving in the sense that this Bible word describes is usually a learned trait.

5)      It was for the disciples.  Peter once came to Jesus, Mt. 18:21f.

a)      As on other occasions this apostle had a question.

b)      Peter did not beat around the bush.  He asked how many times should he forgive someone.

c)      Many of us have asked some bold questions, but this one took courage.

d)     Peter not only asked this question he set forth a possible answer:  7 times.

 

6)      If Peter understood what “forgive” really means, he was being generous.

7)      To literally forgive someone to the point of wiping the slate clean is noteworthy.

8)      Jesus said that the gospel brings man to a higher standard.

9)      We look at God’s example of forgives and make that our standard.

10)  Jesus then illustrated the point with a special story.

a)      In verse 32 of what follows Jesus said a servant was a “wicked” man.

b)      Why was the man wicked?  Did he scream at his wife and beat his children?

c)      Did he gamble away all his money and use illegal drugs?

d)     He was wicked because he was not willing to forgive someone.

e)      Refusing to forgive allows God to classify someone as “wicked.”

f)       Jesus finished out the point in verse 35:  - READ

 

11)  Forgiveness is available to us.  We need to accept that and use it.

12)  In accepting God’s forgiveness, we must also actively work at extending it to others.

13)  This is where the big challenge is and it is where most people fail.

a)      In and out of the church we are faced with times we do not want to forgive.

b)      If forgiveness were easy or natural, the Bible would say little about the subject.

c)      In the scriptures this subject receives a great deal of attention.

 

14)  It might be useful for us to sit down and consider a question.

15)  “What would be the hardest thing for us to forgive in the life another person”?

a)      What if someone caused us to lose our job?

b)      What if someone caused our house to burn to the ground?

c)      What if another person were responsible for us losing a finger, a hand, or a foot?

d)     What if someone else caused the death of someone we deeply love?

 

16)  There are people who would say they would never send away the wrong.

17)  They would take the injustice they received to their grave.

18)  The word we are looking at is also found in Luke’s gospel, Lk. 23:34.

a)      Verse 33 says Jesus was being crucified.

b)      Jesus had been beaten, mocked, and attached to some wood with nails.

c)      His body had been abused in ways that would make us sick if we saw pictures.

d)     Yet, after all these things had happened, here is what He said – verse 34 – READ

 

19)  When a person says that cannot forgive or will not forgive they have some growing to do.

20)  They need to more fully understand what the Bible says about forgiveness.

21)  There is a need to practice what is expressed in this word.

22)  God is “faithful and just” to forgive us of our sins (1 Jn. 1:9).

23)  God has said we must also be willing to forgive others.

24)  Part of our being faithful and just is extending forgiveness to others.

25)  Have we done that?

26)  If we have not accepted God’s forgiveness for our sins, that is the beginning point for us.