Sermon Central
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Word Pictures Of Biblical Forgiveness
Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 12, 2024 (message contributor)
The importance of forgiveness is a constant theme of Scripture. There are no less than seventy-five different word pictures about forgiveness in the Bible. They help us grasp the importance, the nature, and the effects of forgiveness.
• To Forgive Is to Turn The Key, Open the cell door, and let the prisoner walk free.
• To Forgive Is to Write In Large Letters across a debt, “Nothing owed”
• To Forgive Is to Pound The Gavel In a courtroom and declare, “Not guilty!”
• To Forgive Is to Shoot An Arrow So high and so far that it can never be found again.
• To Forgive Is to Bundle Up All The garbage and trash and dispose of it, leaving the house clean and fresh.
• To Forgive Is to Loose The Moorings Of a ship and release it to the open sea.
• To Forgive Is to Grant A Full Pardon to a condemned criminal.
• To Forgive Is to Relax A Strangle hold On a wrestling opponent.
• To Forgive Is to Sandblast A Wall Of graffiti, leaving it looking like new.
• To Forgive Is to Smash A Clay Pot into a thousand pieces so it can never be pieced together again. (John Nieder and Thomas Thompson, Forgive and Love Again [Eugene, Oreg.: Harvest House, 1991], p. 48)
Forgiveness is so important that the Holy Spirit devoted an entire book of the Bible to it. In the brief book of Philemon, the spiritual duty to forgive is emphasized, but not in principle, parable, or word picture. Through a real life situation involving two people dear to him, Paul teaches the importance of forgiving others. Following the introduction in Philemon 1:1, 2, 3, Paul describes the spiritual character of one who forgives in Philemon 1:4, 5, 6, 7. Such a person has a concern for the Lord, a concern for people, a concern for fellowship, a concern for knowledge, a concern for glory, and a concern to be a blessing.
- John MacArthur
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