Forgiveness
Matthew 6:12
ILL: INSUFFICIENT FUNDS - Overdrawn; taking more out than you’ve put in
not the banks fault; not the store’s fault
Debt HAS to be paid
-Wealthy benefactor very unlikely
Spiritual Debt - You are covered by God’s grace (you are in Great Hands)
I. Forgiven
Debt - greek; - “to owe someone something”
Romans 4:5 - People cannot do any work that will make them right with God”
“It is God who justifies” Romans 8:33
God pays a debt that is not His
Mark 2:7 - “only God can take away sins”
John 1:29 - Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
We cannot cover it ourself!!!
He covered our debt
ref - insufficient funds - covering debt is only 1/2. there is also a penalty
“He changed places with us and put himself under that curse” Galatians 3:13
“That is what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all -- was put to death and then made alive -- to bring us to God. 1 Peter 3:18 (MSG)
“But He was wounded for the wrong we did; He was crushed for the evil we did. The punishment, which made us well, was given to Him, and we are healed because of His wounds. Isaiah 53:5
Hebrews 10:14 “with one sacrifice, Jesus made perfect forever those who are being made holy”
No more sacrifices needed; no more deposits are neccessary. So complete was the payment that Jesus used a banking term to proclaim your salvation. “It is finished” John 19:30 “Tetelestai” was a financial term used to annouce the final installment.
The task of forgiveness is finished. He has paid our debt
Even saying “forgive our debts” does not earn forgiveness. We repeat the words to remind us of the grace we have recieved; not to attain a forgiveness that we need.
Forgive
Matthew 6:12, 14-15
“Resentment kills a fool” Job 5:2
Reminds me of a story I read about in Max Lucado’s book this week...
Amos asked Andy “what’s that little bottle you’re wearing around your neck?”
“Nitroglycerine.” Andy answers. Amos is stunned that Andy would be wearing a necklace of nitro, so he asks for an explanation. Andy tells Amos about this fellow who has a bad habit of poking people in the chest while he is speaking. “It drives me crazy,” Andy says. “I’m wearing this nitro so the next time he pokes me, I’ll blow his finger off.”
Andy is not the first person to forget that when you try to get even you get hurt.
Job was right when he said, “You tear yourself to pieces in your anger” Job 18:4
ILL: guard and prisoner - guard is more confined/restricted than prisoner.
Resentment has us constantly guarding a prison; even though the other person is not actually in there.
*This verse does not suggest we earn God’s grace by giving grace*
That would conflict with all scripture on God’s grace, and our salvation.
If we earning grace by giving it we take away the need for Jesus.
Harboring anger or resentment keeps us from intimacy with God. Choosing to not forgive others buts us at odds with God’s plan( we are not going to hell, but we are in disagreement with God’s intention for that person and for us).
“Happy is the person whose sin is forgiven; whose wrongs are pardoned” Psalm 32:1
One person says, “I forgive you” and feels forgiven.
The other says, “I’m ticked off” and lives ticked off at the world.
“Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and you will recieve. You will be given much. Pressed down, shaken together, and running over, it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you.” Luke 6:38
ILL: Builder mad at buyer for all the changes/add ons. Cuts corners. House is given to builder and he knows how poorly it was put together.
Closing
Jesus Grace is sufficient for you! live in it. revel in it. Bask in that truth. You are covered.
Accept the peace that comes with showing a bit of that grace to those around us.
You are Forgiven. Forgive.
