Today, we are going to conclude our thoughts on this passage. We made note last time of how Paul tells what it will look like when we
forgive others. It will look like what God has done for us in Christ through the cross - v. 32. Last time, we said that . . .
1. In forgiving us, God did not deny the fact of our sin.
When we sin, it breaks the heart of God (v. 30). God gets emotional about our sin against Him. It hurts. In forgiving us, He is honest about the pain our sin causes Him.
Likewise, in forgiving others, we are not asked to deny the reality of the offense or the depth of the hurt. In fact, facing the reality of having been hurt is essential to our experiencing the healing and wholeness that comes from forgiving others.
2. In forgiving us, God did not approve of our sin.
Sometimes, people withhold forgiveness until the other person changes their behavior. But God didn’t do that with us. God never approved of our sin. God hates sin. But He loves the sinner. So, in Christ, God took the initiative to provide forgiveness for the whole world.
Just as God’s forgiveness does not mean He approves of our sinfulness, we are not expected to approve or excuse the other person’s offense when we forgive. But we are expected to take the initiative to forgive.
3. In forgiving us, God has given us a “clean slate.”
The idea is not that God has amnesia regarding our sin, but that He will never bring them up again. When the Bible says that God “remembers our sins no more,” (Hebrews 8:12) it is referring to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV), when he declares that love “keeps no record of wrongs.”
Likewise, when we forgive other person their offense, we must choose that we will not let this offense remain a barrier in our relationship with the other person. We will “keep no record of wrongs” to “throw up” to the person the next time they offend us.
Now, let’s consider two additional thoughts about what forgiveness looks like as we think together about How God has forgiven us in Christ through the cross.
4. In forgiving us, God assumed the price for our sin.
Again, forgiveness says “no” to revenge. This is Paul’s point in verse 31. Forgiveness, says, “I will trust God to work justice in this matter, and accept that for whatever purpose God has in mind, He has allowed me to experience this injustice.”
This doesn’t mean we become a doormat for others; or that we allow ourselves to be hurt further. But it does mean that we trust God and
allow Him to use the experience to work out His purposes in our life.
“We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.” - Romans 8:28 (Amplified)
Joseph understood this.
“And Joseph said to them, Fear not; for am I in the place of God? [Vengeance is His, not mine.] As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are this day.” - Genesis 50:19-20 (Amplified)
Joseph trusted vengeance to God, choose to accept the penalty for the sins of his brothers; and trusted God to work out His purposes through his suffering. This choice eventually provided blessing to Joseph’s brothers.
Isn’t that what Jesus did? Jesus trusted vengeance to the Father, choose to accept the penalty for our sins; and trusted the Father to work out His purposes in His suffering. This choice has brought blessing to us.
Even so, when we forgive, we are trusting vengeance to God, and choosing to accept the penalty for the other person’s sin. And in doing so, we are also trusting God to work out His purposes in our suffering; and that choice can bring blessing to those we forgive.
The chief blessing being the same blessing that God’s forgiveness in Christ choice has provided to us.
5. In forgiving us, God made our reconciliation with Him possible.
When did God forgive you of your sins? When you trusted Christ as your Savior? No. God actually forgave you long before you repented and chose to be reconciled to Him through faith in Christ.
The Bible teaches God decided to forgive our sins in eternity past.
Jesus Christ is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” - Revelation 13:8 (KJV).
“He paid for our sins with His own blood - He did not pay for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world” - 1 John 2:2 (New Life Translation)
Christ paid not only for the sins of those who believe, for even for those who have not believed. God has forgiven the world of its sin
already, even before people repent and admit they need forgiveness.
Likewise, we can forgive others, even though they have yet to acknowledge that they have offended us in any way or that they are guilty of anything they need to apologize for or seek to make right.
“No one is willing to die for another person, but for a good man someone might be willing to die. But God showed His love to us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:7-8 (NLV)
This is an important Biblical principle. God didn’t wait for us to repent and turn to Him before He forgave our sin. Why? Because forgiving someone only requires one person to make a decision. The person who has been offended.
God, the person offended by our sin, chose to forgive and provided for our forgiveness through the cross. His forgiveness isn’t contingent on how we respond to Him. However, our being reconciled to God does depend on our response to Him.
You see, salvation is all about our appropriating the forgiveness that God has already provided through Christ through repentance and
entering into a new relationship with God as a result of being reconciled to Him.
Forgiveness + Repentance = Reconciliation
Though forgiveness and repentance are necessary for reconciliation to occur, repentance is not a prerequisite to one being forgiven.
Forgiveness has been provided for all through the cross, but not everyone has personally benefited from it because they have not repented and acknowledged their sin, thus being reconciled to God.
That’s why Paul tells us that our mission and message has to do with reconciliation:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! And this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (NIV)
Just like God forgave me in order to make it possible for me to be reconciled to Him, I should forgive anyone who offends me, so that reconciliation might be possible. It still may not happen when I choose to forgive, but one things for sure. It won’t happen unless I forgive.
Conclusion: Today we will participate in the Lord’s Supper. We sometimes call this “Communion” because the cross is the basis for the communion we share with God and with one another. The cross is what binds us together.
That is what Paul sought to remind the Ephesian believers concerning this business of forgiving one another. Whenever we might find it hard to forgive someone, we need only to spend some time reflecting on the significance of the cross of Christ. That is what I want us to do today as we participate in Communion.
