Sermon Central
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Why We Need To Forgive Series
Contributed by Dr. Craig Nelson on Dec 29, 2000 (message contributor)
Summary: Your life should be characterized by forgiveness because Jesus first forgave you.
When a person receives Jesus as their personal Leader and Forgiver, the Creator of the universe comes to dwell inside of them.
Jesus forgave your sins past - present - future because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Heb 13:8)
Jesus has given you the power to forgive
Your life should be characterized by forgiveness because Jesus first forgave you. (Col 3;13, Eph 4:32)
Jesus taught that the fundamental guiding principle of being a disciple of His was to live and breathe forgiveness toward one another just as He had forgiven them (Matt. 6:12-15)
Apart from Jesus, it is impossible to forgive as we have been forgiven.
Jesus taught that the direct evidence of being a Christian is to forgive beyond the limits of human comprehension.
Total forgiveness is supernatural - something you can’t do without Him.
If you don’t forgive you prove to the world that you have not been transformed into a true disciple of Christ.
When we forgive a person we cancel the debt and all its effects - which have far-reaching consequences.
Jesus taught that their sins against one another were far smaller than their sins against God.
God has given us His assurance that our sins have already been forgiven (1 John 2:1)
The constant intercession of Jesus assures us that we have forgiveness - right now! (Rom. 8:26)
Jesus has given the world the right to judge whether or not you are His disciple by the way you love and forgive others.
The word disciple means a "student of". As a Christian, you are a Christ-one, a mirrored image of Jesus Himself.
Forgiveness should now flow from you naturally because you took on His nature and character, His beliefs and behaviors.
If you do not forgive others with the same love that Jesus uses to forgive you, then the world has the right to believe and proclaim that Jesus is not the Son of God.
It is only when you forgive that you show the world that they, too, can be forgiven of their sin and reconciled to God. If you want a lasting encounter with God’s presence in your relationships, in your church, and in your home, you must flow at all times in and through forgiveness.
