Forgiveness

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Forgiveness

• Of Sins

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What is forgiveness?

• For give ness
• The state of mind of one who gives away all
  claim to a debt

Prefix -meaning To be apart or away from
Suffix- meaning a state or quality
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Forgive

• To give up all resentment against
• To give away the desire to punish
• Pardon
• To cancel a debt

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Forgiveness

• Of God towards us
• Of us towards each other

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How have we wronged God?

• Doubting Gods love Malachi 1 v 2
• Despising Gods name Malachi 1 v 6
• Polluting Gods service Malachi 1 v 7
• Breaking Gods laws Malachi 2 v 14
• Inverting Gods principles Malachi 2 v 17
• Holding back on service Malachi 3 v 8
• Speaking against God Malachi 3 v 13

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SIN

• The failure to measure up to the glory of Gods
  character by
• Doing things wrong (commission)
• Failing to do things right (omission)

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Why is sin bad?

• Antisocial?
• Limits potential?
• Spoils Gods handiwork?
• Contrary to Gods character and purpose?
• against thee only have I sinned

Do we see sin as a wrong done to God?
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Why does God hate sin so much?

• With what do we sin?
• Our bodies
• Our minds
• Our resources

Where did we get them?
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Gods character
X

• God

righteousness
mercy
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Gods character
God
mercy
Good- ness
wisdom
Right-eous-ness
love
justice
truth
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The important message

• Forgiveness is part
• of Righteousness
• He is just to forgive our sins 1 John 1 v 9
• Romans 3 v 24-26, 5 v 21
• Psalm 103 v 17

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The reasoning of Paul

• Romans 5 v 15-18
• The free gift is forgiveness and by extension
  imputed righteousness
• Romans 6 v 23
• The wages of sin death
• Forgiveness (the gift) eternal life

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What does forgiveness do?

• Removes sin
• thereby
• Removing any resentment
• and
• Restoring our relationship with God
• paving the way for when
• All the consequences of sin are removed

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How does forgiveness work?

• Forgiveness cannot compromise Gods principles
• the soul that sinneth it shall die
• the law of the Lord is perfect
• Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and
  canst not look on iniquity

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So then for forgiveness.

• Sin has to be seen to be
• exceeding sinful
• and at the same time
• Gods law has to be seen to be
• entirely right

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In every person that has ever lived

• condemnation of sin
• AND
• exaltation of Gods laws
• requires death
• (not forgiveness)
• .except one

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How did Jesus fit the requirements?

• Sin seen to be exceeding sinful
• The flesh profiteth nothing

• Gods laws upheld
• I delight to do thy will O God

God could happily look on him without revulsion
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By association with Christ we

• Declare sin to be sinful (repent)
• Uphold Gods laws as right (believe)
• And thereby an appropriate basis for forgiveness
  is established

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So then.

• .the condemnation of sin in the flesh through
  the offering of the body of Jesus once for all as
  a propitiation to declare the righteousness of
  God, as a basis for the forgiveness of sins..
• BASF clause 12

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What is needed for forgiveness?

• A forgiving attitude (from God)
• Sending Christ etc
• Repentance and belief (from us)
• Acknowledge sin
• Believe God

??
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Remember

• Our debt has not been paid. it has been forgiven

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Provisional forgiveness?
X

• Until our life is done or the return of Jesus we
  might sin and fall from grace and thereby arouse
  Gods anger. God will then count our sins against
  us and at the judgement pronounce us guilty. Thus
  any forgiveness we now have is provisional and
  capable of being reversed at the judgement. We
  must therefore live in fear of God and his
  judgement lest we annoy him and perish.

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There is no provisional forgiveness

• Phrase does not occur in scripture
• Sins are removed (up, east vs west) (Psalm 103 v
  11-12)
• Gods anger is not kept for ever (Psalm 103 v 9)
• We are not to fear the judgement (1
  John 4 v 17-18)

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Forgiven sins are gone

• Blot out (Psalm 51 v 1, 9, Jeremiah 18 v 23
  Isaiah 25 v 8 wipe away, Genesis 7 v 23
  destroyed)
• Who is he that condemneth? Romans 8 v 31-34 We
  have total confidence in God and trust his love
• But.. if we separate ourselves from Gods love-
  at the current rate of sinning it will take us no
  time at all to earn death as wages and with
  nobody to forgive those sins, we are exposed and
  ashamed.
• (1 John 2 v 28)

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Whats the difference?

• Provisional forgiveness
• Fear

• Forgiveness
• Love

There is no fear in love but perfect love
casteth out fear
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A final thought

• For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive
  and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call
  upon thee. Psalm 86 v 5

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Forgiveness

• Of Sins
• Part 2

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Gods forgiveness is linked to ours

• And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
  debtors.For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
  your heavenly Father will also forgive you But
  if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither
  will your Father forgive your trespasses.
  Matthew 6 v 12-15
• And forgive us our sins for we also forgive
  every one that is indebted to us. Luke 11 v 4

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Gods forgiveness is linked to ours

• And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have
  ought against any that your Father also which is
  in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if
  ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which
  is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Mark 11 v
  25-26

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Gods forgiveness is linked to ours

• So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also
  unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not
  every one his brother their trespasses.
• Matthew 18 v 35

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Why??

• For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your
  heavenly Father will also forgive you
• But if ye do not forgive, neither will your
  Father which is in heaven forgive your
  trespasses.
• So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also
  unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not
  every one his brother their trespasses.

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Its all about God

• Matthew 5 v 43-48
• Forgiveness is not a human attribute but rather
  part of the perfect (righteous) character of God.
• to err is human to forgive is divine

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If we dont forgive..

• We dont appreciate God
• We dont manifest God
• We fail to accept Gods righteousness
• God cannot forgive

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The only basis for forgiveness

• Acknowledge our sins
• Declare God to be right
• Lack of forgiveness on our part declares God to
  be wrong

__________________
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What about the extent of forgiveness?

• Until 7x?
• Until 490x
• Until 7x in one day? (Luke 17 v 4-5)
• From your hearts
• Every one (Matthew 18 v 35)

Matthew 18 v 21-22
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Is forgiveness

• A response to a wrong?
• An attitude of character?

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What is owed by whom?

• What we owe God
• 1 talent3000 shekels
• 1 shekel4 pence
• 1 talent12,000 pence
• 10,000 talents 120,000,000 pence
• 380,000 years wages
• 15,000,000,000
• 1 million x more!

• What our brother owes us
• (a penny a day Matthew 20 v 2)
• 100 pence 4 months wages
• 15,000
• Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all

??
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Worth pondering?

• Q. If God can forgive every one of our sins which
  are a million times worse than those of our
  fellows toward us why dont we forgive our
  brother?
• A. We are more than 1 million times inferior to
  God!

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Why is reconciliation so hard?

• A brother estranged is worse than a strong city
  and contentions are like the bars of a fortress
• Paraphrase Proverbs 18 v 19

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What prevents us forgiving?

• Poor understanding of God
• Pride
• Anger
• Hurt
• Repeated sin ? resentment
• Process of reconciliation not followed
• Vengeance (e.g. Lamech)

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Forgive AND forget

• The Divine
• gold standard
• I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy
  transgressions for mine own sake, and will not
  remember thy sins. Isaiah 43 v 25

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Forgiveness is love (is God)

• Love is patient and kind it is not jealous or
  conceited or proud love is not ill-mannered or
  selfish or irritable love does not keep a record
  of wrongs love is not happy with evil, but is
  happy with the truth. Love never gives up GNB
• 1 Corinthians 13 v 4-7

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The final word from Paul

• Ephesians 4 v 31-32
• Colossians 3 v 12-15