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| This is Forgiveness |
Children
can be incredibly cruel. Particularly to those who don’t quite conform to their
norms. Any child who is slightly different from the others, often becomes the
object of their collective criticism. I remember from my school days that
anyone who was “fat” was called “fatty” or “tubby”. Those who wore glasses were
often called “goggles”. 
One of my school friends was called “blocks” because he
appeared to have a square head. Interestingly enough, when we all met in PE for
our 50th matric reunion, we found he was still called “blocks”. His name had
stuck to the point where he used it himself 50 years later! God has given me a
new Name! He calls me His son!
“The Lord has forgiven my sins, past present and future. His
blood covers everything. I’m a child of the Living God, so there is no longer
any need for me to be concerned with what I do. I am redeemed from the curse of
the law so I don’t have to worry about sin in my life. My Heavenly Father will
forgive me because He understands how difficult it is for me to live this life
with temptation all around. His love is unconditional so I will be forgiven!”
No
doubt you have heard or read one or more of these statements dozens of times.
Perhaps you have even said them or even used them yourself. Many people make
statements like this in order to justify the things they do. They argue that they
are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ and that, through His atoning death,
resurrection and glorification; they are now justified - seen by God “just as
if I’d never sinned”.
The
trouble with this is, it is not the whole truth. God’s love is infinite; so is
His justice, righteousness, mercy and all His other many attributes. All of
them are absolute. There is a sense in which His attributes are His quandary
and have thus become ours.
God
hates sin. He hates sin with hatred beyond our comprehension. This is not
merely an intense dislike. It’s much, much more than that. His hatred of sin is
an all-consuming infinite hatred beyond anything we can possibly comprehend.
Nothing, absolutely nothing sinful can approach God. It would be utterly annihilated.
That is His nature. That’s the way He is. He doesn’t have a hatred of sin, He
is hatred of sin; totally, utterly and infinitely.
This
is also true of His love. It is infinite and absolute. He does not have love,
He is love. In fact everything God is, He is infinitely. He is infinite love,
infinite justice, infinite mercy, infinite holiness, infinite knowledge and
infinite righteousness. The list of His attributes is beyond comprehension. It’s
likely to include qualities we don’t know exist.
People
have asked, “How big is infinity?” I confess I don’t know and probably never
will. What I do know is that the universe is not infinite. It is contained in
God. Only God is infinite. It therefore follows that His attributes are the
same “size”. Of course size is meaningless when we speak of God. He has no
dimensions. He cannot be measured. He cannot be defined. He has no beginning
and no end. He always was, always is and always will be.
When
we think of Him we should tremble with fear. He cannot be played with, lied to
or shrugged off with disdain. His demands are absolute and complete. He does as
He pleases and nothing can gainsay or say, No!” to Him. This is The One who
confronts us. He is the One we must satisfy. He is our judge. Nothing escapes
His knowledge. Nothing can hide or flee from Him. And there is no one who can
overrule His decisions. Can you imagine anyone more awesome than this One? No!
He is the Ultimate One. He is God!
Is
it possible that such a One could have a problem? No? Not really. Yet God does
have a difficulty. One He could solve without further thought. He could snuff
out mankind in an instant. That’s probably what I would do in His position. But
I’m a mere mortal. He is not. And His predicament was this, “What do I do with
the creatures I made who will not love Me? How do I deal with them without
annihilating them? How can the demands of My infinite love and mercy be
addressed so that there is no “conflict” with My demands for infinite
righteousness and justice?” To us, there is no answer.
But
this is God we are dealing with. Problems of this magnitude are nothing to Him.
He came up with an answer. His answer; the only possible answer was the cross
of Jesus Christ. This is where the problem was dealt with. It was a costly
answer. His demand for justice was poured out on His one and only Son. Jesus
paid the price for our sins. But this does not mean we can now lead a life in
sinful disregard for His Holy demands. It means we must lead a holy life fully
conscious of even a hint of sin in ourselves. We will never have a license to
sin – that would be abhorrent to God - but a longing to live a life pleasing to
Him. In this way, justice and mercy meet at the cross in your life and mine.
Today’s
meditation looks at forgiveness. This is one of the most neglected topics in
churches today. We see that God will only forgive us as we forgive others. It
blows holes in many evangelistic statements. Not that the evangelists are
wrong. They just don’t give the whole truth.
The truth is, God will not forgive
you if you don’t forgive others. He uses your measure of forgiveness to measure
His forgiveness to you!
Shalom
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – 15 Oct 2013
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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©
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These
devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright
protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it
is for non-commercial Christian purposes
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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FORGIVE
US OUR SINS
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Perhaps the greatest problem confronting Christians
today, is the problem of un-forgiveness. It shouldn’t be like this. Sadly,
it’s true. The words spoken by Jesus immediately following His model prayer
in Matthew were: 14 "Forgive
people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven
will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive people their sins, your Father will
not forgive your sins. Matt 6:14-15 NIrV These
are some of the most terrifying words spoken by the Saviour. They have a huge
implication concerning our own salvation. These words tell us, if we don’t
forgive others, we won’t be forgiven!
So why don’t we Christians forgive each other? The
most likely reason is that there is so little fear of the Lord in most
Churches today. Christians prefer to think that they have been given a ticket
to heaven, so their behaviour doesn’t really matter. They say “God knows and
understands! His love is unconditional! He’ll be tolerant of the things we
say and do”. I can’t forgive my granny because of what she did to my hamster.
I won’t and I never will. That’s a huge mistake.
That’s not what the Bible teaches. His grace may be
free, but it is not cheap. Furthermore, although His love is infinite, it is not unconditional. To say it’s unconditional,
implies that all are saved regardless of what they say and do. That’s a
terrible lie. He will not overlook sin in the life of a believer, He condemns
in the life of an unbeliever. To do so would make Him a respecter of persons.
Furthermore, it would mean that sanctification was unnecessary.
It’s been said that today, God’s people want
justification (forgiveness of sin) in this life and sanctification (holiness)
in heaven. But God wants us to be justified (made right with Him) in this
life and sanctification (holiness) in this life too. We may not like this. We
may “belly-ache” about it too. But in the final analysis, He makes the rules!
His decisions are not subject to the democratic process. He always does as He
pleases.
But what’s this got to do with our failure to
forgive? Everything. The Lord uses our own standards on us! Our own standard
becomes His yardstick for every Christian. He will deal with me using my standards.
Likewise He will deal with you according to your standards. Bear in mind the
following basic little equation. No forgiveness =
no salvation. If God has not forgiven you, you are not saved. Likewise,
for you no forgiveness = no salvation. If
you do not forgive others, you are not saved. That is the bottom line. No
matter how delightfully your pastor or minister may preach. No matter how
many times you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, unless you
forgive others, you will not be forgiven. No matter how many times you may go
to the front by invitation of your pastor. No matter the amount and quantity
of your tears, if you do not forgive others, your efforts are worse than
useless. Incidentally, the same is true for your pastor, your favourite
healing evangelist, and the head of your denomination or anyone else –
including me! If they do not forgive others, they are not forgiven. Scripture
makes this abundantly clear.
If anyone requires full salvation he/she must give
full forgiveness. In fact you set the standard by which He will deal
with you. That scares me. It should make us a forgiving people. I know
I need it. Several buckets of water the size of the Atlantic ocean would
merely dampen the surface. What about you?
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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12 Forgive us our sins, just as we also have forgiven
those who sin against us.
Matthew 6:12 NIrV
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Peter asked the Master, “Lord how many
times,
Must I forgive my brother for the many
crimes,
That he has perpetrated and committed
against me?
I think it should be seven times. But Lord,
what thinketh Thee?
Anyone who murdered Cain would truly cost
him dear.
God would punish seven times. The Word
makes it quite clear. (Gen 4:7)
If that is the standard which God said
should apply,
Surely that’s the standard for folk like
You and I?”
“Seven’s insufficient. See what Lamech
said.
Seventy and seven times for striking Lamech
dead. (Gen 4:24)
But by implication, it’s so much more than
that.
Peter, stop your counting. You’re speaking
through your hat!
You can never calculate how often to
forgive.
If you want a number, what number would you
give?
For there is a principal that always must
apply.
That’s the number God will use when you’re
the one He’ll try.
He brings perfect justice. He says that you
will set,
The standard of forgiveness which you
yourself will get.
If you say that seven times is what he has
to pay.
God will use your seven times on you on
Judgement Day.
If you’re unforgiving, He’ll be that way with
you.
You will find the torturers know what they
have to do.
They will carry on until the total price is
paid”. (Matt 18:34)
This is terrifying and makes me sore
afraid!
Do not be vindictive. Be tender-hearted,
kind,
Always be forgiving. For then you too will
find,
He’ll be tender-hearted and treat you with
compassion.
You’re the one directing what the Lord
above will fashion.
If you’re harsh and cruel, my brother, hear
me well.
You will be consigned into the lowest pit
in hell.
Isn’t Father wonderful! He knows what you
should get!
What you have dictated, by the standards
you have set!
So, if un-forgiveness, is the order of your
day,
Better you repent of it and turn to God and
pray,
You will be forgiven. Then here’s what you
must do.
Go and tell the people, who have sinned and
damaged you,
You need their forgiveness for the things
which you have done.
Then you’ll be forgiven by Jesus Christ,
God’s Son.
Jim Strickland
Written 15th Oct
2012
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21 Peter came to Jesus. He asked, "Lord,
how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to
seven times?" 22 Jesus
answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but 77 times.
Matthew 18:21-22 NIrV
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32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt
because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn't
you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' 34
Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be
tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 35 "That's what My heavenly Father will do to you if you
refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart."
Matthew 18:32-35 NLT
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32 Instead, be kind to each other,
tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has
forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32 NLT
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13 You were once dead because of your
failures and your uncircumcised corrupt nature. But God made you alive with
Christ when he forgave all our failures. 14 He did this by erasing the charges that were brought
against us by the written laws God had established. He took the charges away
by nailing them to the cross.
Colossians 2:13-14 GW
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13 Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who
offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so
you must forgive others.
Colossians 3:13 NLT
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