(14th article in the Discipleship Series)
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Let’s get started.
PRAYER: And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12).
STUDY: In this study I’ll discuss forgiveness and why it’s so important.
Forgiveness is the FRUIT of God’s vine. Jesus said:
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.John 15:5
Think about it. If Jesus is the vine and the essence of who He is flows to the branches, the branches will reflect who He is.
We have seen that God is: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23).
In this portion of the Lord’s prayer Jesus focuses on gentleness. Gentleness refers to God’s forgiving nature.
If God is love (1 John 4:7), He is also forgiveness. Therefore if we are born of God we will forgive. Forgiveness is our birthright, it is the essence of who we are. By not forgiving we demonstrate one of 2 things:
1. We are NOT born of God— we are not in the Vine.
2. We are living in sin.
In the following verse, Jesus correlates forgiveness and salvation.
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.Matthew 6:14-15
Jesus is saying IF you are born of me you WILL forgive, if you don’t forgive you are not born of me.
Note: There are some groups that try to make a doctrine from the above verse, saying that if you don’t forgive you will lose your salvation. That’s not what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying that if you don’t forgive, check to see if you were EVER born of God, because the Vine and His branches— forgive.
For those of you who believe yourself to be a Christian, yet don’t forgive, you are deep into sin. You are not living your heritage. Repent by confessing your sin to God asking Him to cleanse you from this unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Let’s take a look at unforgiveness and how it occurs.
Jesus tells us to forgive our DEBTORS. Think about what a debt is. It’s something we think people OWE us. Some guy cuts you off on the highway and you think that guy owes you some respect. Do you hold that debt against him? Jesus said to “forgive our debtors”.
What we see here is that anytime someone crosses our boundaries, by our standards they owe us debt. Think about about your boundaries and the people who may have crossed them this week. Did you require that they pay you your debt? Did you complain when people refused to acknowledge the debt they owed to you? Jesus said to “forgive our debtors”.
Forgiving debt doesn’t mean that you condone people’s action or that you can’t make people aware of your boundaries. It just means that you are not going to hold it against them. You are going to give it to God and let Him make something good out of it.
That’s what Jesus did. When He forgave our debts (sins) He wasn’t condoning them. He wasn’t saying our sin is okay. He was taking our sin upon Himself in order to make something good out of it (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was saying I’m not going to worry about how you hurt me, I’m going to think about how my forgiveness can help you— He wanted to make us GREAT (John 10:10).
King David expresses what the gentleness of God did for him.
You have also given me the shield of your SALVATION; your right hand has held me up,your GENTLENESS has made me GREAT.Psalm 18:35
God’s forgiveness makes us great because it it resets the clock. It allows us to leave the past behind and move forward under the grace of God.
When you forgive people of the debt that they owe you, you help them to become great too. You advance love forward and it helps them to find the God they see in you.
MEDITATE: Meditate on these 3 scriptures. Use them to help you forgive your debtors. Put them on card stock and refer to them throughout your week.
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.John 15:5
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.Matthew 6:14-15
You have also given me the shield of your salvation; your right hand has held me up,your gentleness has made me great.Psalm 18:35Also make and carry the Fruit of the Spirit Cards (link). Refer to them throughout the week.
READ BIBLE: At the end of each day, read for 15 minutes in the Chronological Bible. The reading schedule is provided here (link). You can start any where, any time.
Conclusion
Being able to forgive is the trademark of every Christian. Christians forgive because they are attached to the Vine. If you are having a hard time forgiving someone, realize that you are not attached to the Vine. It may be that you are indeed a Christian but you have allowed yourself to mentally exit the Kingdom of God. This is your opportunity to go to God and ask Him WHY you can’t forgive. As He explains it to you, confess your sin and allow Him to cleanse it from your life (1 John 1:9). Don’t allow any bitterness to grow in your heart (Hebrews 12:14-15). In time God’s love will make you great (Psalm 18:35). Forgiving others will allow you to make them great too.