Forgiveness
If you have ever experienced feelings of guilt, you need to know that forgiveness is available to
you. You can feel "clean" again.
The Different Aspects of Forgiveness Are:
1. God's forgivensess, which is necessary for salvation and His favour
toward you.
2. Your forgiveness of others - this is necessary for your own health.
It will also release you to recieve God's favour.
3. Self-forgiveness - this is necessary for your own health spiritually,
mentally and physically.
To love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself,
means to experience forgiveness and to forgive others as well as yourself.
(See the Lord's Prayer, in Matthew 6:12)
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (the word "debts" here refers to
"trespasses" and "sins"; His forgiveness on our part is predicated on our forgiving others)."
Matthew 6:12 (Expositor's Study Bible KJV)
What Scripture Says:
"He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
(This is the reason God takes a stern attitude toward Believers who will not show mercy
nor be quick to forgive. He expects us to conduct ourselves toward others as He has
conducted Himself toward us.")
"For as the Heaven is high above the Earth, so great is His Mercy toward them who fear Him.
(This refers to unlimited Mercy, but with a condition. The condition is that we "fear Him."
If we do, there will be less iniquities.")
"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
(This is equivalent to "blotting out our sins" [Acts 3:19; Isaiah 43:22].
It is impossible to bring the east and west together; so it is impossible to bring the forgiven sinner
and his forgiven sins together. This Divine fact gives to those who believe it a peace which nothing
can destroy.")
Psalm 103:10-12 (Expositor's Study BibleKJV)
"I, even I, am He Who blots out your transgressions for My Own sake, and will no more remember
your sins.
(The recital of Israel's contempt of disobedience to the Law is cleft in two and seemingly disjointed
and interrupted by the declaration of this Verse. Such is the heart of God! when sin reaches its climax,
as it did at Calvary, and becomes unbearable, Grace puts away the sin instead of putting away the sinner!
As man under the First Covenant despised the spotless Lamb and its atoning Blood --- God's Way of Salvation
in type --- so man today denies and despises the Divine Way of the Cross as it refers to Justification and
Sanctification through the Precious Blood of Christ, the Lamb without blemish and without spot.")
Isaiah 43:25 (Expositor's Study Bible KJV)
"If we say that we have no sin (refers to "the sin nature"), we deceive ourselves (refers to self-deception),
and the truth is not in us. (This does not refer to all Truth as it regards Believers, but rather that the Truth
of the indwelling sinful nature is not in us.")
"If we confess our sins (pertains to acts of sin, whatever they might be; the sinner is to believe [Jn. 3:16];
the Saint is to confess), He (the Lord) is faithful and just to forgive us Faith with Himself and with man),
and to cleanse us from all unrighteouss. ("All," not some All sin was remitted, paid for, and put away on
the basis of the satisfacation offered for the demands of God's Holy Law, which sinners broke, when the
Lord Jesus died on the Cross.")
I John 1:8-9 (Expositor's Study Bible KJV)
"And when He had said this, He breathed on them (presents the same act performed in Gen. 2:7;
and to Adam He had breathed the Breath of Life, and now upon our Lord's sons and daughters
He breathed the Holy Spirit), and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (in essence, Jesus is
saying to them that what He did at Calvary will now make it possible for them and all Believers
to "receive" or be Baptized with the Holy Spirit [Jn. 7:39; Acts 2:4])":
Whose soever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them (in its simplest form means that
when the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached and accepted by sinners, the Preacher of the Gospel,
or any Believer for that matter, can announce unequivocally to the new Believer that all his sins
are "remitted",ie, forgiven); and whose soever sins you retain, they are retained (is the same as
the former, but exactly opposite; if the Gospel is refused, the Believer has the obligation to inform
the Christ-rejecter that, despite whatever else he might do, he is still in his sins, and barring Repentance
will suffer the consequences)".
John 20:22-23 (Expositor's Study Bible KJV)
The greatest joy ever known and the greatest love ever experienced is when a person is
forgiven and cleansed of sin. The Bible says the angels rejoice when one sinner repents.
"Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of Angels of God over the one sinner who repents
(this Verse is very similar to Verse 7, but there is an addition; this takes us to the very Throne of God,
placing even more emphasis on the significance of the Salvation of a lost soul)."
Luke 15:10 (Expositor's Study Bible KJV)
"If your life has no joy in it, no victory in it, or no happiness in it, I know why,
"said a famous preacher of the past. "It is because you have not repented."
Even if you are a Christian already, be open to the Holy Spirit when He
reveals unconfessed and unforsaken sin. Take seriously your feelings of guilt.
A young soldier felt sullied after committing his first crimson sin. In despair,
he cried, "How can I ever face my mother? I would give anything in the world
to just feel clean again." You may have similar feelings of shame and remorse.
Yet, God said through the prophet Isaiah that there is forgiveness in Jesus:
"Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord; though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool. (There is no greater invitation found in the Bible than this one
given by the Holy Spirit through the Prophet Isaiah. In this Passage, sins are
spoken of as "scarlet." Such has a reference to blood-guiltiness. All sin is
murder in some form, hence the blood-guiltiness. This glorious Passage
illustrates to us the eternal Truth that irrespective of the evil, wickedness,
deception, and weight of sin, the Lord stands ready, upon proper confession
and Repentance, to forgive all and, therefore, to cleanse all. As stated, this is
done exclusively by faith in Christ and His shed Blood [Eph. 2:13-18].")
Isaiah 1:18 (Expositor's Study Bible KJV)
"BEHOLD, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us (presents that
which is foreign to this present world, and, in fact, comes from another world),
that we should be called the sons of God (we are "sons of God" by virtue of
adoption into the Family of God, dervived through the Born-Again experience):
therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not. (The world does not
recognize nor acknowledge Believers as sons of God, just as they did not recognize
nor acknowledge Christ to be the Son of God.)
I John 3:1 (Expositor's Study Bible KJV)
Freedom In Forgiveness:
Is there some reason why you do not feel free in your spirit?
Could it be that you are holding unforgiveness toward someone whom you feel has wronged you?
To hold unforgiveness is to hate. And in His Word, God compares hate to the sin of murder.
No matter how you were wronged, all that holding a gudge will do for you is bring about
emotional distress, anguish, hate, bitterness, physical illness and a feeling of unhappiness
resulting in spiritual damage. It is God's place to judge and to bring revenge.
You need not labour under a burden that is not yours, nor a responsibility that belongs to God.
If you can get no relief from your burden of guilt, take a good long look at yourself.
Do you need to forgive and ask God to forgive some person?
When forgiven, the other person is released from the bondage of the condemnation
you have heaped on him or her (Acts 7:60). What you bind is bound.
What you loose is loosed (John 20:22-23). When you let go of your bitternes and
resentment, God will be free to work with the person toward whom you held these feelings.
And then you will truly know the power of God's releasing joy. God loves you,
and He wants you to be free to live healthy, happy lives in Him. After you have
forgiven from your heart, then you will be able to experience true freedom.
It is not worth your spiritual, emotional or physical health to bear the burden of unforgiveness.
If possible, tell the person for whom you have carried a grudge that you forgive him or her.
The Lord will also help you to forgive and love this person unconditionally.
Self-forgiveness:
After knowing God has forgiven you, and after forgiving others who have wronged you,
there should be no barrier to hinder you from forgiving yourself. By faith, accept God's
Word in Isaiah 43:18-19. Begin to minister honour and respect to God who is doing a new
thing in you, by offering sacrifices of praise to Him. (Hebrews 13:15).
Satan will still try to accuse you, but you can resist him. Giving praise to God (exalting God)
will cause Satan to flee from you. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
You are free.
(Romans 8:1-2).
Pray that you will receive the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness,
faithfulness, meekness, (gentleness, humility), patience and self-control.
(Galatians 5:22).
Thank and praise God for delievering you from any oppressive spirit which would prevent you from receiving.
Now thank God for His anointing upon you, and rejoice by praising Him for His great love and mercy to you
and others.