FORGIVENESS OF SINS. Forgiveness is the heart of Christianity. When man sinned in the Garden of Eden, God walked gently to Adam and Eve though they had broken the law. WHAT IS FORGIVENESS To lift (Burden or a load lifted) To release (psalm 108…….) To cover (psalm 43:45) To take away or remove (psalm 103:12) To lift means: Lifting burden. To release means: To release from oppression To remove means: To remove our transgressions. To cover means: Blot out our sin (wipe our sins). EXODUS 34:5-7 When Moses came back from the mountain and heard that Aaron had set gods for them to worship, Moses became angry and broke the Ten Commandments (The tablet).The Lord declared His name or identify Himself for them to know who He is. In this passage there are four things which represent who God is: 1. God is merciful to all. When we deserve condemnation he brings his grace and mercy to us. 2. God is able to forgive sins. Anytime God sees anything bad with his children he comes closer to us for forgiveness 3. God does not overlook sins. If God wants to clean you and you say no (God is love and holy) that your choice. 4. Sin has great consequences (punishable).If you do not allow God to forgive you your sins the punishment is still there which you will pay. But if God forgives you your sins, then you will only take the consequences E.g. (Abraham and Ishmael). 1 JOHN 3:7-9 1. The first thing you must know is that Christ came to cover Satan’s power (vs. 8). If the power is destroyed, it is forever destroyed (for this purpose the Son of Man came). 2. Christ has planted His seed in us. This means Christ always speaks to us. 3. God’s children are not habitual sinners. Which means God doesn’t want us to sin. 1JOHN 2:1-2 1. God perfect will is l sin not which means God doesn’t want us to sin. 2. The practical: If anyone sin. Either sins of omission, commission, spiritual, physical or mental. 1JOHN 1:6-10 Perfect will: Don’t sin. Practically: If we sin, the pardon or the advocate is Jesus Christ In the book of Romans the Bible says: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of the Lord. (Romans 3:23) 1. No matter who you are, you don’t have to tell yourself that there is no sin in you. (1John 1:8) 2. If we confess our sins and forgive each other then …… (John 8:24, Mathew 6:14-15) FORGIVENESS OF SINS PT 2 Ephesians 1:3-7 1. Forgiveness of sin according to the riches of his grace (conditions attach Grace is matt 6:14) Grace means favor we don’t deserve or an unmerited favor. We don’t work to get grace; what we get for our work is a reward. Anytime we receive something from God it is a grace gift and not what we work for. If God gives you something, you have to do something to accept or receive it. E.g. If I have bought you a new car and I say come and receive it, your part to play is preparing yourself to come. REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD Redemption means: To Regain the possession of something through payment. E.g.: if you have a house and you need a loan from the bank. You have to give your house as collateral to the bank. When Adam and Eve sinned, they sold the authority right of man to Satan. So Satan has taken God’s property and God has to REDEEM His people from Satan. So what did God use to redeem His property? 1PETER 1:18-19 In redemption the cost must be equal to the value of redeemed items. For us to understand our redemption we have to understand Man’s worth. WHAT IS MAN’S WORTH? Silver and gold is not equivalent to man’s worth; animal’s blood is also not equal to man’s worth. GENESIS 1:26-27 Then God said: 1. Let us make man in our own image. 2. Let them have dominion. Man is the image of God. So it will only take equivalent price of his image to Satan. The market value of man is the image of God. 2. DOMINION Man is the manager of God’s creation. (The power of Authority) The image of God and the manager of God’s property is what God has to pay before he can redeem man from Satan’s slavery. Because man is internal soul. Silver, Gold, Animals, Trees, Mountains etc don’t have internal soul, so they cannot be used (Heb. 10) FORGIVENESS OF SIN PT 3 Matthew 18:21-35 This parable that Jesus said to Peter is about how to forgive. Jesus had taught his disciples how to deal with offences between brother and sisters. 3 Main roles in the parable: 1. MERCIFUL KING. A merciful king is the one who forgives all debts [GOD] and he is dealing with his children. This merciful king was approached by his servant who owes a lot of money-about so many millions. We are not sure how he owes the debt. The servant always comes and says give me some time and I will pay, but the master realizes that there is no way that his servant can get the money, So he says ‘servant I have forgiven you’. The merciful king forgives us because we cannot pay. (Grace Gift) 2. THE WICKED SERVANT. This servant owed his master about 10,000denary and has been forgiven by his master. But somebody owes this servant 1.00 denary and the person pleads with him with the same words that he says to his master but the servant didn’t allow him but takes him to prison. 3. THE MORAL JUDGE: We reap what we sow. The world’s worst prison is an unforgiving heart. If we don’t forgive others we have torches in ourselves. This means if we do not forgive others it wounds our spirit. MATTHEW 6:9. Forgive us our sins as we forgive others .Our forgiveness releases God’s forgiveness so if we do not forgive others then we are blocking God’s grace on us. COMMON SENSE ROLES The very few things we have to know: 1. WE OFFEND PEOPLE. Sometimes the things that we do affect some people but we don’t know e.g. (may be my preaching is affecting somebody here and I believe the person will say who do you think you are.) The way we speak, talk, laugh, eat, drink may offend somebody. 2. SOMEBODY WILL OFFEND YOU. Because we offend people however someone will also offend us. 3. OFFENCES WILL WEIGH YOU DOWN Offences are not nice so we can either decide to forgive or not. 4. FORGIVENESS RELEASE BURDENS(psalm 51:8b) Forgiveness is medicine for the soul .I believe one of these days we all have to take forgiveness as our medicine, it is not easy to take medicine as we all know. 5. FORGIVENESS IS A CHOICE. If Christ has forgiven us we also have to forgive others. That is why un-forgiveness can block our prayers. COLOSSIANS 3:12-13 /1 PETER 2:9-10 THINGS THAT WILL HELP US TO FORGIVE. 1. Know your place in Christ. You are elect or selected ones. God elected you and you are holy. Don’t compare yourself to people. You are elect, holy, special and beloved. 2. We must show the fruit of the spirit by their fruit we shall know them. What are some of the fruit? (In love, meekness and long suffering, etc.) GALATIANS 5:22-23 3. WE MUST FLOW WITH PEOPLE. No-one is perfect so we have to draw to people and correct them, may be they don’t know what they are doing .We also do something that we also don’t know that affect some people. 4. WE MUST FOLLOW OR IMMITATE CHRIST. We must forgive as Christ has forgiven us. Jesus did not come to forgive the whole world but he forgives individuals. Peter who was much closer to Jesus even denies Jesus. Don’t we deny people? Three times Jesus asked Peter ‘do you love me?’ Peter said ‘you know that’. But later what happens? Remember how many promises you have made and you have disappointed. People you promise to be in love with, or to help them etc. (Think about it) LET US PRAY FORGIVENESS OF SINS PT 4. GENESIS 50:15-25 In the bible Joseph is one of the people who practiced forgiveness very most and I think we have to learn from him. I believe Joseph was a real test of whether he had truly forgiven his brothers or not. His father is dead and in their culture, people have to respect their father. So Joseph’s brothers came to him that this was what our father said. Which means they are seeking for ways to apologize. In vs. 17.They use three words against what they have done. 1. TREESPASS 2.SIN 3.EVIL 1.Treespass: something that is wrong (not right) 2.Sin :an offence against God. 3. Evil : something that is wicked and malicious. Many times there are people who do not apologize for what they have done. WHAT DID JOSEPH SAY? VS.19 1. AM I IN THE PLACE OF GOD? (deut. 32:35). Because Joseph knows that vengeance is from God. (Who am I?) A. True forgiveness starts when we leave vengeance into the hand of God. (Joseph-I’m not God). B. True forgiveness requires that we have moved from seat of garment to the seat of mercy and allow God to be God. 2. GOD INTENDED IT FOR GOOD. He recognizes God’s hands in what has happened. Do you see God’s hands in your pains? Do you see God’s hands in your problem? Until you can see that, you cannot forgive. But the good news is that God is able to use the bitter piles to heal you. 3. I WILL PROVIDE FOR YOU. He responded to their needs. Remember the first time they betrayed him, he was going to provide for his brothers. But still, Joseph said I will provide for you. Can you do that? Joseph’s attitude and body language. 1. When they had said what they said, the Bible says Joseph was WEEPING. why? Because he understands the heavy burden his brothers were carrying. This is called (sympathy). 2. He comforted them (he made it easy for them) He didn’t stand out and said when I was in prison where you and all others were. 3. He spoke kindly to them. He didn’t ask them to go to the delegate and kill Animals give money. SEVEN COMMON RULES. 1. Forgiveness does not always require apologies because there are people who never see their wrong.(don’t say if they come and apologize, I will forgive them). 2. Forgiveness is not the same as forgetting. a. Forgiveness: means release the responsibilities of somebody’s actions in you. b. Forgetting: means erasing the pains. Once we have memory we will always remember. If the bible says God does not remember our sins again, it means he chooses to pay as not according to our reward but by His GRACE AND MERCY. 3. FORGIVENESS DOES NOT DENY WRONG DOING Joseph told his brother you intended it for evil but God turned it to good. Many times when something gets wrong, instead of dealing with wrong we joke with it. Because of that the result always multiply. 4. FORGIVENESS DOES NOT CONDON CRIME. When we sin there are two people we offend. 1. God 2.The State. We have to forgive it in the name of God. But we can’t forgive in the name of the state. So if somebody commits for example; rape, killing, stealing, etc. We have to report to the state. 5. FORGIVENESS DOES NOT INSTANTLY RESTORE TRUST. If an armed robber comes to church and said ‘now I have repented,’ that does not mean we instantly have to take him /her as a treasurer. Trust is not a title but trust is based on relationship. 6. FORGIVENESS MAY NOT TAKE AWAY YOUR PAINS. It takes a process before forgiveness pains will vanish. 7. FORGIVENESS REQUIRES GOD GRACE AND HUMAN EFFORT. Each day you must trust God, pray to God, and pray for your enemies. AMEN Researched and compiled by Mr Alexander Nii Okai Mensah (Alias Bro Fiifi)
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 11:57:32 +0000
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