Forgiven To Forgive

We are to forgive as Christ forgave us

Christ Will Not Forgive Our Trespasses

Jo. 24:19
24:19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a
jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
Note: Here God says that He will not forgive our sins or trespasses. But in other parts of the
Bible, He says that He will forgive sins. What is the dividing line? What makes the difference?

Isa. 2:9
2:9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them
not.
Note:

Forgive or We will not be forgiven

Mt. 6:15
6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.
Note: If we look at this at first, it will seem quite harsh, doesn’t it? That God will not forgive us
unless we are willing to forgive those who have wronged us. Yet Christ did not mean it in a harsh
way. It wasn’t a threat to be like, “Oh, I won’t forgive until you forgive…” He wasn’t trying to
scare us. Though, He did want us to understand the significance of what this means. God can’t
forgive us until we learn to forgive and move on from things in our own life. Until we have let go
of the anger, frustration, etc. of what we might be feeling, God cannot forgive us of our sins. We
are to leave all our feelings in his hands.

Mt. 18:21-22
18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive
him? till seven times?
18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Note: We know this story well. Peter asks Jesus how many times he is to forgive one who sins
against him. When he says “till seven times” he thinks that is plenty, so when Jesus answers him
the way He does it catches him off guard. Jesus says, “Until seventy times seven.” Now this in
reality, is 490 when you do the math. Is Jesus really meaning that we are to count when
someone asks for forgiveness and on the 491st time say, “No, I’ve forgiven you the amount I
was supposed to…” ? No, that’s not what Jesus means. No one usually is counting. His point is
that we are to forgive and keep forgiving.

Mt. 18:35
18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not
every one his brother their trespasses.
Note: We all have the freedom to choose what we will do when we are placed in a situation
where we must forgive. Christ doesn’t force us to do what He wants us to do. All He does is give
the command, and He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” There is a cause
and effect to everything we do in life, and it applies to this as well. If we forgive, we will be
forgiven by the Father, but if we don’t forgive, we will not be forgiven.
 Mk 11:25
11:25 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.
Note:

Great Examples of Forgiveness

Gen. 50:17
50:17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their
sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of
the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spakes unto him.
Note: No one will ever understand what Joseph went through. None of us will ever understand
what that is like. He had the choice to not forgive them; he was in a position of power and could
have done whatever he wanted. Yet, he forgave his brothers, though they had done the
unimaginable. We think its hard for us today. It seems so hard to let go when someone hurts us
of offends us. Joseph’s brothers did that to the highest extent. We have no excuse to say that we
can’t forgive. He could have been angry, and he was for a time, but He chose to let it go. This is
an example for us. I know for me it has been really hard to let go of what happed last year with
Joy. God has helped me a lot, but it still comes back at times, and I always wonder if I can trust
what she says. I understand that she has been through a lot, and that she’s dealing with things
that I don’t know about, but I am still quite afraid. Yet, here, Joseph fully forgives. He doesn’t let
this affect the way he sees them or other people. It doesn’t make him afraid of people. This
something that I can see in my life that I need to work on. Its so hard sometimes, but just
because its hard does not mean its impossible.

Ex. 10:17
10:17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that
he may take away from me this death only.
Note: This is during the ten plaques of Egypt, and Pharoah asks to be forgiven by God. Its
interesting that God forgives him, even though it wasn’t true repentance. He just wanted God to
take away the locusts from the land. It was not a lasting act. Once they were gone, he went back
to what he had been doing before. There is a lesson in this for us. Not everyone who asks for
forgiveness will be truly repentant, but just as God forgave Pharoah, we are to forgive. Its not
our place to judge what the heart is, and what that person’s motivation is. I guess I think a lot
about what has happened in the past... It’s often so hard for me to know when it is true
repentance, a least from some people. God has helped me a lot with Joy, but I still have
moments that I struggle. She is one person that I can’t really figure out. Anyways, even if she
didn’t mean what she said, I still need to show her the love that God has for her.

Ex. 32:32
32:32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book
which thou hast written.
Note: Moses offers to take the blame upon himself. God has threatened to wipe out the Israelite
nation because of their sin with the golden calf. This is the context of this verse. Instead of
agreeing with God, he pleads for them. Even through everything he has gone through, he offers
to take the blame for their sin. How many of us today would have been willing to do that: for
someone we love… Imagine doing it for someone who really doesn’t like you most of the time.
Its hard, and yet we see that He was fully willing.
 1 Sam. 25:28
25:28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a
sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in
thee all thy days.
Note: In the story of Nabal, David struggled with forgiveness. He was asking for food in
exchange for taking care of Nabal’ s herds, and he refuses. Now, Nabal never confessed and
asked David to forgive him. It came from his wife, Abigail. She pleads on behalf of her husband,
just as Moses did. Nabal was about to face the consequences of his actions and she decides to go
to David herself. She gives him food and apologizes for the actions of her husband. God gives
this example again, so it must be something to take note of.

Solomon’s Prayer
1 Ki. 8:30
8:30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall
pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest,
forgive.
Note: This is when Solomon is praying and this is his request. He asks God to hear him when he
calls out to Him and to forgive them when they ask of Him. He prays in faith, knowing that God
will answer him.

2 Chron. 6:21
6:21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they
shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when
thou hearest, forgive.

1 Ki. 8:36
8:36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that
thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which
thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.
Note: Once again He asks for the forgiveness of the people, but here he adds something. Not
only does he ask for forgiveness, but he asks the Lord to teach them in the way that they should
go. Its very interesting that he asks for guidance, for the Lord to teach the “good way wherein
they should walk.” This is the same thing that we should be doing. We also should ask for that
good way that we are to walk in. Not only do are we forgiven, but we are to turn from our ways
and be converted.

2 Chron. 6:25
6:25 Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again
unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

2 Chron. 6:27
6:27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when
thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land,
which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

1 Ki. 8:39
8:39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man
according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the
hearts of all the children of men;)
 Note: God will give to every man as in His heart. He will hear from His dwelling place, and
promises forgiveness. But, he says, “forgive and do…” I want to know what is that mean? What
is Solomon asking God to do? He alone knows every heart, and what every motive is. For me that
is so comforting because there are a lot of times when I feel misunderstood. I feel that I am
being judge based on something that isn’t true and it can get tiring, but in those times I
remember that God knows exactly how I feel and He knows everything that is in our hearts. Even
though it may not be seen to man, God sees and understands and will judge accordingly.

1 Ki. 8:50
8:50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they
have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them
captive, that they may have compassion on them:
Note: It’s interesting that he mentions for the people who have been taken captive to have
mercy on those who have taken them. He prays for God to have mercy towards these captors, so
that the people may be able to show mercy. That’s not how most people see the people that
have done them wrong. Yet this is the way we are to be. God has forgiven us and in return we
are able to forgive those who sin against us. For us as humans, this is so hard to grasp. Not only
the fact that we are forgiven, but also to forgive. We wrestle a lot with the idea that God can
forgive any sin, but we are more perplexed and maybe even troubled at the thought of forgiving
those who have wronged us. We receive to give. Nothing of God’s creation lives unto itself, so
why should we? This is definitely not natural for us, but when God has changed the heart, we
find ourselves being willing to do things that we would have never imagined that we would do.

2 Chron. 7:14
7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my
face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land.
Note: Here we see there is a condition so to speak in order to be forgiven. It is in the way we
seek God. We are to seek Him humbly, and turn from our ways, and then He says that He will
hear us and forgive us. But not just that. There is more to this promise. He says that He will heal
our land. What is this land exactly? And why does it have to be heal? Something had to have
damaged it for it to need to be healed…

Ps. 25:18
25:18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.
Note: When David is pleading to the Lord, he asks Him to look upon his affliction and pain. He
asks to be forgiven.