-- Monday, 8/1/11 -- ONE WITH JESUS -- Matthew 6:14-15
J.R. & Bonnie Ricks
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ONE WITH JESUS -- Matthew 6:14-15
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Jesus’ statement in these verses confuses a lot of people. I know it confused me the first time I read it! But through prayer and further study, the Lord showed me just what He was talking about here. So let’s take a look…
Does God forgive us for our sins ONLY because we forgive others for what they do to us? In other words, is our salvation contingent upon our willingness to forgive others? No! He forgives our sins because He is a merciful God who loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us so that our sins might be forgiven. He forgives us through His infinite grace, because He wants to. He forgives us because He wants our companionship and, since He will not look at sin, He looks instead at His Son, who was the final sacrifice, … His Son, whose blood covers our sins so that the Father might have our companionship.
So what does this passage mean? Why is our forgiveness of others necessary for our own forgiveness? When you and I acknowledge our sinfulness, repent and ask for forgiveness… and accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation, His death on the cross pays for all of our sins. If we refuse to forgive others, we are refusing to admit that we are just like they are - sinners in need of forgiveness. We are denying what Jesus did on the cross for us if we refuse to admit that we are no better than that person who hurt us. We are demonstrating by our unforgiving nature that we are not truly one with Jesus, but rather are still filled with sin and turning our backs on what God's grace and mercy has done for us. In other words, a person who refuses to forgive others has not been saved in the first place. Oh, he or she might have “gone forward” in church and gone through all the external motions of being saved – even said the “sinner’s prayer”, but nothing happened inside that person. He was not born again. She said the words with her mouth, but her heart was not involved. Since their hearts weren’t involved, the Holy Spirit did not bring them from spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
But what if you are having a hard time forgiving? There’s someone you know you should forgive, but the injuries inflicted on you were so great that you just have not been able to. Does that mean you are not saved? Nope. The key is right there… you WANT to forgive that person… you know you NEED TO forgive that person… you want to be obedient to the Lord… but the things that person has done are so grievous that you’re having a hard time forgiving. The reason you want to forgive is because you’ve been forgiven! And if you’re having a hard time doing so, that’s okay… because your HEART is turned in the right direction. You want to please God. You want to forgive. And you will, because the Lord not only hears and answers our prayers, he also hears and answers our unspoken desires. He will help you forgive when forgiveness is impossible in your flesh alone.
Think about what Jesus went through. On the night before He was crucified, he was subjected to seven trials, stripped, bound, and humiliated. After the final verdict by Pilate, as was the custom, the Son of God was taken away and scourged, His flesh shredded and torn by the pieces of metal and bone entwined in the leather straps. The soldiers took Him into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company around Him. Stripping Him naked, they threw a scarlet robe on His blood-soaked back, then wove a crown of thorns and jammed it down onto His head, ripping His scalp and face. They put a staff in His right hand and knelt in front of Him and mocked Him, jeering and laughing as they shouted, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They spit on Him and hit Him over the head again and again. Then, with His body beaten, His bloody flesh hanging in shreds, and His mind and spirit tortured beyond our ability to comprehend, they led Him away to die the most shameful and painful death ever conceived by man. They led Him away to be crucified.
As He hung on the cross, He said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Jesus went through all that horror for you, as if you were the only one, so that God could forgive you for all the many, many things you've done. So, if you are to be truly one of His children, adopted into God’s family through the blood of Jesus, then you, too, must forgive others, no matter what they've done. If you’re having a hard time forgiving someone, pray about it, and then open yourself up to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Let Him work the wonder of forgiveness in your heart that only He can do.
All Bible quotes contained in these devotionals are from the New International Version 1984 (NIV1984), unless otherwise specified.
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