Up My Dosage The Prozac Isn’t Working Any More

Forgiveness Part Two

Do you sometimes feel as if the world is out to get you and the people around you do nothing but hurt you?

Isn’t life supposed to be better than this? I’m a good Christian and a good spiritual leader!

I just wish that people would see what they are doing to me and stop it!

All I seem to do is forgive people around me who don’t seem to know any better!

Sometimes I wonder........... what is forgiveness?

If we look at Christ, we will see the best example of what and how forgiveness really works; and the way that God makes it work. Any other way of looking at it is sin and only leads to self- destruction.

The three major components to forgiveness are: forgivness extended, forgiveness accepted and repentance. Or, someone who forgives, someone who is forgiven and repents. Mankind sins, Christ dies on the cross and pays the sin debt for mankind. Man sees his own sin and he asks for Christ’s forgiveness and repents and Christ forgives. Christ’s example shows us that forgiveness is part of a process and at the end of that process we are forgiven.

What really happens with this forgiveness?

We can shed some light on this by looking at Matthew 7:21-23.
Jesus says “depart from me I never knew you.”
This shows us clearly that when we come to Christ and ask for forgiveness and repent we re-establish a broken relationship with Him. This is clear because He uses the word "know" and that refers to relationship. Another thing that we can clearly see from this passage is that all are not forgiven. Christ doesn’t just forgive everyone.

So then how do we apply this to our lives?

And what has this got to do with us and how we forgive?

It has everything to do with us. It is a perfect example of who we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to act. Ephesians 5:1 tells us to be "imitators of God" and that means that we are to imitate Christ in this process. The first thing that we need to establish is the effect forgiveness has, when it comes from Christ, and when it comes from man. In both cases relationship is reestablished. When the forgiveness process is carried out, the thing that is different with God’s forgiveness is that relationship brings with it a right standing before God, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and have an inheritance with Christ.

We have to understand that Christ has paid the sin debt in full. We in no way ever pay any part of it and can never take any credit for that payment. On the cross Christ said my "God, my God why has though forsaken Me" and at that time God was pouring out the cup of wrath on Christ and that was the spiritual punishment which was the entire payment for sin. Nothing else had anything to do with the payment for sin. He was scourged and forced to carry His cross to the place that He was nailed to it. That was all just a result of living in a sin filled world it had nothing to do with the payment for sin.

So someone sins against us what do we do?

The real question is, can we forgive them if they don’t ask?......Look For

Forgiveness Part 3