Greetings again, friend, welcome back to the course!
In previous lessons, we discussed the importance of forgiving others as the Lord has forgiven us.
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 (NIV)
We mentioned one definition of forgiveness, which is that God chooses to remember our sins no more.
“No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:11-12 (NIV)
Question 1. According to Hebrews 8:11-12, how do people come to know the Lord?
Hebrews 8:11-12 teaches us that we come to know the Lord through the forgiveness of our sins. When we turn to the cross and see that Jesus loved us enough to die for our forgiveness, it lets us know the character of God and receive the love of God. We come to know God as a forgiving God, a God who pardons (Isaiah 55:7), a God who refuses to remember our sins so that we can have a relationship together.
And as we experience this forgiveness, relishing that God chooses never to remember our sins, we now know how to forgive those who sin against us. It’s not that God has a bad memory; instead, it’s that He deliberately chooses not to remember our sins.
The imperative we have as children of God is to forgive others as God has forgiven us, which means that we forgive and choose not to remember the wrongs done against us. Do you frequently recall or think about offenses that someone said or did to you? If yes, this could be an indication that you have not forgiven your offender.
If you are in the position of leadership in your church, you must help others see their full pardon at the cross! As they see their complete forgiveness through Jesus’ blood, shed on their behalf, and they understand that God refuses to remember their wrongs, they will be empowered to forgive and intentionally not remember the wrongs of others and avoid the trap of bitterness.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NIV)
In this lesson, we want to add to this definition of forgiveness, so that we can not only rejoice in God's forgiveness of us through Christ but also understand and know how we are to forgive others as God has forgiven us.
Biblical forgiveness means:
First, as stated in the previous lesson and summarized above, God chooses not to remember our sins against Him (Hebrews 8:11-12).
Second, God chooses to pay the price.
To truly forgive someone as God has forgiven us, we also must pay the price.
Bill Miller, one of the board members of Setting Captives Free, uses this illustration to explain this aspect of forgiveness:
“Let’s say that you are my employee, and while I was out one day, you saw $50.00 cash laying on my desk; temptation overtook you, you stole the money and immediately spent it on yourself. But then your conscience began to trouble you, and you felt compelled to confess your theft to me. But the problem is, the money is gone, and you are unable to replace it.
In this case, if you ask me to forgive you, it means I’m out $50.00. If I say I will forgive you, I am paying the price of that forgiveness. It cost me something to forgive you. Now you might, over time, be able to repay me, but at the moment of your confession, forgiveness means I willingly pay the price to forgive you.”
Friend, this is one of the great things that happened at the cross: Jesus Christ paid the price of our sin. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and Jesus paid that price, and all who believe stand before God forgiven, which means we do not owe God for our sin. The immense price, the blood of God Himself (Acts 20:28) was shed, Jesus was pierced and wounded and beat, the price was paid, the debt is gone, we are free! And Jesus did this willingly! “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:17-18).
When Jesus completed the work of redemption on the cross, just before He gave up His Spirit, He cried out in a loud voice, "It is finished!" Found only in the Gospel of John, the Greek word translated "it is finished" is tetelestai, which is an accounting term that means "paid in full." When Jesus cried out those words, He was preaching the gospel! He was communicating that He wiped away our sin debt owed to His Father entirely and forever. And there is no way we could ever repay Jesus for this price He paid, and what's more, He doesn't even want us to try. God never requires nor allows repayment from us.
And this is how we forgive those who sin against us. Sin always incurs a debt, but as those who have received abundant forgiveness from God, we follow Christ, forgive and pay the price, whether that is actual money or in another way. By contrast, we don’t require our offender to “work it off,” we don’t require a “pound of flesh” or cling to a need to see our offender suffer. Instead, we remember the cross of Christ, where He suffered, and forgive others as God has forgiven us.
If you are a Christian counselor, one of your primary roles will be to help people to 1) experience the forgiveness of God themselves, and 2) teach them how to forgive others as God has forgiven them not in word only but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18).
Question 2. How does God choosing to pay the price of forgiveness cause you to value the work Jesus did on the cross?
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Miles writes, "My debt was overwhelming causing me to suffer to the point of despair and longing for death due to the shame of the evil deeds I committed. Jesus suffering and torturous death and victorious resurrection lifted me out of the pit and now empowers me each day to live for Him in freedom. It's still quite beyond my comprehension to know that God would want to forgive someone like me let alone take my punishment and pay my debt but I BELIEVE!!!"