F-WORD VOCAB #2
FORGIVENESS
1. REVELATION OF WHAT WE’VE BEEN FORGIVEN, UNLOCKS LOVE.
Luke 7:36-50
36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”
And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
**Bonus points**
- Jesus had the power to forgive sins & this rocked the paradigm of the people of that day. We need to make sure we’re not overly familiar with forgiveness. [Verse 49]
- The woman’s faith saved her. Faith is the key which unlocks forgiveness. [Verse 50]
**Key Questions**
- Do you think the woman’s sin was greater? Or was she just more self aware of her sin? [Compare her, known as a “Sinner” in verse 37 with how Jesus describes the pharisees Matthew 23:13-39 Whitewashed tombs, brood of vipers, hypocrites, full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean, murderers of the righteous, children of hell) So we need to be aware of just how much we’ve been forgiven of. This will unlock love in our life.
- The expression of love for Jesus by the sinful women was the proof of her self awareness and faith. Are we prepared to analyze ourselves on this? How well does our expression match how much we’ve been forgiven?
2. FORGIVENESS UNLOCKS HEALING
Mark 2:1-12
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
3. FORGIVENESS, CONSEQENCE & JUDGEMENT
Luke 19:1-10
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Forgiveness clears your name of guilt in heaven. You get written into the lamb’s book of life. [Revelation 3:5 & Revelation 21:27] But the consequences of our sin on this earth are still something that must be faced. You steal, God can forgive you and you get into heaven. You’re still going to jail, In fact, someone who is truly repentant as we see with Zacchaeus, will willingly face those consequences.
B.I.D. [Biblically informed decision]
Decision 1.
Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Let’s Choose to forgive. Let’s choose to obey Christ and see others as better than ourselves. Is there anything we need to forgive people for today? Is there anything we’re harboring in our hearts that needs releasing? Let’s release that RIGHT NOW. Amen.
Decisions 2.
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Ask someone to be your accountably partner if you do not have one. When you have one, Confess your sins to them. IT IS POWERFUL. Confessing sin is in direct defiance of satan.
FURTHER READING, FOR THE BEREANEST OF BEREANS
We MUST forgive:
Colossians 3:13
Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Reconciliation is a TOP Priority.
Matthew 5:23-24
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Sweetness of surrender.
Provided by Phil Smith
Surrender can be seen as an act of weakness or even cowardice. However Biblically when we surrender to God in true repentance it is actually an act of wisdom, humility and even great courage. If we surrender to temptation and sinful desires it is indeed foolish, weak and even cowardly however when we surrender to God it is wisdom, bravery and one of the most sweet experiences we can partake of.
Natural fathers and indeed parents in general can experience this sweetness as well in a glimpse of how our heavenly father does when people surrender to him. When discipline is applied by a parent to child in a prayerful loving manner, then as parents we can experience the transformation in the child’s spirit from being at odds with their parent/s to being in a state of awesome accord, vibrant, virtuous, vintage relational ecstasy.
Refer to the Craig Smith "Family Integrity" 4 D's of discipline pamphlet. (Available in PDF upon request)
Psalm 32: 1 – 5
Proverbs 22:15
Psa 107: 2 – hand of enemies
Psa 107: 6 - wandering in the wilderness
107:1 Those in chains and affliction through rebellion //Those enslaved by their own prejudices and passions
vs 18 - they abhorred all manner of meat
Ps 107: 27 - Those at their wits end
The Mystery of iniquity
2 Thessalonians 2:7
For the mystery of iniquity is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
Some ponderings - On the cross all our guilt was covered by the blood. The mystery is that other than what the scriptures tell us, because of Adam’s original Sin, everyone is born with a sinful nature. It’s a mystery. The Ideologue says “If God is God, why not make man perfect in the first place. We know from full counsel of the scriptures that forgiveness is a keynote part of God’s design for awesome relationship. Idealistic perspective is rooted in pride (The Jar does not ask the potter what are they doing?) Read Romans 9.
Like anything in life you can excel at, the more you get bogged down philosophically, the less you’re skilled at applying it. Only when you actually engage in forgiveness and experience it, do you enjoy the relational benefits thereof.
Delegated authority to forgive sins.
John 20:23
"If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Whoever’s sins we forgive, will be forgiven. Delegated authority. It doesn’t mean we’re paying for the thing that was done wrong, JESUS did that and we are his delegates with the authority to dish out HIS forgiveness..
Do not take revenge. Instead, forgive.
Romans 12:17-21
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Notes provided by Caleb Eversmith