Forgive

The Big Topic

Have you ever been told you must forgive otherwise God will not forgive you? Where do we live, as believers? Do we live under condemnation and unforgiveness from God or do we live in forgiveness from God? As believers, we can’t have it both ways. There are two scriptures that came to the forefront just recently and I wanted to talk about them here.

Scripture

The first scripture is found in Matthew:

“For if you forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (‭6:14‬ ‭AMP)‬‬

The second scripture is in Acts:

“All the prophets testify about Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him [whoever trusts in and relies on Him, accepting Him as Savior and Messiah] receives forgiveness of sins.””
(10:43‬ ‭AMP‬‬)

There new many who would call this “tension” in Scripture.  I simply call it the Old Convent vs the New Covenant.  I cover this in my first book, “Time To Really Live Free” in Chapter 10 so I won’t cover that here in as much detail. 

Greek Definitions

1.

It is simple, in the first scripture the word forgive is:

863-aphiémi(a) I send away, (b) I let go, release, permit to depart, (c) I remit, forgive, (d) I permit, suffer. (from 575 /apó, “away from” and hiēmi, “send”) – properly, send away; release (discharge).

Here in the first scripture it is translated as forgive.  Every time 863 is translated ‘forgive’ we find the disciples or Jesus talking about precross/Old Covenant, about how one from the ‘world’ (outside the mark) can receive God’s forgiveness (be in the mark) and only once in James 5:15 for the ailing/weary person and he will be forgiven. (Chapter 14, Time To Really Live Free)

2.

In the second scripture the word forgive is:

859-aphesisa sending away, a letting go, a release, pardon, complete forgiveness.(from 863 /aphíēmi, “send away, forgive” ) – properly, “something sent away“; i.e. remission (“forgiveness”), releasing someone from obligation or debt. 

When we see this word used in scripture for the following “forgive” translation we find the disciples speaking about what Jesus Christ did and how accepting him as Savior you receive this type of forgiveness.

3.

The last word I want to look at is:

5483 charizomai (a) I show favor to, (b) I pardon, forgive, (c) I show kindness.  (from 5485 /xáris, “grace, extending favor“) – properly, to extend favor (“grace“), freely give favor to grant forgiveness(pardon).

Luke used this word to describe what Jesus did when he healed many in 7:21 and also when Jesus told the parable of who would love him more when forgiven-the one with much debt or the one with less (7:42). Jesus here was speaking not in present tense but in the future tense of what would come. 

Enter the New Covenant

There is an important Scripture in John 20:19-23 where the 863 forgive is used:

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” (NASB)

What Does This Mean

This is the same day Jesus rose from the dead; saw Mary Magdalene; ascended to His Father and our Father; and then came to his disciples. He speaks to them, “Peace be with you”. Yet, it was necessary for him to show his hands and his side and then they knew who he was and he again said, ‘Peace be with you’ and then reminded them their purpose had not changed from when he was on earth with them; but realize first he gave them peace (God’s gift of wholeness) then the purpose was given. The next thing He did was to breath on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He filled them with life. This reminds me of when God, in Genesis, breathed the breath of life into Adam and Adam lived (this is very important to understand especially if you have read Chapter 14 of Time To Really Live Free).  Next Jesus states if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven and if you retain they are retained.

Wow…Why That Statement?  What I need to clarify with the verb usage in this sentence is the first use of both ‘forgive’ and ‘retain’ are subjunctive mood verbs and the second set are indicative mood. This means the first shows a wish or a doubt where the second states a fact or asks a question. This does show the truth of the matter for ourselves personally and I believe answered a question battering around the disciples heads at that moment.

Forgiveness was a large topic…

The disciples asked how many times they should forgive. Jesus went and forgave people of their sins. I really think at this time the disciples wanted to be forgiven for abandoning Jesus, remember Peter said he would never abandon Jesus. They were mad at themselves and probably mad at all the people that had turned against Jesus and called out for Him to be crucified. They were probably mad at the religious elite and the government for their choice to have Jesus crucified. They may have even been mad at Jesus for leaving….And remember….Jesus had said forgive so that your Father in Heaven can forgive you…..uh oh!!! Can we do this as completely as He said we should. Will we ever know if we have done it well enough?!?!?!! OH NO!!!!

Change of Covenants

Realize that right here is when Jesus was making it very clear there is a change from the Old Covenant to the New Convent with all Jesus did and said.  Anyone could walk through this door.  The retaining of someones hamartia (266) (again if you have read Chapter 14 of Time To Really Live Free you will better understand what I am speaking of here) is used here in John 20:23.  This means someone’s willful self empowered choice.  And I believe the retention lies within ourselves. Which is more than I want to unpack in this post. 

Main Point

The main point I wanted to get to is this:

Please stop using Matthew 6:15 as a way to get believers to forgive people. We no longer live in condemnation or fear-as believers in Christ this isn’t where we live from anymore.  We live from the place where grace has overcome all sin (266 hamartia), all our trespasses (3900 paraptóma) and all our transgressions (3847 parabasis) have have been forgiven by God.  On the other hand, this scripture is a great reminder of where we no longer have to live from.

Plain and simple-this is now the place we live from that Jesus created for us in his death on the cross.  And we have even more in his resurrection. 

Where Believers Live From

I think Romans 5:15 is where we need to remember to live from:

“But the free gift [of God] is not like the trespass [because the gift of grace overwhelms the fall of man]. For if many died by one man’s trespass [Adam’s sin], much more [abundantly] did God’s grace and the gift [that comes] by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to [benefit] the many.” AMP‬‬

Which enables us to live from:

“bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:13‬ ‭AMP‬‬

To better understand where we live from now in regards to Colossians and Galatians you will want to read in entirety The Door Is Open, but especially Chapter 3.

And I Want to Leave You With Much Hope

Romans 5:20-21 from the Message version:

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.  

This is the Good News!

May the God of complete forgiveness help you see and live from the place of the all Christ died to give you, Darlene