Video Transcript: The Power of Forgiveness

Jesus taught that whenever someone comes to us and acknowledges that they've wronged us, we are to forgive them.  In Luke 17, He said, “So watch yourselves.  If your brother or sister sins against you rebuke them.  And if they repent, forgive them.  Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying I repent, you must forgive them.”  

In Matthew 18, Jesus was asked by Peter, “Lord, how often shall my brothers sin against me and I forgive him up to seven times?”  Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times set.”  

God freely forgives us when we confess our sins to Him because Jesus Christ satisfied God's justice on our behalf at the cross.  God expects us to treat others the same way we've been treated by him.  Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.”

We cannot earn or deserve God's forgiveness, therefore, we have no right to impose such requirements on those who wrong us.  Our ability to forgive in such a powerful way flows from the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and we receive that love and that mercy when we spend time with him at the Peacefire.  When we forgive in this manner, we act as an ambassador of the Heavenly Kingdom, an ambassador of Jesus Christ.  

This forgiveness is a defining feature of the Heavenly Kingdom.  It was a defining feature in Jesus’ life.  As he hung on the cross in Luke 23:34, He said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing.”  When we refuse to forgive, we open ourselves to spiritual bondage, bitterness, wildfire accelerants and other wildfire forces until we choose to forgive.  

In Matthew 18, Jesus Christ, after telling Peter how many times he needs to forgive his brother or sister who sins against him, he tells the story of the wicked servant.  

The wicked servant worked for a master and he owed his master a tremendous sum of money.  His master called the debt, and the servant was unable to pay the debt.  He begged for forgiveness, and his master extended it.  

After leaving the Master’s presence, the wicked servant went out to a fellow servant who owed him some money, and a mere pittance in comparison to what the wicked servant owed to his master.  He demanded payment.  His fellow servant was unable to pay him and so he had him thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.  

When the master heard about the wicked servant’s conduct, he brought him back into his presence, and said, “How could you treat your fellow servant the way that you did after I forgave you all that debt?”  And he had the wicked, he turned the wicked servant over to the jailers, or the tormentors as King James says, and he was thrown into prison until he paid every penny of the debt.  

And then Jesus finishes the parable of the wicked servant with this statement, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”  

Ken Sandy in his book, The Peacemaker, gives us four promises of forgiveness.  What do we mean when we say I forgive you to someone?  And he gives these four promises as suggestions that when we forgive someone, we're making these promises to them.  We're saying

-  I will not dwell on this incident.  

-  I'm not going to bring this incident up and use it against you in the future.  

-  I will not talk to others about this incident.  

-  And I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship.  

And sometimes that last promise is subject to appropriate Godly boundaries depending on the circumstances of the conflict.  

Whatever we confess to the Father, He forgives; whatever is confessed to us, He will empower us to forgive.  Forgiveness is like a powerful river that rushes in to extinguish the conflict wildfire.  Forgiveness washes away the bitterness of conflict and makes way for relationship restoration to begin.  Three words that can change your conflict story, the three words that extinguish the conflict wildfire, when spoken from the heart.  I forgive you.  

Some curious questions about forgiveness.  

• In your conflict story, is there someone who you need to forgive?  

• Have you withheld forgiveness and become bitter toward anyone?  

• May the Lord grant us the grace to forgive others as he forgives us? 

Let's look at the highlights from this lecture.  The 3rd Step on God's path to peace is forgiveness.  God commands us to forgive others just as He has forgiven us through Jesus Christ.  We do not earn or deserve God's forgiveness; neither should others have to earn or deserve ours.  Forgiveness flows from our relationship with Jesus Christ.  When we forgive, we imitate Jesus Christ.  When we refuse to forgive, we open ourselves up to spiritual bondage and other wildfire forces.  Forgiveness is like a river that extinguishes the conflict wildfire.  And, the most powerful words in conflict - I forgive you.  

Thanks for watching this lecture.  God bless you.  We'll see you next time.