Dear Father,
In the same way, God calls us to forgive all those around us and to show them the unconditional love of Christ. I have seen Him training the souls of many true believers through their marriages in this area. We know that the only hope for a joyous and satisfying marriage comes from sacrifice and self-denial. As an observer of Christian marriages, I realize that no earthly asset in either the man or woman will predispose a marriage for excellency nor flip the hand of the outcome of the flesh-nature in either of them. Only the individual sacrifice, death to self, and conforming of the souls of both parties into the image of Christ will give hope for a blessed marriage. And I see that it is a continuing process, never complete, never anything but a delicate handiwork that is completely dependent of the daily grace of the heavenly Father revealed in Christ.
I praise You for bringing us the knowledge of Your salvation through the forgiveness of our sins. Thank You that as we receive Your forgiveness, there is no possibility for us to continue not loving others. Last week when You told me that You would teach me about forgiveness, I thought that I already understood as I remembered that the power for righteous living came from receiving Your forgiveness. Thank You for showing me so much more in the past week. Please help me to write the Truth about the heart that receives forgiveness and the effect that this receiving (or lack thereof) has on our Spiritual vision, freedom, and love for others. Also help us to understand the unforgivable sin.
In Jesus Christ's Name,
Amen
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
79 To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”Luke 1
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
79 To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”Luke 1
God's purpose in this letter is to show us that forgiveness is of primary importance in our walk of faith in Him. Our ability to receive His forgiveness reflects the extent to which our hearts have acknowledged the fullness of our sin and the largeness of our debt as well as the extent of His grace and the fullness of His salvation and love. Our ability to forgive directly reflects our knowledge of His "salvation by the forgiveness of our sins". The inability to forgive reveals the presence of a false sense of justice in the soul and keeps one behind prison doors where the Truth is blurred and darkness pervades. God portrays forgiveness to us, not as a work of self-righteousness, but as a soul purging required element that tests our hearts and refines our character. Finally the unforgivable sin represents tasting the Spiritual gift of the effect of God's righteousness and the glory of God as though the "veil is removed" and rejecting the Truth eternally.
I. The Model of Forgiveness
There are several instances in the Word of God where forgiveness is described as having an integral and necessary role in the salvation and status of the souls of mankind. We know that "to the who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, His faith is credited as righteousness" (Rom 4:5). Thus the righteousness of Christ is credited to us as a gift when we believe in the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. That is, when we truly receive the forgiveness of God, we are not longer condemned according to our works, but are found covered in the righteousness of Christ. However, Jesus said 25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.” Mark 11 It appears from these words and also the words in the Lord prayer "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" that we would be forgiven by God based on our ability to forgive others. God will only forgive us if we forgive other people. And then as we consider our lack of perfect love towards many, our hearts again feel the sentence of death...that we have returned to the original state of falling short of the glory of God and falling under condemnation. Our hearts may cry, "Father, if You will only forgive me if I perfectly forgive everyone, then how can I possibly ever receive Your forgiveness? There is no hope for me!" There would not be any hope for anyone. For who can forgive sins but God alone? Who is worthy to forgive sin but God alone? Who is righteously capable of forgiving sin but God alone? Who can understand the depth of the sin that needs to be forgiven?
There is a great hope for those chosen sheep who have known the forgiveness of God and yet resorted temporarily to anger or bitterness. For their God will surely discipline them so that they will forgive and not harbor these evils in their hearts. The extent to which we receive the forgiveness of God is the extent to which we are able to forgive others. When we forgive others in the Name of Christ, it is revealed that we have received the eternal forgiveness of God. God does not leave any room for doubt: If we have truly received His forgiveness we must forgive. And if we have not forgiven others, we are forced to return to Him and call out to Him in repentance until He showers His grace and power to our unbelieving hearts to receive His forgiveness, know His salvation, and to be filled with the return of love for our Savior that extends to all of His people. So as believers, what is the role of unforgiveness? The role of our unforgiveness is to convey to our souls that we are not receiving His forgiveness. Our ability to forgive is a gauge that tests our claim to live in His grace. Our unforgiveness proves to us that we have [hopefully temporarily] fallen away from the knowledge of His grace and need to return. Our unforgiveness reminds us of our need to return to Him and continue in Him. In the midst of unforgiveness may our hearts pray "Lord, there is no way that I can forgive without Your power. I need You to show me my own sin and to give me grace to receive Your forgiveness. I need Your freedom from the prison that I am in. If I continue in this sin, I would fall away from grace. HELP ME TO CONTINUE IN YOUR GRACE in JESUS CHRIST, my Lord and Savior".
WHEN WE DO NOT FORGIVE, UNLESS WE REPENT, WE HAVE FALLEN AWAY FROM THE GRACE OF GOD SHOWN IN CHRIST.
Thus, when God tells us that He will not forgive us unless we forgive others, He is warning us so that we will not be damned and is lovingly reminding His sheep to continue in His grace. Thank God that we become aware of our unforgiveness! Thank God for the prison and blindness that comes over our soul as the judgment for our unforgiveness. For this judgment results in our salvation and freedom so that we will not be condemned with the world.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. I Cor 11
The divine mystery of forgiveness is revealed in these verses from I Cor 11. In verse 31 we read that if we judged ourselves rightly we would not be judged. If we have truly received His forgiveness for our salvation we are certain that we would escape His judgment. As Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24). In verse 32, we read that WHEN WE ARE JUDGED, this judgment is a form of discipline by our heavenly Father so that we will not be condemned. This judgement refers to the prison of the soul that we find ourselves in when we do not forgive. This judgment also refers to the conviction of all kinds of sin by the Holy Spirit until we have received forgiveness. They are in fact the very same states: the prison of unforgiveness and the prison of guilt. THE PRISON OF GUILT IS THE PRISON OF UNFORGIVENESS. When we refuse to receive forgiveness, that is, when we hold onto guilt, we will surely refuse to forgive. For we cannot give forgiveness that we have never received. For surely we have no forgiveness of our own to give.
When we find that we have not forgiven each and every wrong committed by others, we are rightly convicted or "judged" and our sin of not forgiving only adds to the guilt that we had been harboring under the state of the soul that had failed to receive His forgiveness. Thus, if we are His true sheep, our unforgiveness will bring us back to repentance and grace. And this is where we belong: in the place of the forgiveness and grace of Jesus Christ.
We are now going to discuss one of Christ's key teachings on forgiveness: the parable of the unmerciful servant. God has taught me several aspects of this parable that I had not considered before.
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.24 When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him andbegan to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from[ab]your heart.” Matt 18
The following truths are to be learned from the unmerciful servant:
1. The slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before his master as he considered that he could not pay his debt. He was not completely blind to his plight and was aware that he had a debt to be paid and a punishment that awaited him if he could not pay it. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON MAY BE AWARE THAT A PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR HIS SIN.
2. He begged the master to be patient with him. He considered that perhaps with more time, he would be able to pay back his debt. We know that this slave's debt was so large that he had no hope of paying back even a significant portion of this debt if he worked hard for the rest of his life. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON UNDERESTIMATES THE SIZE OF HIS DEBT OF SIN.
3. He told the master that he would would repay everything. He considered himself capable of paying back his enormous debt with the extra time that he may be given. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON OVERESTIMATES HIS OWN ABILITY TO PAY FOR HIS SIN. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON DESIRES TO PAY FOR HIS OWN SIN rather than to ask God to pay for him.
4. He did not acknowledge or believe in the love and grace of his master. If he did, he would have asked the master to forgive him and cancel his debt. He did not know the righteous character of his master. Or perhaps he considered that his master is righteous but did not want his master to cancel his debt and wanted to pay himself. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON MISJUDGES OR REJECTS THE GRACIOUS CHARACTER OF HIS MASTER.
5. The slave was forgiven and his debt was cancelled. But from the perspective of the slave (in points 1-4) it is clear that the slave did not have the heart of repentance to receive the forgiveness and see the perfect goodness of the master. Thus, when the fellow slave who owed him a small debt came to his attention, HE COULD NOT FORGIVE. He could only be angry and attempt to acquire this small payment from the fellow slave. He put this fellow slave in prison.
6. Though the master had offered the slave freedom and the cancellation of his debt, the slave did not take to heart what his master had done. This resulted in his mistreatment of his fellow slave. THUS, HIS MASTER PUT HIM INTO PRISON, NOT BECAUSE OF HIS ORIGINAL LARGE DEBT, BUT BECAUSE HE NEVER RECEIVED THE MASTER's GRACE IN CANCELLING HIS DEBT. This refusal to receive the master's gift resulted in his lack of forgiveness towards his fellow slave. The slave's rejection of the grace of the master was evidenced by his lack of forgiveness for the fellow slave.
6. The slave overestimated the size of the debt of his fellow slave and threatened him violently. Though this fellow slave only owed him a small amount of money, the slave exacerbated the small debt of the other in his own mind and gave him the punishment due to those who are have much larger debts and who have committed much larger offenses. (Note that the fellow slave had the same response as the slave had in saying "Be patient with me and I will repay you", which was perhaps a reasonable response since a small debt may be paid off with time and there was no grace in the character of the slave that would make it reasonable for the fellow slave to ask him to cancel his debt.) THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON OVERESTIMATES THE SIZE OF OTHER PEOPLE'S DEBT AND DEMANDS PAYMENTS THAT ARE OUT OF PROPORTION TO THE SIZE OF THE DEBT.
The unmerciful servant had a false sense of justice. He understood neither the size of his debt nor the size of the punishment that was due him. He did not understand how futile and worthless his attempt to pay for his sin would be even if he had unlimited time. He did not understand the character of his master, the loving and forgiving master that he had who was willing to forgive him, cancel his debt, and love him forever if only he received the master. It is likely that the unmerciful servant had a deep pride that wanted to pay for his sin to satisfy his own false sense of justice rather than to receive the gift of his master. His false sense of justice and pride worked together to cause him to demand payment from his fellow slave. His heart resounded with the words "I must pay for my sin. I am able to pay for my sin. You must pay for your sin, fellow slave, just as I must pay for my sin. There is no grace in my master and if there is I will refuse it. I will not show grace to my fellow slave, for just as I have rejected the grace of my master, I have none to give to you..."
So in this parable we become aware of the divine mystery of forgiveness. In order to receive the grace and mercy of our heavenly Master, we must realize the magnitude of our offense and the magnitude of the punishment for our sin. How often have we tried to continue to bear the guilt for our sin in an attempt to satisfy our false sense of justice. We underestimate our sin and the size of the debt that must be paid to clear it. We fail to acknowledge that even if we were angry at ourselves, maimed our bodies and hearts with guilt and self-destruction for the rest of eternity, we would not close to scratching the surface or making the full payment for our sin. And when we hold onto our guilt, without receiving the gift of our Father in Jesus Christ, we expect others to hold onto their guilt. We wrongly believe that just as we cannot give up our guilt at the foot of the cross, we cannot give up the guilt of the other person at the foot of the cross. For we were meant to receive God's forgiveness for our own sin and to believe in the forgiveness of God for the one who wronged us so that we may love them as Christ loves them. Refusal to receive God's forgiveness and to acknowledge His love, mercy, and grace always translates into anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness towards others. The refusal to receive God's forgiveness shows that we have believed the devil's lie that our sin is small enough for us to pay for or that the grace of God is not large enough to cover it...this is the false sense of justice. And a false sense of justice in a person can never allow them to deliver true justice to another.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “ Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”John 20
MAY WE COME BACK TO THE ONE WHO FORGIVES AND RECEIVE HIS GRACE TO BE FORGIVEN AND TO FORGIVE. May we acknowledge the truth of the perfect justice of the Father which states that our sin is infinitely large and that the debt to be paid is infinite and only the "precious blood of a Lamb without blemish and without spot" (I Peter 1:19) can serve as the complete payment for our sin and can remove our guilt. May we acknowledge that the love, mercy, and grace of our Master is infinitely high, wide, and deep...
“ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered.
8 “ Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”Rom 4
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.24 When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him andbegan to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from[ab]your heart.” Matt 18
The following truths are to be learned from the unmerciful servant:
1. The slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before his master as he considered that he could not pay his debt. He was not completely blind to his plight and was aware that he had a debt to be paid and a punishment that awaited him if he could not pay it. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON MAY BE AWARE THAT A PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR HIS SIN.
2. He begged the master to be patient with him. He considered that perhaps with more time, he would be able to pay back his debt. We know that this slave's debt was so large that he had no hope of paying back even a significant portion of this debt if he worked hard for the rest of his life. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON UNDERESTIMATES THE SIZE OF HIS DEBT OF SIN.
3. He told the master that he would would repay everything. He considered himself capable of paying back his enormous debt with the extra time that he may be given. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON OVERESTIMATES HIS OWN ABILITY TO PAY FOR HIS SIN. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON DESIRES TO PAY FOR HIS OWN SIN rather than to ask God to pay for him.
4. He did not acknowledge or believe in the love and grace of his master. If he did, he would have asked the master to forgive him and cancel his debt. He did not know the righteous character of his master. Or perhaps he considered that his master is righteous but did not want his master to cancel his debt and wanted to pay himself. THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON MISJUDGES OR REJECTS THE GRACIOUS CHARACTER OF HIS MASTER.
5. The slave was forgiven and his debt was cancelled. But from the perspective of the slave (in points 1-4) it is clear that the slave did not have the heart of repentance to receive the forgiveness and see the perfect goodness of the master. Thus, when the fellow slave who owed him a small debt came to his attention, HE COULD NOT FORGIVE. He could only be angry and attempt to acquire this small payment from the fellow slave. He put this fellow slave in prison.
6. Though the master had offered the slave freedom and the cancellation of his debt, the slave did not take to heart what his master had done. This resulted in his mistreatment of his fellow slave. THUS, HIS MASTER PUT HIM INTO PRISON, NOT BECAUSE OF HIS ORIGINAL LARGE DEBT, BUT BECAUSE HE NEVER RECEIVED THE MASTER's GRACE IN CANCELLING HIS DEBT. This refusal to receive the master's gift resulted in his lack of forgiveness towards his fellow slave. The slave's rejection of the grace of the master was evidenced by his lack of forgiveness for the fellow slave.
6. The slave overestimated the size of the debt of his fellow slave and threatened him violently. Though this fellow slave only owed him a small amount of money, the slave exacerbated the small debt of the other in his own mind and gave him the punishment due to those who are have much larger debts and who have committed much larger offenses. (Note that the fellow slave had the same response as the slave had in saying "Be patient with me and I will repay you", which was perhaps a reasonable response since a small debt may be paid off with time and there was no grace in the character of the slave that would make it reasonable for the fellow slave to ask him to cancel his debt.) THE UNMERCIFUL PERSON OVERESTIMATES THE SIZE OF OTHER PEOPLE'S DEBT AND DEMANDS PAYMENTS THAT ARE OUT OF PROPORTION TO THE SIZE OF THE DEBT.
The unmerciful servant had a false sense of justice. He understood neither the size of his debt nor the size of the punishment that was due him. He did not understand how futile and worthless his attempt to pay for his sin would be even if he had unlimited time. He did not understand the character of his master, the loving and forgiving master that he had who was willing to forgive him, cancel his debt, and love him forever if only he received the master. It is likely that the unmerciful servant had a deep pride that wanted to pay for his sin to satisfy his own false sense of justice rather than to receive the gift of his master. His false sense of justice and pride worked together to cause him to demand payment from his fellow slave. His heart resounded with the words "I must pay for my sin. I am able to pay for my sin. You must pay for your sin, fellow slave, just as I must pay for my sin. There is no grace in my master and if there is I will refuse it. I will not show grace to my fellow slave, for just as I have rejected the grace of my master, I have none to give to you..."
So in this parable we become aware of the divine mystery of forgiveness. In order to receive the grace and mercy of our heavenly Master, we must realize the magnitude of our offense and the magnitude of the punishment for our sin. How often have we tried to continue to bear the guilt for our sin in an attempt to satisfy our false sense of justice. We underestimate our sin and the size of the debt that must be paid to clear it. We fail to acknowledge that even if we were angry at ourselves, maimed our bodies and hearts with guilt and self-destruction for the rest of eternity, we would not close to scratching the surface or making the full payment for our sin. And when we hold onto our guilt, without receiving the gift of our Father in Jesus Christ, we expect others to hold onto their guilt. We wrongly believe that just as we cannot give up our guilt at the foot of the cross, we cannot give up the guilt of the other person at the foot of the cross. For we were meant to receive God's forgiveness for our own sin and to believe in the forgiveness of God for the one who wronged us so that we may love them as Christ loves them. Refusal to receive God's forgiveness and to acknowledge His love, mercy, and grace always translates into anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness towards others. The refusal to receive God's forgiveness shows that we have believed the devil's lie that our sin is small enough for us to pay for or that the grace of God is not large enough to cover it...this is the false sense of justice. And a false sense of justice in a person can never allow them to deliver true justice to another.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “ Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”John 20
MAY WE COME BACK TO THE ONE WHO FORGIVES AND RECEIVE HIS GRACE TO BE FORGIVEN AND TO FORGIVE. May we acknowledge the truth of the perfect justice of the Father which states that our sin is infinitely large and that the debt to be paid is infinite and only the "precious blood of a Lamb without blemish and without spot" (I Peter 1:19) can serve as the complete payment for our sin and can remove our guilt. May we acknowledge that the love, mercy, and grace of our Master is infinitely high, wide, and deep...
“ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered.
8 “ Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”Rom 4
II. The Forgiveness Trial
God's command to forgive one another is His command to love one another as He has loved us. As we have discussed in a previous writing, "Love only Travels the Forgiveness-paved Road". It is a great miracle and testimony of His glorious grace to consider all of our past and present [and future] weaknesses and His holding of our souls for eternity throughout all time in spite of these weaknesses. Each year we look back to the previous year and tell ourselves something like "Last year there were so many Spiritual Truths that I did not understand and so many weaknesses that God has removed from my life. I am so thankful that God has shown me His goodness and taught me His Word" and yet we know that there is much to be refined in our souls in the time ahead and next year we will see how we have been refined from where we are now though now we feel that we have already received His grace to have grown further in the knowledge of Christ compared to last year. In this way, God's covenant cannot be revoked. Christ as our Head and Husband forgives and forgives His Bride. He lives to intercede for her. No matter where she turns and where her heart drifts, He will continue to draw her to Himself, to speak tenderly to her, to allure her in the dessert, to lovingly rebuke her, to discipline her so that she will share in His holiness. And the Father will always look at her as clothed not in her own works, but in the righteousness of His Son.
Thus says the Lord,
“ If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares the Lord. Jer 31:37
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares the Lord. Jer 31:37
3 Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.4 And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”Luke 17
We are called to show this same commitment of forgiveness and love towards all of the people of God. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.Eph 4 This command to love is for the benefit of the entire body of Christ. For as we attempt to love, we find that we are unable to love others unless we have forgiven them. And in our unforgiveness we are convicted that we have temporarily lost sight of the grace of God and we are brought back to repentance. The Spirit brings us back to the place of repentance at the cross and we find that the items of contention for which we struggle to forgive others are items of guilt in our own hearts and require for our own receiving of forgiveness for the very same sins that we are offended at when expressed from others. As we have discussed in a previous letter, we are offended when an action or word from another feeds into the guilt that we harbor in our own soul. And our taking offense shows that we are not forgiving because we have not received the Father's forgiveness and instead hold onto guilt. It is as though our hearts say "I do not feel forgiven for this sin so you, my fellow person, cannot be forgiven either". May the Spirit and Word dispel such a falsehood from our hearts and restore us to His abundant grace.
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. I John 3
III. The Prison of Unforgiveness
We must acknowledge that when we do not forgive, as a result of the fact that we are not receiving God's forgiveness, we are contained inside of a prison. Inside this prison we are both enslaved and blinded.
Enslaved
We are enslaved because it is absolutely impossible for us to see the glory of God and to know the love and joy of the Lord as long as we have not forgiven. We are slaves to our humanity and to the devil and reject the freedom that the Son has given us to live a righteous life of peace and union with the people of God. We are slaves to our desire for revenge, anger, and bitterness. We are slaves to our fear of confrontation and to our fleshly displeasure of the company of another. We are slaves to our fear of judgment in the midst of our feelings of condemnation.
Blinded
We are also blinded in this prison. In the midst of our prison of unforgiveness, along with our false sense of justice, we cannot see the world clearly with the Truth of the Word and the Mind of Christ that has been given to us. We tend to see even more faults in the one whom we have not forgiven than actually exist and to attribute false motives to the deeds and words of others which were not intended from their side to convey malice or hatred (similar to how the unmerciful servant put the fellow slave in prison for owing him a small debt). Our blindness extends to other areas of our life and hinders our perspective towards everything that we do, hindering even our work that seems unrelated to the enemy of interest. For our unforgiveness towards even one person shows that our entire soul has fallen [hopefully temporarily] from the knowledge of His grace and this will surely affect the entirety of our attitude and way of life.
9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness hasblinded his eyes. I John 2
IV. The Unforgivable Sin
Last week one night I was thinking about the items above that God was teaching me about forgiveness through hearing the struggles of a few fellow believers and the Spirit's revelations from the Word. I was also thinking about last week's letter about how seeing God's glory transforms us into His likeness. The question in my mind regarded Satan, who had originally been in the Presence of God in heaven.
I wondered how a root of wickedness grew in Lucifer even when he was in heaven beholding the glory of God. Should not God's glory have humbled him and caused him to call out "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty" as the other heavenly creatures do? How could Satan conceive the sin of desiring his own glory in the presence of God's glory? We wrongly desire our own glory because the veil of disbelief and the resulting ignorance of the glory of God remains over our eyes until we come to Christ and learn to continue in Him. As Paul stated "Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. I Tim 1" And then God brought to memory the verses from 1 Peter 2:20-22 which convey that if we have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ [the veil is removed and we have the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God] and are entangled in the world and are overcome, the last state is is even worse than the original. Similary in 1 John 5, sin is categorized as "sin leading to death" and "sin not leading to death". It became very clear to me that the unforgivable sin was to have had the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God and to eternally reject the Truth of God. Satan had seen the glory of God because he dwelt with God on God's holy mountain. For those among men who have tasted the Spiritual gift and deliberately reject God, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins because they have rejected not just the offer of the gift of salvation, but the Gift itself. They have scorned the essence of holiness. They have detested the gift of love and grace. They have trampled underfoot the very Son of God, God Himself after seeing His glory...
31 “ Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Matt 12
If someone speaks against Jesus, then the veil of unbelief and ignorance still remains over them. Opportunity still remains for the Holy Spirit to remove the veil as they come to Christ. But someone who speaks against the Holy Spirit has tasted the gifts of comfort, grace, love, and forgiveness, THE GLORY OF GOD, and has blasphemed the very essence of the Godhead manifested by the Spirit's gift.
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “ Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “ The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.Heb 10
76
Summary of the Chinese Christian Conference (6/8-6/10):
This past weekend God blessed us with the opportunity to spend time with the children (4 yrs-5th graders; ~ 70 children) attending the Chinese Christian conference with their parents. Dad and Mom met a Chinese lady, Faith Wong, a few months ago and she asked us recently to teach the children during the conference...a strange, unexpected blessing and gift for us. Rachel, Laurie, Jonathan, and David Edwards joined our team and God blessed me greatly this past weekend to see the Spirit work in our hearts and the hearts of the children. Here are some blessings:
* Dad led the weekend of 4 sections with an emphasis on the character of God: El Elyon (God Most High), Jehovah Tsidkenau (The Lord our Righteousness), The Great Commission, and Jehovah Rohi (The Lord our Shepherd). God really filled him with the Spirit to deliver the Word of God and inspire us to fear God. Mom also walked by the Spirit and was quite necessary in our mini-body of Christ.
* Several of the children showed change in their hearts within the weekend and evidence of receiving the Word with faith. You can ask Jonathan about this as he was able to spend quality time with several boys and teach them the Word of God personally. David was also a magnet and showed the love of Christ to the children. Rachel reflected the comfort, tenderness, love, and security of God and was like a mother in our midst. Laurie is blessed with a gift of grace: administration for the cause of the Kingdom and love for God's people. As dad said yesterday on our way home "Laurie is one of the most efficient people I know".
* We had small group prayer times with the children and many of them learned to pray out loud in the Name of Christ for the first time. Some children expressed that they feel convicted of their sin and want to be certain that God has forgiven them (they are surely on the right path...)
* On a personal note, I was not surprised that God ministered to my soul through these children. I could feel God's love from them as they tell me stories of people that they want to witness to, came and give me hugs, and pray according to what they learned from God's Word that day. I learned many things from them. One young fellow told me "a heart of stone cannot pump blood, but a heart of flesh can" and when I asked them if they knew what an ambassador was, a young girl answered "Someone from one country who brings a message to another country" to which we could discuss that "our citizenship is in heaven and we bring God's heavenly message to all of these countries here on earth...".
* On Sunday the other Edwards came to the conference at the end and Joshua told me about the NLC sermon that we missed.
* The Spirit was reminding me this weekend how fragile our lives are and some Truths about discipleship (the message for next week). To summarize, just as Peter said "You alone have the Words of Eternal Life", when we are doing what we are doing and saying what we are saying because Jesus alone is the Way and Word of Eternal Life and we have no other motive or purpose than the desire for Christ, that is when we are following Him as His true disciples.
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4
LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? YOU HAVE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. WE HAVE BELIEVED AND HAVE COME TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE HOLY ONE OF GOD.John 6:67-68
7
“You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 “You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you. Ez 28:13-15
I wondered how a root of wickedness grew in Lucifer even when he was in heaven beholding the glory of God. Should not God's glory have humbled him and caused him to call out "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty" as the other heavenly creatures do? How could Satan conceive the sin of desiring his own glory in the presence of God's glory? We wrongly desire our own glory because the veil of disbelief and the resulting ignorance of the glory of God remains over our eyes until we come to Christ and learn to continue in Him. As Paul stated "Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. I Tim 1" And then God brought to memory the verses from 1 Peter 2:20-22 which convey that if we have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ [the veil is removed and we have the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God] and are entangled in the world and are overcome, the last state is is even worse than the original. Similary in 1 John 5, sin is categorized as "sin leading to death" and "sin not leading to death". It became very clear to me that the unforgivable sin was to have had the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God and to eternally reject the Truth of God. Satan had seen the glory of God because he dwelt with God on God's holy mountain. For those among men who have tasted the Spiritual gift and deliberately reject God, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins because they have rejected not just the offer of the gift of salvation, but the Gift itself. They have scorned the essence of holiness. They have detested the gift of love and grace. They have trampled underfoot the very Son of God, God Himself after seeing His glory...
31 “ Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Matt 12
If someone speaks against Jesus, then the veil of unbelief and ignorance still remains over them. Opportunity still remains for the Holy Spirit to remove the veil as they come to Christ. But someone who speaks against the Holy Spirit has tasted the gifts of comfort, grace, love, and forgiveness, THE GLORY OF GOD, and has blasphemed the very essence of the Godhead manifested by the Spirit's gift.
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “ Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “ The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.Heb 10
76
Summary of the Chinese Christian Conference (6/8-6/10):
This past weekend God blessed us with the opportunity to spend time with the children (4 yrs-5th graders; ~ 70 children) attending the Chinese Christian conference with their parents. Dad and Mom met a Chinese lady, Faith Wong, a few months ago and she asked us recently to teach the children during the conference...a strange, unexpected blessing and gift for us. Rachel, Laurie, Jonathan, and David Edwards joined our team and God blessed me greatly this past weekend to see the Spirit work in our hearts and the hearts of the children. Here are some blessings:
* Dad led the weekend of 4 sections with an emphasis on the character of God: El Elyon (God Most High), Jehovah Tsidkenau (The Lord our Righteousness), The Great Commission, and Jehovah Rohi (The Lord our Shepherd). God really filled him with the Spirit to deliver the Word of God and inspire us to fear God. Mom also walked by the Spirit and was quite necessary in our mini-body of Christ.
* Several of the children showed change in their hearts within the weekend and evidence of receiving the Word with faith. You can ask Jonathan about this as he was able to spend quality time with several boys and teach them the Word of God personally. David was also a magnet and showed the love of Christ to the children. Rachel reflected the comfort, tenderness, love, and security of God and was like a mother in our midst. Laurie is blessed with a gift of grace: administration for the cause of the Kingdom and love for God's people. As dad said yesterday on our way home "Laurie is one of the most efficient people I know".
* We had small group prayer times with the children and many of them learned to pray out loud in the Name of Christ for the first time. Some children expressed that they feel convicted of their sin and want to be certain that God has forgiven them (they are surely on the right path...)
* On a personal note, I was not surprised that God ministered to my soul through these children. I could feel God's love from them as they tell me stories of people that they want to witness to, came and give me hugs, and pray according to what they learned from God's Word that day. I learned many things from them. One young fellow told me "a heart of stone cannot pump blood, but a heart of flesh can" and when I asked them if they knew what an ambassador was, a young girl answered "Someone from one country who brings a message to another country" to which we could discuss that "our citizenship is in heaven and we bring God's heavenly message to all of these countries here on earth...".
* On Sunday the other Edwards came to the conference at the end and Joshua told me about the NLC sermon that we missed.
* The Spirit was reminding me this weekend how fragile our lives are and some Truths about discipleship (the message for next week). To summarize, just as Peter said "You alone have the Words of Eternal Life", when we are doing what we are doing and saying what we are saying because Jesus alone is the Way and Word of Eternal Life and we have no other motive or purpose than the desire for Christ, that is when we are following Him as His true disciples.
.JPG)
4
LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? YOU HAVE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. WE HAVE BELIEVED AND HAVE COME TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE HOLY ONE OF GOD.John 6:67-68
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