Despite this being what God’s word teaches us, I reckon if you can HONESTLY say that you have forgiven all your debtors you have serious skill! It is a challenge for us to really forgive from our hearts… the way God forgives.
It has been interesting for me, especially with the current affairs bombarding us these days, to see how the most offensive and judgemental statements I have read, have been written by Christians. Now of course, this is subjective and while these statements upset me they may not upset everyone. Ultimately, my opinion and feelings aren’t what matters… the real question should be: Do these actions and statements offend God? Impossible question?… well… How can we say that our own daily actions do not offend God if we do not know what does? Surely this is why we have the Bible, to teach us about God’s standard so that we can keep our covenant with Him and avoid offending him at all costs!
Chris·tian adj.
1. Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life
and teachings of Jesus. 2. Manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus; Christlike.
3. Showing a loving concern for others; humane.
(Granted… This is from a free online dictionary, so it would be foolish to trust it as being a true source!!) What does The Truth – Bible - say about God’s standard?
In Matthew 18 v 21-35, Jesus teaches about the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. It’s a great story, but let’s understand God’s heart when he wrote this for us…
You’ve been living with your parents since birth, they have provided all you’ve ever needed. One day your Dad turns around and says “Right, you’re an adult now, it’s time to pay back all the expenses your mum and I have covered for the last 20 odd years”. Turns out, after doing the math, you owe your father an equivalent of about 15 years worth of salary, roughly amounting just over $2 BILLION (“10 thousand talents”). Now, unless you are a child of “Brangelina” there probably aint even a billionth of that in your account…Luckily for you, Daddy is really patient, generous and merciful! He follows his demand by saying “Never mind my boy, I did those things because I love you and you do not need to pay me back!” ANY grateful heart would remember that kind of grace forever more, and would live a life worthy of the kindness they were shown!
Instead, this kid, now very aware of the limited amounts in his savings, runs off and starts calling in his debtors. His one friend owes him about $2000, which is a lot of dosh!!! Who would just give that amount away?! (would you?… coz if you would you’ll find my bank details posted below… ) Instead of showing the same mercy and grace his own father just taught him to have, he forces his friend to pay every dollar back.
This is putting it all very mildly, since Jesus’ teachings tell us this friend was imprisoned until he could pay his debt.
It is blatant to see how this situation is wrong, but how can we say we forgive others and then proceed to seek and destroy people who have hurt us? How is it forgiveness to point our Christian fingers at nations, in the face of their devastation, and say that they deserve all that they are getting? Pointing a finger only proves that you are just as void of God’s love as your enemy is (Prv 17 v 9, 1 Pet 4 v 8)… ” because love covers over a multitude of sins.” Is it love that hates, and seeks revenge? God’s word hold the standard for justice… if men knew what real justice was would Jesus have been deprived of it at their hands!? (Is 53 v 8, Acts 8 v 33)
To be Christian is to be “Christ-like“. Even as Christ was being tortured and killed he never once hated, cursed, judged or hurt those doing him wrong (Lk 23 v 34) … Matthew 26 v 28 reminds us that we are actually that kid whose Father loved us enough to cancel all of our debt! Jesus paid the price for our sins with his perfect, sinless blood… HOW do you plan on repaying God for that?
If you are not forgiving others, God will not forgive you… that is the condition! (Mk 11 v 25, Lk 6 v 37) But it goes deeper still, because it is for that very purpose that Jesus died at the first coming, so that God could forgive us our sins. If YOUR selfish actions prevent him from cancelling your debt, you are rendering Jesus’ sacrifice on that cross to have been made in vain.
■Lk 6 v 37: Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn,
and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
■Jn 14 v 15: If you love me, you will obey what I command
This blog post was written by a member of Shinchonji and is based on the teachings learnt in Shinchonji, Church of Jesus.
