Forgiving Each Other
Forgiving Each Other
August 22, 2007
“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” Col 3:13
1. “Putting on” Christ affects how we treat others. It is in the outworking of people’s relationships with one another that compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience are worked out. The testing ground is when believers have grievances against one another.
2. Bearing with one another means “to endure, to hold out in spite of persecution, threats, injury, indifference, or complaints and not retaliate.” Paul admonished the Corinthian believers by saying “when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure” (1 Cor. 4:12) in other words we don’t repay evil for evil.
3. When the Corinthians were taking each other court Paul admonishes them by saying, “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?” (1 Cor. 6:7). In other words we take the loss on every issue in order to glorify our King by our forgiveness.
4. Believers are to “bear with one another in love” (Eph. 4:2). Such were the Thessalonians, of whom Paul wrote, “We ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure” (2 Thess. 1:4).
5. The phrase whoever has a complaint against anyone refers to times when someone is at fault because of sin, error, or debt. The Lord Jesus is our pattern for forgiveness, because He forgave all our sins, errors, and debts so are we to forgive each other.
6. Believers are to be marked not only by endurance, but also by forgiving each other. The word here literally means “to be gracious.” The church as a whole is to be a gracious, mutually forgiving fellowship. By including the phrase just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you (YOUR NAME HERE) make Christ your model of forgiveness. Because He has forgiven us, so also must we forgive others (Eph. 4:32 ; cf. Matt. 18:21–35).
7. The church has enough enemies and troubles dealing with the outside world; we don’t need infighting or energy wasted on grievances or grudges (either held over from pre-Christian days or arising in the church) that can be worked out with bearing and forgiving one another.
8. If you are a believer then the key to forgiving others is to (1) remember how much God has forgiven you and (2) realize the presumption in refusing to forgive someone God had already forgiven. Remembering God’s infinite love and forgiveness should help us as believers love and forgive one another.
Grace: Not to be abused
If any man ascribes anything of salvation, even the very least thing, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he has not learned Jesus Christ rightly - Martin Luther
Promises of God: Precious
Three things are called precious in the Scriptures: the blood of Christ is called "precious blood," (1 Peter 1:19); and faith is called "precious faith," (2 Peter 1:1); and the promises are called "precious promises," (2 Peter 1:14). - Thomas Brooks
Holiness
True holiness does not consist merely of believing and feeling, but of doing and bearing, and a practical exhibition of active and passive grace. Our tongues, our tempers, our natural passions and inclinations - our conduct as parents and children, masters and servants, husbands and wives, rulers , and subjects - our dress, our employment of time, our behavior in business, our demeanor in sickness and health, in riches and poverty - all, all these are matters which are fully treated by inspired writers. - J. C. Ryle
Discipline
God has no pleasure in afflicting us, but He will not keep back even the most painful chastisement if He can but thereby guide His beloved child to come home and abide in the beloved Son. - Andrew Murray
GracePointe Baptist Church
2209 N Post Road
Oklahoma City, OK 73141
Phone: (405) 769-5050