Forgiveness

Text: Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13

Series: Restoration Sermons

Date:

Speaker: Ed Rangel

Location: Waupaca Church of Christ

Bible Version: NASB 1995

Sermon Type: Expository

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. Define forgiveness in biblical terms — holding another as though no offense had been given.
2. Explain why forgiveness is necessary for both the transgressor and the offended.
3. Describe how God's forgiveness works and what makes it available in Christ.
4. Understand that a person who will not forgive cannot be forgiven — and take that seriously.
5. Commit to using Christ as the standard for how and how often to forgive.

Thesis

Forgiveness is not optional for a Christian: God's forgiveness in Christ is available to the repentant, but a man who refuses to forgive his brother will not receive it — and Christ is the standard, not our feelings.

Burden

The outline defines forgiveness this way: to hold one as though no offense had been given — in love, in sympathy, with full interest and goodwill, as though nothing had happened. That is a demanding standard, and most of us know it. The question is not whether we believe in forgiveness in the abstract. We all do. The question is whether we practice it with the people who have actually wronged us — the brother at church, the family member at the dinner table, the neighbor who has not asked to be forgiven. Jesus made the connection between God's forgiveness and ours explicit, and He made it binding. A Christian cannot cut that cord.

Introduction

Forgiveness is central to the Christian life on two levels: what God has done for us and what we are required to do for others. These two levels are inseparable in the New Testament, and a sermon that addresses only one of them is half a sermon. The outline addresses both, and the framework he provides is the biblical one: forgiveness is necessary because man is a transgressor; God has provided it in Christ; man must practice it toward his fellows; and the standard for both is Christ Himself.

I. Forgiveness Is Necessary

A. Man is a transgressor — this is the starting point.

1. Every person has sinned against his fellow man.

a. Cain sinned against Abel (Gen. 4:8) — and the story has repeated itself in every generation.

b. Division, strife, offense, and harm among human beings are the constant testimony that men wrong one another.

1. Every person has sinned against God.

a. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

b. "Against You, You only, I have sinned" — the prodigal knew where the debt ultimately lay (Luke 15:18).

c. "God has shut up all in disobedience" (Rom. 11:32) so that His mercy might reach all.

d. "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves" (1 John 1:8).

B. Forgiveness is also necessary for man's own good.

1. An unforgiving spirit is a poison that destroys the one who holds it.
2. Bitterness, strife, and the nursing of old grievances do more damage to the one who holds them than to the one who caused them.
3. The command to forgive is not only about the person who wronged you — it is about what you become if you do not.

II. God's Forgiveness

A. Without God's forgiveness, man is lost for time and eternity.

1. "Nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into" the holy city (Rev. 21:27).
2. The holy standard of God cannot be lowered; therefore sin must be dealt with — and only God can deal with it.

B. God's forgiveness is in Christ — and only in Christ.

1. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses" (Eph. 1:7).
2. God "rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:13-14).
3. There is no forgiveness outside of Christ; there is full forgiveness in Him.

C. God is always ready to forgive the repentant.

1. "All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people" (Rom. 10:21).
2. God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4).
3. He is "patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9).
4. He is "ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness" (Ps. 78:38; 103:3).

D. God leads men to repentance by His goodness (Rom. 2:4).

1. The patience and kindness of God are not evidence that sin does not matter; they are the instrument by which God calls the sinner back.
2. Despising that goodness — treating patience as permission — is one of the most dangerous errors a person can make.

III. Man's Forgiveness of His Brother

A. Sin among human beings — and therefore the need for forgiveness — is universal and ongoing.

1. It began with Cain and continues now.
2. Brethren in the church sin against each other (1 Cor. 8:12; Matt. 18:21; Luke 17:3) — the church is not exempt from this reality.

B. Unresolved offense produces compounding damage.

1. All strife and division are the result of sin and a failure to forgive.
2. A congregation that harbors unresolved offenses is a congregation at war with itself.
3. Lack of a forgiving spirit hinders spiritual progress — the person who nurses grievances cannot grow.

C. Man must forgive — or he will not be forgiven.

1. This is not a soft suggestion; it is a binding statement from Christ: "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions" (Matt. 6:14-15).
2. The parable of the unforgiving servant ends with him handed over to torturers — "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart" (Matt. 18:35).
3. Note the phrase: from your heart. Not a formal declaration while the grudge lives on inside. Genuine, from-the-heart forgiveness.

IV. Christ Our Standard

A. Christ is the measure — not our feelings, not how severe the offense was.

1. "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Eph. 4:32).
2. "Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you" (Col. 3:13).

B. God's own forgiveness is the model: He remembers sin no more.

1. "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more" (Heb. 10:17).
2. So must we remember no more — forgiveness is not bringing up the old record every time there is a new conflict.

C. Christ sets the standard for when and how often.

1. When? When a brother comes and repents (Matt. 18:15) — go to him first; create the conditions for forgiveness.
2. How often? "Up to seventy times seven" (Matt. 18:22) — that is to say, without counting. A person who is counting has not yet understood what forgiveness is.

Application

The hardest application of this sermon is not the part about God's forgiveness — that part is good news, and we receive it gladly. The hard part is carrying the same principle into our daily lives. Who is the person you have not forgiven? Not the abstract enemy you are willing to forgive in theory, but the specific person who said a specific thing or did a specific thing, and whom you have not released. The New Testament does not give you a way around it. You must forgive from your heart, as Christ forgave you, remembering it no more, and without counting. If you are holding a grievance against a brother, it is costing you more than you know.

Conclusion

Forgiveness is necessary because every human being is a transgressor — against God and against his fellows. God's forgiveness is complete, certain, and available in Christ. Man's forgiveness of his brother is required, binding, and tied directly to his own standing before God. The standard in both directions is Christ, who forgave at infinite cost and remembers our sins no more. A life shaped by that reality — giving forgiveness as freely as it was received — is, as the outline says, the source of the deepest happiness available to human beings (1 Pet. 3:8).

Invitation

If you have never received God's forgiveness — if your sins have not been washed away in the blood of Christ — today is the day to come. Hear the word, believe on Christ, repent of your sins, confess His name, and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). God is patient toward you; He has stretched out His hands. Come while He calls. If you are a Christian carrying an unforgiving spirit toward a brother, bring that to God today. He will help you. Come as we sing.

Word Study

Scripture Interlock Table

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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 66. Doctrinal audit: core-framework; God's forgiveness available in Christ (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:13-14); man must forgive or he will not be forgiven (Matt. 6:14-15; 18:35) — no softening; from-the-heart requirement stated; no faith-only language; invitation calls to full obedient response. OCR fix: "Col. 1:3, 14" → Col. 1:13-14 (confirmed from context — redemption/forgiveness of sins). Voice audit: direct and pastoral; the application names the specific problem rather than staying abstract.

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