I've been thinking about these things, Forgiveness, Repentance, and Restoration or maybe Reconciliation might be a better word, so wanted to do some studies on them.
I said something on Facebook and after saying it, I wondered if what I said was correct. I said, “Without repentance, there is no forgiveness. There is nothing to forgive, right?” Talking about the sinner, the one committing the sinful act. In the sinner’s eye, he doesn't recognize the sin, or he tries to hide it, or he denies to himself that it exists.
I think I may be confusing forgiveness with reconciliation. So, here goes. I am sure I will be modifying this post as I glean new insights.
It appears that forgiving each other is something we must do. Wow, that is extremely difficult to do.
New International Version
Matthew 6:14-15
New International Version
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
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Edited: 12/16/2022 -- I woke up around 3am thinking about this and felt the need to add some things.
When we say the Lord's prayer, we should include verses 14 and 15 to remind us.
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
They are a warning to us.
Jesus is our Lord and our savior, but he is also our example to live by.
Read about all the things that were done to him (John 18 & 19) during his trials before being crucified on the cross, convicted of crimes he didn't commit. He did not lash out. He said hardly a word; like a lamb to the slaughter.
Some of Jesus' last words, as he hung on the cross were "Father.... forgive them.......for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34)
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I think I understand the reason to forgive. It is to help us let go of hate and anger. That hate and anger will eat us alive and it keeps us from God and his love.
I think there is another reason to forgive. Only God truly knows each person. God judges us perfectly and I believe he is always working to bring us back to himself, no matter what we have done. God says that vengeance is his. Jesus tells us to love our enemy and pray for them, praying that something happens to turn them back to God. These are hard things to do.
I was thinking about God's perfect judgement. I can think of only a few periods in the Bible where God was the judge and not man. God judged when he sent the flood which wiped out most every living creature except those on the arc. God was the one who judged during the exodes where the Israelites were brought out of their captivity in Egypt, wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and part of the time after they entered the Promised land. But there came a time where they didn't want God's judgement anymore, they wanted man to judge. Another time God judged was when the early church came into being.
Our judgement is clouded. When someone does something evil to us or a loved one, we only see that evil. We don't know anything about the person. Our hate and anger only see that evil deed.
If you ever get the opportunity to read the book or watch the movie ‘The Shack’, do it. His book does a really good job bringing these things together in a coherent way. To prepare you for something you may not like in the book, Father God is known as Papa, and appears to the main character as a black woman. There are reasons why Papa appears to Mack, as a black woman.
Here is a really good interview with the author of ‘The Shack’, William Paul Young.
Revised Standard Version
43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
As I am studying about forgiving, repenting, reconciling, and all things relating to this, my mind brought me to remember my “Hammer Story”. It’s like the prodigal son story in the Bible. No matter how far we fall into sin, the Lord never gives up on us and is also waiting for us to return to him. There is great joy in heaven when a sinner turns from his wicked ways.
New International Version
13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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