Colossians 3:12-15
In Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, chapter 3, verse 13 he writes this.
Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
In Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 6, verses 14-15 Jesus Himself has this to say about forgiveness.
If you forgive those who sin against you, your Heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Here’s a point of faith that I think is overlooked by many Christians. We love the idea of grace – that is, receiving blessings from Jesus that we don’t deserve – and mercy – that is, not getting the punishment that we do deserve – but we tend to forget that neither of those things is attainable to us if we don’t have a clear understanding of this thing that we call forgiveness. And it’s that misunderstanding that can present all sorts of challenges to our relationship with Jesus.
Simply put, from the cross Jesus offers forgiveness to all of us for every sin we will ever commit. So long as we’re willing to confess Him as Savior and enlist Him in our lifelong battle against our sin nature, the forgiveness offered to us from Jesus is steadfast and set in place. Once you who receive it, it will be the single most dependable constant in your life. When John the Baptist appears on the scene to herald the arrival of Jesus, he does so by instituting a baptism of repentance leading to…forgiveness. Jesus is going to usher in a new covenant with God’s people. There will no longer be a need for animal sacrifices. There will no longer be a need to see total obedience to the law as the only hope for salvation. Which, by the way, is hopeless.
Through His sacrifice, Jesus is going to clear a way for everyone to know freedom from sin and eternal life with Him in Heaven.
With that, Jesus serves up to those of us who wish to follow Him one non-negotiable command. We are to extend to one another that same degree of forgiveness. Think about this. If, as Christians we refuse to forgive those who trespass against us, how can we claim to know Jesus? He hung on a cross to forgive me for being a drunk, a liar, a thief, a cheat, and at times a crummy father and lousy husband. (I’m much better now, thanks to Him!) He’s forgiven me for the times when I have cursed Him, rejected Him, and intentionally sinned against Him. He’s forgiven me for all the times I’ve bought tremendous hurt into the lives of people who care about me. On and on and on I could go.
And yet, despite all that, let someone throw an insult my way. Take a shot at my ministry work. Blame me for the troubles in their life. More often than not my first reaction is going to be, “Oh yeah? Well, let me tell you something…”
That’s how I respond. Chances are that’s how you respond as well. And yet…
As Roman soldiers were pounding nails into His hands and feet, Jesus looked to Heaven and cried, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
And in that moment Jesus is set free in a sense. He’s lived His life is in complete and total obedience to the Father and now as a result the author of the Book of Hebrews tell us that, “Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame.”
That joy was derived by two things. One, was the fact that soon Jesus would be seated beside the Father. The other was His understanding that He was setting us all free from death. We have our ultimate victory over sin in our possession, we just need to accept it and live in a way that demonstrates it and reveals it to others.
When we forgive the ones who hurt us, we’re not retreating. We’re not giving up ground. We’re not rolling over and letting those people walk all over us. No, we’re giving a “horizontal demonstration” of a “vertical reality”, that all those who know Jesus belong to Him and nothing can change that. From that comes a peace that surpasses all understanding. In forgiving someone who hurts us, we’re trusting in Jesus to give us comfort while understanding that one way or another He will deal with that person. Consider this… your willingness to forgive even the most hateful, evil person you know may be the very thing that steers them to Jesus.
You just never know.
Anger and bitterness and resentfulness and a hunger for revenge can be exhausting emotions to live in submission to. How much better to embrace forgiveness as it was handed to us by Jesus Himself and reveling in the blessings that will most assuredly come from that? And listen…forgiveness doesn’t always mean reconciliation. Sometimes keeping a healthy distance and maintaining secure boundaries are exactly what you should do. Forgiveness isn’t about proximity. Forgiveness is all about trusting completely in your Savior, leaning into His sovereignty, and showing Heavenly love when no one would blame you for stomping around in an earthly rage.
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. (Colossians 3:14-15, NLT)