SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/2/2023 9:21 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-12 “The
Example of Forgiveness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
18:23-35
Message of the verses: “23 “For this
reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to
settle accounts with his slaves. 24 “And when he had begun to settle them,
there was brought to him one who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 “But since
he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold,
along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 “The slave therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying,
‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.’ 27 “And the lord of
that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 28 “But
that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred
denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay
back what you owe.’ 29 “So his fellow slave fell down and began to
entreat him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 “He was
unwilling however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back
what was owed. 31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were
deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32
“Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all
that debt because you entreated me. 33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave,
even as I had mercy on you?’ 34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed
him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 “So
shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his
brother from your heart.’”
I want to continue in quoting from John MacArthur’s
commentary as we begin this 12th SD on the subject of forgiveness.
“Jesus
is not speaking here of the forgiveness that brings salvation, saying that God
only saves those who are forgiving. That
would be works righteousness. He is
speaking of people forgiving each other after they have experienced His free
grace. Those who are saved, transformed,
given a new nature in Christ, and have the indwelling Holy Spirit generally
will manifest that changed life by having a forgiving attitude (see Matt.
6:14-15). But there will be times when
we fall into the sin of unforgiveness, and this instruction is for those times.
“As
mentioned earlier, if the first man does not represent a Christian, a person
who has been forgiven by God for his immeasurable debt of sin, the instruction
in the context of the parable completely breaks down. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, who not
only were believers but apostles. All
believers, no matter what their position or accomplishments in the church might
be, are held accountable to forgive every offense against them committed by
fellow believers, for the very reason that they themselves have already been
forgiven an incalculable debt by God.
They are expected to reflect
God’s forgiveness because they have experienced
God’s forgiveness.
“Believers
experience two kinds of forgiveness by God.
The first is once and for all and is permanent. When a person trusts in Jesus Christ as
Savior and Lord, all of his sins—past, present, and future—are judicially
forgiven, totally and eternally. But
because believers are still subject to the temptations and weaknesses of the
flesh, they fall into sin even after they are saved. For that sin they need God’s daily
forgiveness and cleansing, not to preserve their salvation but to restore the
broken relationship with the Lord that sin causes. Jesus had these two aspects of forgiveness in
mind when He said, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is
completely clean; and you are clean” (John 13:10).
“Believers’
forgiveness of each other has no power to absolve or cleanse sin as God’s
forgiveness has absolved and continues to cleanse theirs. Nevertheless their forgiveness of each other
should reflect the two kinds of forgiveness they receive from God. They are to have in their hearts an internal,
general spirit of forgiveness that is ready to forgive even before they know of
a sin committed against them and whether or not the person has asked or ever
asks for forgiveness. That forgiveness
should be constant and unchanging, reflecting a divinely empowered love that
Peter says “covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8). If and when the offending person repents,
then relational forgiveness is readily given and the broken relationship is
fully restored.
“Christians
are to be marked as forgiving people, because they have been forgiven as no
other on earth. When they are not
forgiving, they are living in opposition to their new nature in Christ. When they refuse to forgive fellow Christians
they cut themselves off from God’s relational forgiveness that cleanses them of
the sins they continue to commit. They
also forfeit the inner peace, power, and depth of spiritual life that only
close communion with the Lord can produce.
When a believer falls into a time of spiritual shallowness and
indifference, the cause is often a heart that is unforgiving because it has allowed the flesh to
vault itself into prominence.
“An
anonymous saint of long ago wrote,
‘Revenge, indeed, seems
often sweet to men; but, oh, it is only sugared poison, only sweetened gall,
and its aftertaste is bitter as hell.
Forgiving, enduring love alone is sweet and blissful; it enjoys peace
and the consciousness of God’s favour.
By forgiving, it gives away and annihilates the injury. It treats the injurer as if he had not
injured, and therefore feels no more the smart and sting that he had
inflicted. Forgiveness is a shield from
which all the fiery darts of the wicked one harmless rebound. Forgiveness brings heaven to earth, and heaven’s
peace into the sinful heart. Forgiveness
is the image of God, the forgiving Father, and an advancement of Christ’s
kingdom in the world.’”
Lord
willing we will continue to look at the quotations from John MacArthur’s
commentary in our 13th SD on “The Example of Forgiveness.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I think that at times I, as a believer take
advantage of my Lord’s forgiveness, and therefore will allow the flesh to cause
me to not forgive others who offend me.
However looking at God’s attributes to see that God is love and also
just makes me think about what it cost the Father to send His Son to bring me
into the salvation that Jesus paid for.
I think that I need to think about the horribleness of my sins, sin that
I was born with and sins that I commit against God, and realize that because of
that gracious act that I will be quick to forgive those who commit offenses against
me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the Lord to search my heart each and every
day to see if I have sinned against Him, and that the Holy Spirit will then
bring those offenses to my heart so that I can confess them to the Lord in
order to have fellowship with My God.
2/2/2023 10:04 AM
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