Readings:
Psalm 34
Ephesians 4:25-32
Focus:
Ephesians 4:32: "Be generous to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you."
One of the hardest lessons I've learned, but one of the most liberating, is about forgiving others. I started thinking about this a number of years ago. I realized that in the Lord's Prayer, we pray, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." In other words, we are asking for the same level of forgiveness that we offer. That's a bit daunting!
So I started working on being more forgiving, since, after all, I wanted God to forgive me. And I realized that I needed to forgive people who had wronged me, whether or not they were sorry. In fact, I needed to forgive them whether or not they even believed they had done anything wrong.
In a couple of difficult cases, I promised God that, even though I would probably not forget what happened, nevertheless, I would forgive the person, and I would never again think of those situations with anger or bitterness. And immediately I felt an influx of God's love and warmth. And in the ensuing days, weeks, months, and years, my relationship with that person was vastly improved, even though the person never knew what had happened.
I found that obeying God was, as I knew all along, the right thing to do. It was good to forgive as God in Christ had forgiven me.
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Dead to Sin and Alive to God
Readings:
Ezra 6
Romans 6:7-11
Focus:
Romans 6:11: "In the same way you must also regard yourselves as dead to sin and alive to God, in union with Christ Jesus."
When we have given our lives to Christ, we have become identified with him in his death and resurrection. Because we are identified with him, then it is as if our old nature had been crucified, in order that it should no longer be a slave to sin.
Because that's what life is like for us without Christ. Without him, we are slaves to sin. Even when we have given ourselves to him, it is hard enough not to sin. We fall down again and again, and need to ask for forgiveness.
But because of our identification with Christ, we are given the grace to experience the power of the resurrection in our lives now. We have the confidence that we will ultimately overcome our shortcomings and, at the end of our lives, live eternally with God. God's power cannot fail. We are alive to God, in union with Christ Jesus.
Ezra 6
Romans 6:7-11
Focus:
Romans 6:11: "In the same way you must also regard yourselves as dead to sin and alive to God, in union with Christ Jesus."
When we have given our lives to Christ, we have become identified with him in his death and resurrection. Because we are identified with him, then it is as if our old nature had been crucified, in order that it should no longer be a slave to sin.
Because that's what life is like for us without Christ. Without him, we are slaves to sin. Even when we have given ourselves to him, it is hard enough not to sin. We fall down again and again, and need to ask for forgiveness.
But because of our identification with Christ, we are given the grace to experience the power of the resurrection in our lives now. We have the confidence that we will ultimately overcome our shortcomings and, at the end of our lives, live eternally with God. God's power cannot fail. We are alive to God, in union with Christ Jesus.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Grace Results in a Verdict of Acquittal
Readings:
Ezra 4
Romans 5:12-21
Focus:
Romans 5:16: "And again,the gift of God is not to be compared in its effect with that one man's sin; for the judicial action, following on the one offence, resulted in a verdict of condemnation, but the act of grace, following on so many misdeeds, resulted in a verdict of acquittal."
Paul's thesis in this passage is that through the sin of one man, Adam, death entered the human race, and all humankind was condemned, and doomed inevitably to sin. But through the sacrifice of one man, Jesus, God gave a free gift of grace to the human race, and every member of humankind that accepts this gift is liberated from condemnation, and welcomed to eternal life with God.
And although in each case the action comes through one man, there is no proportion between them. The single sin of Adam allowed sin to enter the world and condemned humankind to the effects of a broken creation. But after multitudes of sins had been and would be committed, God offered free grace through Jesus Christ to any who would accept it. Although sin was multiplied, God responded not with more condemnation, but instead with grace and forgiveness; he responded with acquittal.
As it says in verse 21, the result for those who accept this grace is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ezra 4
Romans 5:12-21
Focus:
Romans 5:16: "And again,the gift of God is not to be compared in its effect with that one man's sin; for the judicial action, following on the one offence, resulted in a verdict of condemnation, but the act of grace, following on so many misdeeds, resulted in a verdict of acquittal."
Paul's thesis in this passage is that through the sin of one man, Adam, death entered the human race, and all humankind was condemned, and doomed inevitably to sin. But through the sacrifice of one man, Jesus, God gave a free gift of grace to the human race, and every member of humankind that accepts this gift is liberated from condemnation, and welcomed to eternal life with God.
And although in each case the action comes through one man, there is no proportion between them. The single sin of Adam allowed sin to enter the world and condemned humankind to the effects of a broken creation. But after multitudes of sins had been and would be committed, God offered free grace through Jesus Christ to any who would accept it. Although sin was multiplied, God responded not with more condemnation, but instead with grace and forgiveness; he responded with acquittal.
As it says in verse 21, the result for those who accept this grace is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Forgiveness of Sins
Readings:
I Chronicles 23
Acts 13:13-43
Focus:
Acts 13:38: "You must understand, my brothers, it is through him that forgiveness of sins is now being proclaimed to you."
This is the main thing that Christianity is about. Sometimes people think that Christians want other people to follow rules, or that they want other people to conform, or that they are trying to make other people be like they are. Perhaps there are some Christians with these mistaken notions.
But the real heart of Christianity is that when people put their faith in Jesus, then their sins are forgiven. Then they are able to have eternal life. The consequences of having faith in Jesus are eternal; they are about life and death. This is why Christians care whether or not other people are Christians; they are concerned about their eternal fate.
And everyone sins. Even little things like irritability towards someone who doesn't really deserve it, or selfishness, or failure to be friendly to someone lonely, even those things are sins. As a pastor I know says, we can't ask God to ignore those little sins and let us into heaven in spite of them. Think: would it really be heaven if it were filled with people who did those things?
So, Paul and Barnabas, and all the rest of the Christians through the ages who want to tell others about Christianity, don't just want to make others be like them. They want to proclaim forgiveness of sins.
I Chronicles 23
Acts 13:13-43
Focus:
Acts 13:38: "You must understand, my brothers, it is through him that forgiveness of sins is now being proclaimed to you."
This is the main thing that Christianity is about. Sometimes people think that Christians want other people to follow rules, or that they want other people to conform, or that they are trying to make other people be like they are. Perhaps there are some Christians with these mistaken notions.
But the real heart of Christianity is that when people put their faith in Jesus, then their sins are forgiven. Then they are able to have eternal life. The consequences of having faith in Jesus are eternal; they are about life and death. This is why Christians care whether or not other people are Christians; they are concerned about their eternal fate.
And everyone sins. Even little things like irritability towards someone who doesn't really deserve it, or selfishness, or failure to be friendly to someone lonely, even those things are sins. As a pastor I know says, we can't ask God to ignore those little sins and let us into heaven in spite of them. Think: would it really be heaven if it were filled with people who did those things?
So, Paul and Barnabas, and all the rest of the Christians through the ages who want to tell others about Christianity, don't just want to make others be like them. They want to proclaim forgiveness of sins.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sin from the Start
Readings:
I Chronicles 10
Acts 6
Focus:
Acts 6:1a:"During this period, when disciples were growing in number, a grievance arose on the part of those who spoke Greek, against those who spoke the language of the Jews."
Even though the brand new church of Jesus Christ was beginning with great grace and wonders, and even miracles, it did not take long before a grievance came up between different members of the church. They fell into ethnic camps and started making accusations of each other. The apostles had to settle this problem by setting up more of a church structure, in effect starting the order of deacons.
If I had naive expectations, I might have thought that the very first Christians would have been without flaw, showing us succeeding generations the ideal of what it ought to be like to be a Christian. But instead, from the very start, sin crept in. In this case, either people were taking sides, or else people thought that other people were taking sides. In either case, it was sin.
Sin crept in from the very start because Christians are just like any other people. They are part of the world, and the world is infected with sin. That's why Jesus had to come into the world, to save us from the consequences of that sin. The only difference between Christians and other people is that Christians have acknowledged that fact, have recognized that Jesus took the punishment instead of them, have given their lives to Jesus, and are doing their best to avoid sinning. But being human, they're not able to be perfect.
So Christians need to keep returning to God to confess their new sins and ask for forgiveness. The great thing is that we know that God will forgive us. But we can't let that knowledge make us complacent. We still need to try our best to avoid new sins. Not only is this better for us, but it is also better for everyone else. Thank God that although we are prone to err, he is merciful to forgive!
I Chronicles 10
Acts 6
Focus:
Acts 6:1a:"During this period, when disciples were growing in number, a grievance arose on the part of those who spoke Greek, against those who spoke the language of the Jews."
Even though the brand new church of Jesus Christ was beginning with great grace and wonders, and even miracles, it did not take long before a grievance came up between different members of the church. They fell into ethnic camps and started making accusations of each other. The apostles had to settle this problem by setting up more of a church structure, in effect starting the order of deacons.
If I had naive expectations, I might have thought that the very first Christians would have been without flaw, showing us succeeding generations the ideal of what it ought to be like to be a Christian. But instead, from the very start, sin crept in. In this case, either people were taking sides, or else people thought that other people were taking sides. In either case, it was sin.
Sin crept in from the very start because Christians are just like any other people. They are part of the world, and the world is infected with sin. That's why Jesus had to come into the world, to save us from the consequences of that sin. The only difference between Christians and other people is that Christians have acknowledged that fact, have recognized that Jesus took the punishment instead of them, have given their lives to Jesus, and are doing their best to avoid sinning. But being human, they're not able to be perfect.
So Christians need to keep returning to God to confess their new sins and ask for forgiveness. The great thing is that we know that God will forgive us. But we can't let that knowledge make us complacent. We still need to try our best to avoid new sins. Not only is this better for us, but it is also better for everyone else. Thank God that although we are prone to err, he is merciful to forgive!
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