This is a Bible Study on how God’s love forgives.
God’s Love Forgives
Matthew 6:12-15 Hebrews 8:12
It is clear through the scriptures that God has orchestrated a plan to not only forgive us of our sins but cause us to afford all those that we know the same benefit. The text indicates that we are to forgive everyone their trespasses against us because God has completely forgiven us our sins and will remember them no more. God loves us so much that He allowed His only Son to die for our( in the place of our sins), so that we could have our love relationship restored with Him and live with Him forever, John 3:16.
It was imperative that God not only forgive us of our sins but remove them from our lives for if He did not we could not enter into heaven. Sin causes death to everything that it touches, therefore God could not allow sin into heaven and eternity because it would destroy them. Yet His desire was for us to spend eternity with Him. To do this He sent His Son Jesus The Christ to this earth to die in our place, for the sins that we committed, that our sins would be forgiven and removed so that we could enter into heaven. Since God has provided a way for our sins to be forgiven and has given us eternal life as the result of our faith in Jesus, God now commands us to forgive everyone else of their sins against us. God then provides a way of escape, a release if you will of everyone’s ill effects of their sins upon this earth. God is no longer interested in avenging Himself of the sins that we have committed if we accept His way of escape through His Son Jesus Christ. It is also through Him (Jesus) that every believer in Him can and must extend forgiveness to those that have offended them, hence providing an avenue of healing for the world.
It is at this point that we must come to grips with the fact that we must come to God through Jesus Christ to have our sins forgiven. In other words God’s love is unconditional in the aspect of Him reaching out to the world but the world will receive nothing from Him unless it turns to Him, for the Bible says “whosoever would believe in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”. We must believe in and accept Jesus into our lives if we are to inherit eternal life. Illustrations; Water fountain on a hot day, Food in a famine stricken land, Love from God in an evil world.
Let’s face it, Jesus went through a whole lot for you to have your sins forgiven. He was beaten all over until blood poured out of His body, hung on the cross naked for all the world to see, then finally separated from His Heavenly Father, something Jesus had for an eternity never experienced. He suffered all of this so that you could have your sins forgiven. All you have to do is receive it by praying this simple prayer. “Lord Jesus I accept what you did for me on the cross and I ask that you would forgive me of all of my sins, past, present and future “. Now the Bible says that your sins are forgiven. That’s it. Now you no longer have to live in the guilt of your past sins, nor the depression of your future ones. God through Christ has forgiven you of all your sins and will remember them no more, Heb 8:12.
Now that you have received this forgiveness of your sins you are commanded to forgive those who have sinned against you. Yes everyone. Those that abused you when you were a child, that adulteress spouse, that wayward child or ornery coworker. Forgive them and let the love that God has given you be shared to them.
Exercise; Begin to think of all the sins that you have committed. Now think of the punishment that you deserved for those sins, which was death. Now picture in your mind Jesus coming and dying on the cross to take your place in death so that you could go free and live an eternal life. See yourself now free from the punishment of all of your sins because Jesus is telling you to go free. Now see yourself as being excited because you have a new life that has eternal with a clean slate, that is free from sin.
Exercise #2; I want you to picture in your mind every person that you can that sinned against you. Don’t be afraid to go back and face those evils in your past that try to control your future. Now as all of these people are represented with their evil deeds, begin to line them up against the wall of your mind to execute them. Now picture Jesus coming to you(dressed now in a pure white robe) in blood stained garments with the cross on His back asking you to forgive them of their sins against you as He forgave you of your sins against Him. Picture Jesus asking you to have mercy on them as He had mercy on you. Now see yourself slowly begin to have mercy and forgiving then releasing each and every person that you remember sinning against you from the smallest sins to the greatest.
Exercise #3; As God begins to heal you from those wounds, at some point in time begin to pray for their salvation.
Undoubtedly releasing God’s forgiveness into the world will make the world a better place.
This is a conversational video on forgiveness.