Forgiveness the lesson from the cross

Everyone makes mistakes. It is part of our imperfection. But the beautiful part about being a believer is that God forgave us of these mistakes. In Christ Alone (the hymn which the Presbyterian Church recently dropped) a line from the second verse states “Till on that cross as Jesus died / the wrath of God was satisfied.” I happen to love this line, because I know that if it weren’t for Jesus’ willing sacrifice on the cross I would still one day stand before the Father and listen to all the sins I have ever committed against Him, knowing that my only eternal home would be in the fiery depths of hell, where unrepentant sinners are doomed to an eternity of damnable torture. Yet I have faith in the Lord Jesus and in his willingness to take on my sin and all the sin of the world so that I could rejoice with Him and the Father in heaven, rather than suffer in hell.
 Because of this faith, I understand that God’s wrath against me is satisfied. It is important to understand that at the end of times it is not Jesus’ love that will save us if we are unrepentant and do not understand the implications of Christ’s crucifixion. God’s wrath still burns against us if we are double minded, if we do not ask for wisdom, or if we ask without faith James 1:2-8. At the time of judgment, the Bible clearly states that the Lord will not remember Jeremiah 31:34. There is nothing Christ’s love can do if we do not accept God’s commandment…Which brings me to the point of forgiveness.
Christians understand that the Lord died a horrid death to forgive our sins against the Father. If we accept this forgiveness in faith, we are saved. And if we do not accept this we are damned. Throughout the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Jesus warned us of this. The Apostles in Acts, and their letters to first century churches warned us of the folly of not having faith in the Lord.  I want you to take a moment to ponder Christ’s death...

Now I have a couple of questions.

 Do you believe that He died so that you might live eternally in heaven? If the answer is Yes, move on to the next question. If you don’t, then keep thinking on Christ’s death and its implications.

“Do you desire to honor Christ? [If the answer is Yes] then you are saved, because you have been made willing by God”(John MacArthur, August 25th, Grace Community Church 10:30 am service.)

Short side track here, Pastor John was preaching out of John 5. He applied the second question to us out of the example of the Jew’s who had spent their entire lives (centuries of practicing Jews) looking for the Messiah. And because He did not come in the way they had expected him to, they rejected him. They accepted John the Baptist as a prophet, and they denied Christ because He was not the princely ruler on earth they had been expecting despite his miracles which they had accepted. 

I can apply this question to my blog, because honoring Christ is as simple as obeying his commandments. If we desire to obey his commandments then we desire to honor Christ. Forgiving and having forgiveness is one of Christ’s commandments. Matthew 18:21-22. When Jesus said seventy-seven times seven He did not mean that when you reach the 539th time of forgiving your brother you can quit. He meant that you must forgive the one who sins against you infinitely. You can never quit forgiving.

 Which segues me back to my introductory sentence: everyone makes mistakes. No one is without sin; in fact we reek of sin in our actions, attitudes, and thoughts. We do things against our families, friends, employees, employers, and even strangers and most of the time without the slightest qualm. And yet when someone does something that hurts our feelings, or wrongs us in some way (great or small), we are quick to withhold forgiveness…for years even.

We say what they did was so wrong; it offended me so much that I can never forgive them. And we hold anger in our hearts, not love, not kindness, not mercy, not forgiveness and those are all things CHRIST had for us when he died on the cross. Christ did not die angry. He died with love and forgiveness for us. In fact He asked God to forgive the men who crucified Him. CHRIST WAS MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD AND HE STILL FORGAVE(IVES), HE STILL LOVED(S), HE STILL HAD(S) MERCY AND COMPASSION. Christ died willingly for the salvation of many; he suffered the most for our transgressions on the cross. And that is not looking at the trials he faced while he walked on earth. We have an intercessor in Christ, because He faced the exact same temptation we do and He overcame. In James 1: 13-19 we see that God does not tempt, because He cannot be tempted. And then we ask if Jesus was fully God how then was he tempted? And the answer is because He was also fully man and man can be tempted.

Jesus knows our struggles he has seen the failure of others and known the heartache. He stands up for us when Satan makes claims against us when we are repentant and upright. Jesus knows our fight and only through Him can the war be won. He does this because the Father forgave us through Him and we accepted the free gift of love through our faith.

What I want you to understand, beloved, is this. If we do not forgive and we hold the lust of hatred in our hearts we do not accept Christ, we do not accept His free gift of salvation, and we do not accept our place in the Fathers home. I beseech you, my friends, to think twice about the forgiveness you have been offered and how you will act next time your fellow sinner sins against you. If you have accepted Christ and desire to honor Him and if you wish to be led by the Holy Spirit do not close your hearts to his word. If you find that forgiveness is going to be hard for you to achieve remember to ask the Lord to help you come to a place where grace can be offered. But do not forsake forgiveness, because its healing power is greater and more wonderful than you can ever imagine. Remember that every just and good thing comes from the Lord.


As Paul said Grace and Peace to you my friends from our Lord Jesus Christ.