Ephesians 5:31-32 "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."
What is involved in forgiveness? How have I sinned against God? Does the Bible say if I don't forgive others I loose my salvation? Do we have to forgive people that have done horrible things?
What is involved in forgiveness?
Forgiveness is not forgetting and it's not always foregoing justice. It's holding nothing against the person who has wronged you. It it letting go of the anger and resentment you have towards them and restoring the relationship if it's possible.
How have I sinned against God?
James 2:10 "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point is guilty of all. "If there was a small amount of poison in a glass of water, it would still be contaminated. If we break any of the law we sin against God. God knows it's impossible for us to keep the law no matter how hard we try. The purpose if it is to reveal to us our sinfulness and show us how much we need Christ. Psalm 51:4 is a prayer of David to God about his repentance from sinning against Uriah and Bathsheba. "Against you, you only have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight." Joseph didn't sin with Potifer's wife because he couldn't sin against God. We do sin against others, but the greatest offense is against God.
Does the Bible say that if we don't forgive someone God will not forgive us and we will loose our salvation?
Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will you Father forgive your trespasses." This verse isn't talking about loosing your salvation if you don't forgive someone. There are two types of forgiveness. The first is when Jesus died on the cross. He provided the justification that takes place immediately the moment of salvation. He forgave us of all our sins, past, present, and future. He casts them as far as the east is from the west. He looks at us through the righteousness of His son. No one can pluck us out of His hand. This verse is talking about the other type of forgiveness. If our children sin against us they are still our children. Nothing can change that. But the intimacy of our fellowship with them is broken and isn't restored until we forgive them. When we sin against God our intimacy with Him is broken until we repent and He forgives us. If I'm holding bitterness in my heart toward someone, my relationship with that person and my relationship with God need to be restored through forgiveness.
Do we have to forgive people that do really horrible things?
God commands us to love others as ourselves.(Matt. 22:37-40) Yes, I do think God wants us to forgive others for horrible things done against us. I also think that is a really hard thing to do, but God will give us the grace to do it. I know when I'm struggling with forgiving someone my relationship with God is not what it should be. Jesus lived a perfect life, He did a lot of good for others, He forgave those who murdered Him, and he forgave me. It's all about grace and understanding our own sinfulness and how much we were forgiven.
Romans 5:7-9 "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."
""We must be willing to endure and love the damaged and damaging personalities who make us suffer."-Chapell
"The understanding that our deepest knowing of the One who bore the cross for us in some measure depends on our own cross bearing of the miseries of this world and even of the miserableness of others."-Luther
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