You will want to forgive others if Jesus truly lives inside of you.
But before we talk further about forgiveness in relation to Soteriology (i.e. the study of salvation), we should first understand how we are ultimately saved.
We are saved by God's Plan of Redemption (i.e. Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension) and by God's grace (mercy), and by Transformation-ism (Titus 3:15), and by Relationship-ism (1 John 5:12) thru the vehicle of faith. Please take note that we are not saved by Belief Alone-ism or by Works Alone Salvationism. Ultimately we are saved by abiding in Christ (Relationship-ism) by faith. No Jesus in your life and there is no salvation. But if Jesus is in your life, then you will bring forth good fruit (and not bad fruit all the time) and become more and more holy (according to God's Word) as you live your life. This is Christ doing the good work in you (in your walk with Him). So you cannot take the credit or pat yourself on the back for a good job done for obeying God's Word. For it is the LORD working in you.
One key to make sure you accepted the LORD properly is by making sure that you actually repented. Many churches today have the silly notion that repentance is merely a change of mind about sin and Jesus. But that is not repentance. Hence, why someone may not have experienced the transforming power of Jesus Christ in their life whereby they may still feel like they are a slave to their sin or dark nature all the time.
Jesus defined repentance for us by pointing us to
Jonah 3:6-10 in
Matthew 12:41. For Jesus essentially said the Ninevites will rise up in Judgment against this generation because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. In Jonah chapter 3 we learn that the King of the Ninevites had said to the people to cry out to God and to turn from their evil and wicked ways. We then learn that God had seen that they had turned from their wicked and evil ways, too. So it was not an empty profession of paying lip service. They actually were truly sorry over their sins by making good on their prayer towards God in turning from their evil ways.
Jesus said repent or you will perish.
So repentance is:
(a) A cry out to the LORD for the forgiveness of your sin (with a Godly sorrow).
(b) A turning away (or a forsaking) from your sin.
Good deeds are sometimes called fruits of repentance.
A believer obeying the Commands in the New Testament are not only the fruits of your repentance but they are fruits or evidence that the LORD Jesus Christ lives within you (See 1 John 2:3-6).
Anyways, getting back to the topic of forgiveness: Can you not forgive others and still be saved? No, you cannot. Jesus says,
"But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:15).
Meaning if you do not forgive, then you will not be forgiven; And people that are not forgiven cannot enter into God's Kingdom.
So are we saved by Works Salvation-ism then? Again, no. If we have Jesus living inside of us (Who is the source of our salvation), the LORD will move it upon your heart to forgive others. Can you fight against the LORD living within you and not forgive? Sure you can. Everyone does have free will and God does not force Himself upon His people. Can God strongly nudge us in the direction He wants us to go (like with Jonah)? Yes. But again, we have free will to choose to abide in Christ and His good ways or not. So we must choose this day and every other day (on a daily basis) to serve the LORD.
For we cannot separate Christ's morality from Christ the person. They are connected and bound together as one. For the morality or goodness of Jesus (who is God) is an outpouring of who He is. So my encouragment to anyone who hears my message that if you feel like you cannot forgive someone, then you need to bear your soul to God and ask for His forgiveness. For it is not natural for a believer who walks with Jesus to not feel that they cannot forgive others. For we will be convicted by God to forgive others. On the other hand, if you feel you have repented properly and are still feeling too wounded to forgive, then ask God to help you to heal those wounds (that someone has inflicted upon you) and ask Him for His power to forgive again (Like you once did naturally). Bury yourself in prayer, fasting, and reading God's Word and He will help to give you the power to forgive again (i.e. to live again).
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