The Power to Forgive

[Shimshon]

If you don’t use the power I gave you, I will not use my power to save you.

Did God give us the power to forgive so we would be able to receive it ourselves?

He gives us the power to forgive others so he can forgive us.

Matthew 6:9 ″This, then, is how you should pray: ” ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ‘

14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Surely God could just say, your forgiven and be done with it. But he makes an object leason out of it. He says, I’ll forgive you this way, I give you the power to forgive others, and when you forgive others, I will forgive you.

Matthew 18:32 "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

Mark 11:25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. "

Luke 6:37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

John 20:23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

If you don’t use the power I gave you, I will not use my power to save you.

Our very souls are placed into our own hands. You want forgiveness? Forgive others! You want judgement? Judge others!

j

 

[Shimshon]

Forgiveness is the key to it all. Jesus poured out his blood for many for the forgiveness of our sins. (Matthew 26:28) John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1:4) Zechariah filled with the Holy Spirit prophesied about John saying he would give Israel the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 1:76-77)

To know salvation is to know the forgiveness of our sins. Hence, to know Jesus is to know our sins are forgiven. Yeshua=salvation of God, salvation=forgiveness of our sins, Yeshua=forgiveness of our sins against God.

Jesus, after his resurrection, revealed that what was written in the Law and the prophets about him is that He would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that the repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.(Luke 46-47)

Peter, in regard to the receiving of the Holy Spirit called all believers to repent and be baptized in Jesus name for the forgiveness of our sins. Then the Spirit is received. (Acts 2-38)

Paul wanted us to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. That through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin. Something the Law of Moses could never do for us. (Acts 13-38-39) Paul wants all who hear to receive the forgiveness of our sins. (Acts 26:18)

In Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14)

Without Jesus blood there is not forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

Forgiveness is key to it all.

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

I recently (in the last 2 days) had thoughts about this very subject.

 

[Serving Zion]

If you don’t use the power I gave you, I will not use my power to save you.

Did God give us the power to forgive so we would be able to receive it ourselves?

He gives us the power to forgive others so he can forgive us.


Surely God could just say, your forgiven and be done with it. But he makes an object leason out of it. He says, I’ll forgive you this way, I give you the power to forgive others, and when you forgive others, I will forgive you.










If you don’t use the power I gave you, I will not use my power to save you.

Our very souls are placed into our own hands. You want forgiveness? Forgive others! You want judgement? Judge others!

j

It is such a subtle temptation for people who so desire peace and joy, to not see the critical detail in Luke 17:3:

If he (your brother) [...] comes back to you and says, 'I repent,'

Making a point to show that repentance is a prerequisite for forgiveness, compliments the authority and place of judgement that is prescribed by the likes of John 20:23 and 1 Peter 4:17, toward John 16:8 and Isaiah 5:20.

Turn from evil and do good, so you may live forever.
For Adonai loves justice and does not abandon His godly ones.
They will be preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked will be cut off.
Psalms 37:27-28

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

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[ViaCrucis]

Christ gave His apostles the authority to proclaim forgiveness of sins (John 20:23). In the Lutheran perspective, this Office of the Keys is properly the possession of the whole Church; but we recognize that in the Church we ordain and call certain people to the pastoral vocation, this occurred very early as the apostles left behind those who would, in their stead, shepherd the flock of Jesus Christ. As such pastors are in the seat of the Apostles, and the Office of the Keys is exercised through them for the good order and benefit of the Church.

Lutherans reject the concept of sacerdotalism, that pastors are of a special class of Christian; but rather speak of the pastoral ministry as a calling and vocation within the Church, which exists for the good of the Church, in order that the Word is faithfully preached and the Sacraments faithfully administered. In the same way that when we go into a hospital we don't take medical equipment and start operating on ourselves, but rely on those whose vocation and calling it is to be physicians, and they have been trained for that task for the common good. That doesn't mean that a nonprofessional couldn't do this or that medical procedure, but we reserve this for those trained, called, and whose vocation it is to put those things into practice. In the same way, the Church has reserved the Keys to be exercised by those called, ordained, and whose vocation it is to shepherd the people of Jesus Christ. Doctors aren't magic, and neither are pastors, but good order and the common good means some fill these vocations for the benefit of everyone.

-CryptoLutheran