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Bible  Spotlight  -  ON  FORGIVENESS,  part  3  quotes

1)     “For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy”. Leviticus 11:44.

     “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty”. Exodus 34:6-7.





2)    True Forgiveness Step #3 - You are to cast, lay aside, omit, remit, forsake, put and take away the debt they owe you - no matter how large or small that debt might be.

- “Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” Matthew 18:32-35.

     These verses reveal that just as this gigantic debt from sin was freely forgiven, so you should do the same to those who owe you!



- “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14.

     This verse reveals that not only was their sin forgiven, but also their land was healed.  So not only are you to freely forgive those who sin against you, but you are also to freely heal or erase the debt they owe you.



- “And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me”. Jeremiah 33:8.

     This verse reveals that not only was their sin forgiven, but they were also cleansed from these sins.  So not only are you to freely forgive those who sin against you, but you are also to freely cleanse or erase the debt they owe.     





3)     True Forgiveness Step #4 - You are to lift, raise and hold them up so that you can send them forth relieved, happy and free in the Lord.

- “...Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.  And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.  And Joseph said unto them...Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.” Genesis 50:17-19, 21.

- “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.  Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned”. Isaiah 40:1-2.

     These verses reveal that after freely forgiving the sin and debt, you are to affectionately nourish, comfort and kindly treat them, letting them know that any warfare or strife generated is now ended and over.



- “Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.  So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.  Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.” 2 Corinthians 2:6-8.

     These verses reveal that those who have repented of causing church problems are to be freely forgiven by all church members, and not just those directly affected.  Each member is to comfort and confirm their love toward them.  Otherwise this lack of brotherly and sisterly love just might push them into discouragement and despair to the point that they give up the warfare.



- “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.” 1 John 2:12.

- “To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” 2 Corinthians 2:10-11.

     These verses reveal that after you have freely forgiven and erased the debt of someone who openly sinned against you, that no one else is to harbor any hard feelings against them for what they did to you.  Otherwise Satan will take advantage of this lack of consistency and will escalate it into a greater issue, when no futher issue should exist.





4)     True Forgiveness Step #5 - Whatever their sin and debt was that you freely forgave and erased, you are not to continue dwelling upon it, or harboring it in your heart, but you are to let go, let alone, leave it and let its memory be and remain contained in the past.

- “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Psalms 32:1.

     The Hebrew word used for “covered” in this verse is “kacah”, which translates and means “to cover for secrecy, to close, conceal” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, word #3680).  This reveals that whatever the sin and debt was that you forgave and erased, it is to be covered, concealed and kept secret, and is not to be revealed to any other person!



- “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin.  Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.“ Psalms 85:2-3.

     This verse reveals that not only are you to conceal their sin from others, but you are also to take away any wrath or anger which you may have because of their sin, and let all these emotions go!



- “...I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:34.

     This verse reveals that the sin and debt you freely forgave and erased is to be remembered no more.  Its memory is not to be continually brought up and dwelt upon, but to be left contained in the past, which means that you must forgive them from your heart!
     “...ye from your hearts forgive...every one his brother their trespasses.” Matthew 18:35.





5)    In following all 5 of these steps and freely forgiving all types of sin, erasing all types of debt, and remembering their sin no more, does not mean that any and all consequences of their sinful actions against us are also to be forgotten and removed.

- “Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.  And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But...Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it”. Numbers 4:19-23.

     These verses reveal that there are some types of sins committed by certain individuals that are of so great a character that the consequences resulting from their sin continue on - even though their sin has been forgiven.  In the above situation, a whole generation had to die before they reached the promised land, even though their great and many sins were already forgiven.  



- For the Sin of Adultery:

     - The Bible reveals that the innocent spouse (lets say a wife) can decide to end the marriage to her unfaithful husband, and then she is free to remarry another in the Lord if she so chooses to - even though she has freely forgiven her unfaithful spouse (see Matthew 5:32, 19:9).  This shows that even though the sin of adultery was forgiven, yet the consequences of an ended marriage between them continued on forever.

     - Because of Reuben’s knowing adultery against his father Jacob with Bilhah, Reuben lost the privileges of the firstborn, even though Reuben was forgiven (see Genesis 35:22, 49:3-4).  The priesthood privilege of the firstborn passed to Levi (Deuteronomy 21:5); the Messianic privilege of the firstborn passed to Judah (Genesis 49:8-12); and the privilege of the double-portion of inheritance passed to Joseph (Genesis 48:2-6, 49:22-26).



- For the Sin of Apostasy:

    - The Bible reveals that because of their participation in the Golden Calf apostasy, 11 tribes of Israel lost the privilege of becoming priests and being directly connected with caring for the Sanctuary, even though their knowing sin was forgiven.  All priests, as well as all those caring for the Sanctuary, were now only to be chosen from the only faithful tribe of Levi (see Deuteronomy 21:5, Exodus chapters 32-40; Numbers chapters 3-4).

     - Because of another apostasy, all the unfaithful priests could never again officiate in the priesthood before the Lord, even though their knowing sin of idolatry was forgiven (see 2 Kings 23:8-9).



- For the Sin of Openly Fighting Against Christ and His Followers:

     - The Bible reveals that Paul was temporarily blinded for 3 days on his way to Damascus in order to bring him to repentance and conversion to Jesus, but he suffered ever after from bad eyesight, even though his great sin was forgiven (see Acts 9:3-22; Galatians 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:17).





6)    These consequences are a continual reminder to avoid repeating the same sin, as well as continually leading us to humbly come to Jesus for grace, strength and divine power to overcome these weaknesses!

     “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.