Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
When God blesses, life's tragedies are blotted out.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
If you operate in God’s love, your system of thinking concerning love will be one with no boundaries or limitations towards those you are loving.
EPH 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Christ loved you.
Christ gave Himself up for us.
God in Christ has forgiven you.
Walk in love.
Be imitators of God.
Forgive each other.
Love leads to giving leads to forgiving.
Having been forgiven leads to loving leads to forgiving.
Sometimes the best way you can lay down your life...
is to lay down your grievances.
LUK 7:47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
DOCTRINE OF FORGIVENESS
Point 1. Definition of Forgiveness.
Forgiveness means to give up resentment, excuse a guilty party, to release from payment, to forget an offense, never bringing it up again not even to discuss it.
Point 2. The ultimate expression of forgiveness was the cross of Christ.
Point 3. Scripture Passages on Forgiveness.
ISA 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake [because of My honor and integrity]. Furthermore, I will not remember your sin.”
COL 2:13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
COL 3:13 Bearing one another and forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone else, just as the Lord forgave you, so also you should forgive others.
He is tender-hearted and forgives others on the basis of the fact that God has forgiven him.
Point 4. One of the greatest illustrations of forgiveness is the story of Joseph. Joseph was a victim of great injustice, but it became a part of God’s perfect plan for his life!
1. Joseph was thrown into the pit by his brothers which was a part of God’s plan for his life, which he failed to recognize, GEN 37:1-24.
2. Joseph was sold to a caravan, which just so happened to be coming by, and the caravan took Joseph to Egypt, God’s geographical will for Joseph, GEN 37:25-36!
3. Joseph then became a servant to Potiphar, who was an officer of Pharaoh, and Joseph learned that God can provide prosperity in any situation, GEN 39:2-6.
4. Joseph was then tempted many times by his Potiphar’s wife to have sex with her, and he passed the test magnificently, GEN 39:7-10.
5. Mrs. Potiphar reacted against the rejection by Joseph and falsely accused Joseph of trying to seduce her, and this was a total act of injustice, GEN 39:11-18.
6. Potiphar believed his wife and threw Joseph into the dungeon for his second “pit” experience, GEN 39:19-20.
7. In GEN 40:1-4, Potiphar abused his authority and gave Joseph double duties as a slave to two aristocrats in the Egyptian prison.
8. In GEN 40:14-15, Joseph failed again by relying on man rather than the Lord, and the two men both forgot to help Joseph in his prison experience.
Notice his humility and his gentleness after being so mistreated!