Grace through Forgiveness

Luke 15:11-32 (NIV) 

    Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. [12] The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

    [13] "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. [14] After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. [15] So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. [16] He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

    [17] "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! [18] I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. [19] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' [20] So he got up and went to his father.

    "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

    [21] "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

    [22] "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. [23] Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. [24] For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

    [25] "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. [26] So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. [27] 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

    [28] "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. [29] But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. [30] But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

    [31] " 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. [32] But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

Forgiveness if proactive and assertive, not reactive or passive

Mark 11:25 (NIV) 

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

Matthew 18:15 (NIV) 

    "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV) 

    "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, [24] leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Forgiveness is sacrificial

Forgiveness is absorbing pain rather than giving and inflicting pain to the person who has wronged us

The kind of forgiveness that sets us free and releases the other guilty person can only be powered from the inside – a transformed heart

We are powered from the insides by resisting superiority and releasing the offenses of the other person

It is easier to forgive a debt only if we realize that we have a much bigger account that God has already given us

Application:

1. Under grace, what is central is not our past or present failures but Christ’s past victories, not what we have done wrong but what Christ has done right

2. Under grace, we can also stop punishing ourselves by forgiving ourselves, by turning over our authority to a gracious Jesus rather than an unforgiving self

3. Admit our grudges against others and deal with them immediately under grace

Mark 11:25 (NIV) 

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

Don’t diminish others in our own minds but also see them as God’s wonderfully complex children worthy of forgiveness

I am grateful to Tim Keller, from whom much of this sermon came from…