"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."--Ephesians 2:10

Therefore, I must be frank in my feeling that a notable heresy has come into being throughout our evangelical Christian circles—the widely accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior and we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want to!...

I think the following is a fair statement of what I was taught in my early Christian experience and it certainly needs a lot of modifying and a great many qualifiers to save us from being in error.

"We are saved by accepting Christ as our Savior; we are sanctified by accepting Christ as our Lord; we may do the first without doing the second!"

The truth is that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred Scriptures. Peter makes it plain that we are "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience" (1 Peter 1:2). 

   There were times when  Jesus spoke in parables and addressed his hearers in more gentle tones. However, at other times, he spoke with “pointedness,” force, and clarity, and when He did so, people were usually not happy with the content. See Matthew 23 and His words to the Pharisees and religious rulers of that day.

    Jesus’ disciples were taught by Him for three years, and like us, they were not “one-lesson” prodigies. That is, they had to hear the same truths repeatedly, and they still didn’t grasp the significance of the lessons. On more than one occasion, the disciples were consumed with and argued about which one of them would be the greatest. Their pride wanted to exert itself to the point that each wanted to be a leader and have subjects under him (Matt. 18:1; 20:20-24; Mark 9:34; Mark 10:35-37; Luke 9:46; 22:24.) 

    Let that sink in. The ones who walked with Jesus, heard Jesus, observed Jesus, and claimed to know and love Jesus acted just like the world around them. While I do realize that these men were not yet indwelled by the Holy Spirit in fullness, they nevertheless appeared just like the rest of the world around them. Jesus did not “let them off of the hook” just because the Day of Pentecost had not yet arrived.

    I want to quote Mark 10:42-45 - “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

    Jesus told His followers that they were NOT to be like the rulers of the Gentiles, or those who did not know Him. They were to be His followers. He came to be a Servant and Ransom. He came to give His life away for His people. He did not come to impress the world; He came to die! It isn’t self-preservation and self-exaltation! It is self-denial.

   Jesus told, and commanded, His disciples to become like a servant and slave. The servant and slave had no rights to which he could always appeal. The servant wasn’t consumed with self-esteem and impressing others. The servant was consumed with one thing, pleasing his master. The disciples were to avoid the worldly pattern of exerting earthly authority and positional power. Instead, they were to be voluntary, bond-slaves aimed at pleasing their Master.

   Oh that our bossess, supervisors, managers, and leaders understood this truth! With that being said, I guess we as Christians should not really expect the unbelieving authority figures to desire or embrace this attitude. After all, they are acting naturally when they are consumed with exalting themselves.

    However, the sad reality is that a large number of professing Christian supervisors, managers, and leaders resemble the world more than their Savior. They seek to impose their personal and selfish desires on their subordinates just because they have the power and authority to do so. They seem to enjoy belittling and bullying these ones that they should be serving and helping. Many of these leaders want to exalt themselves and promote their personal agendas at the expense of everyone else. They believe that their word is law, their will is supreme, and anyone who opposes them will suffer the consequences. There is very little difference between them and the non-Christian supervisors!

   While I won’t dare to say these self-willed, arrogant, pompous, pride-filled people aren’t Christians, I will say this: They are not obeying Christ nor following His example. As a matter of fact, they are following the example of the one who opposes Christ and the Church.

    Why do I make such a strong statement? I do so because Scripture does. When Paul was giving Timothy instructions for ordaining Elders within the Church, He gave character traits that were to be sought and others that were to be avoided. He told Timothy to be careful and weary of ordaining new converts. After this instruction, he tells him why, “lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6). 

    If the new convert gets into a position of authority (Elder) and becomes conceited and full of himself, he will be following the example of the devil. A pride-filled, conceited Elder would be a curse to the Church and not a blessing. He would tear apart the Church instead of serve the Church. He would be like the devil instead of like the Savior.

    The last thing that the Church and the name of Christ need are men and women in places of authority that are full of themselves and think they are the greatest thing since “sliced cheese.” We need leaders who are willing to be small, so that Christ can be seen to be what He is, great and worthy of praise. We need leaders who are humble and willing to be nothing in the world’s esteem so that Christ will be everything!    

    The same thing can be said of leaders who are supposed to be serving the cause of Christ in the workplace. Your are to be salt and light. You are to be following Christ and not the example of the devil. You are to serve others, not make them slaves to serve you and your self-willed desires.

   If you are a leader or in some sort of position of authority, are you willing to be small in everyone else’s estimation? Are you willing to serve others and build them up instead of trying to push them around and display your perception of power? Are you willing to listen to others instead of thinking you are the only one with something to say? Are you willing to let others get credit and you take none? Are you willing to build others up instead of always tearing them down?

   If not, repent! Remember these words before it is too late:

   Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

In the last post we saw how a godly King can become so full of himself, that he believes that he can do whatever he pleases and act with full impunity. When confronted about the danger of actions caused by such arrogance, pride moves him to respond in anger and ignore the consequences. Caution is thrown to the wind, and the King is stricken with leprosy. 

    That is an ungodly response to pride. Today, I want to contrast how another godly King, although caught in ungodly and grievous sin, responds when that sin in confronted. Again I want to call and encourage you (and myself) to hear the truth and heed the voice of the Spirit of God from His word.

     2 Samuel 11 records how King David, a man after God’s own heart, saw Bathsheba bathing as he admired the kingdom from his rooftop. He desired her, and exerted his Kingly authority to have her physically. After learning she was pregnant, he tried to cover it up by manipulating the circumstances in the life of her husband. When he didn’t cooperate because of his honest character, David again manipulated the circumstances and abused his authority and had Uriah killed. 

    David was guilty of adultery and murder! Although the text doesn’t explicitly say so, David was probably admiring the Kingdom on his rooftop in a spirit of pride. He saw this beautiful woman, and in his pride, he did whatever he wanted in order to have her. He was King, and he wouldn’t be refused. He thought that this authority would enable him to manipulate the situation and cover up his sins. However, he forgot the most important detail, God saw everything ( 2 Sam. 11:27).

    2 Samuel records the exposure of this King’s sins. Nathan, the Prophet of God, was sent as God’s mouthpiece or representative to the King. Nathan told David a parable about a wealthy man that stole from a poor man. As David heard the story, he became enraged at such an arrogant, selfish act. He was so blinded by his own self-righteousness and hardness of heart that he couldn’t even read through the lines and realize that Nathan was describing him!

    Nathan had to put it plainer. David needed to see the “handwriting on the wall.” David was the man from the parable. God had blessed him, and if that wasn’t enough, David would have been given more blessings by God. David had despised the word of God and committed murder. He had stolen Uriah’s wife, and now he would suffer the consequences.

    How did David respond? “It was Bathsheba’s fault. If she wouldn’t have been bathing outside, I wouldn’t have seen her and been tempted. She should’ve said no to me. After all, I am a man. Who do you think you are Nathan? I am the King. How dare you talk to me like this? What about everyone else in the Kingdom? They sin also. Why don’t you go confront them?”

    Those, and many similar excuses, would be what most people in our day would devise to cast the blame on others. David said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” He didn’t try to dodge the issue anymore. He assumed responsibility and claimed his sin was against the One that matters most.

    I want to quote two verses from Psalm 51. This is the famous Psalm of David following this incident. While the whole Psalm is rich in content and instruction, notice verses 3-4:

    “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge.” 

    David confessed his sins. He called these acts what they were. They were not mistakes or someone else’s fault. He admitted again that He sinned against God. What David did was evil, not simply an error in judgment. He understood and confessed that God was completely just in all that David endured because of his rebellion and evil acts. God is totally blameless in everything.

    Understand that God wasn’t exonerated just because David said so. God was blameless regardless of what David confessed or acknowledged. However, David’s acknowledgement was important for him. This paved the way for him to completely accept all of the consequences for his sins. David was truly humbled.

    I will again pose the question. How would you react if someone calls you out for your constant anger? What about your impatience, worry, fixation on money or vanity, etc? Do you respond like Uzziah and become angry, or do you say like David, “I have sinned?”

    Selfishness and self-defensiveness fueled by pride will become angry and lash out at the one speaking truth to you. Pride will rush to blame others and defend self at all costs. Pride will deny the truth and call attention on faults or failures of others so that the spotlight isn’t glaring on it. Pride doesn’t want to be broken.

    Humility accepts brokenness. Humility does not rush to defend self and blame others. Humility rejoices in the truth and is grateful to the one bringing the truth. 

    Now, how will you respond when you hear, “You are the man”?

I have to admit that I am going to have to stay focused on limiting the number of posts on this topic. The Bible is so full of passages that deal with the necessity of humility and dangers of pride that it is easy to “camp out” here. I will fight to avoid this temptation.

   Here is a very small sampling of what the Bible explicitly says about human pride.

Proverbs 11:2 - When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom

Proverbs 15:25 - The LORD will tear down the house of the proud, but He will establish the boundary of the widow

Proverbs 16:5 - Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; assuredly, he will not be unpunished

Proverbs – 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling

Proverbs 18:12 - Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, but humility goes before honor

Micah 6:8 - He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

James 4:6 - GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE

1 Peter 5:5 - All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.

 
   How can it be any clearer? God hates pride! He resists the proud! He will humble the proud!

   Does this apply only to the one who doesn’t know Christ? Won’t the Christian be given a free pass? After all, he/she is forgiven the penalty against their sins, so won’t God just overlook the pride or arrogance of one of His children? To answer that, let’s consider an Old Testament King.

   When the Old Testament historical books were written, a summation of a King’s reign was given before the events of the reign were discussed. It was stated up front whether the King was good or bad in the eyes of the Lord. That was the customary pattern, and one need only read the books of Kings and Chronicles to see this pattern.

    Uzziah was a godly King that reigned for over 50 years in Judah (2 Chron. 26:1-5). After many years of walking with God and experiencing God’s gracious blessings, he became full of himself and arrogant (2 Chron. 26:16). In his arrogance, he sought to offer sacrifices, the work of the priests of God.

   The priests confronted Uzziah and sought to stop him (2 Chron. 26:17-18). Instead of responding in humility and listening to the truth, Uzziah became enraged. His authority was being questioned, and he was being challenged. Imagine that, “mere” priests challenging the King!!!!   

    When Uzziah refused to listen, God struck him with leprosy (v. 19-20). Uzziah lived the rest of his life as a leper, cut off from Israel. His burial and tomb were that of a leper. In spite of his previous godliness and faithfulness, he suffered the fate of being considered a social outcast. All of this transpired because he was filled with pride and refused to listen to the truth. He knew the truth. He was even confronted personally with the truth. However, he thought he was above any ramifications.

     As Paul addressed the Corinthians (1 Cor. 10) and referred to Israel’s past failures, he did so in order to admonish and instruct them not to follow Israel’s example. In verse 12, I want to quote Paul’s words to the Corinthians and refer them back to our consideration of pride and the Uzziah’s example:

   “Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”   

     The moment you and I think we have overcome pride and won’t fall like Uzziah did is the our moment of failure. We have already fallen because in our pride, we have already declared ourselves above such temptation and failure! Take heed to yourself. If you stand and have not fallen because of pride, thank God! It is only because of His marvelous grace.

     One more thought before I close. Notice that pride (in a person refusing to be broken by the truth), when confronted, strikes out in anger. Uzziah knew he shouldn’t offer the sacrifices. He was confronted with this truth again, and he struck out in proud, selfish anger. How dare anyone tell him he was wrong? How dare anyone call him into question? He could do whatever he pleased!

   How would you respond if someone pointed out areas in which you were selfish or acting arrogantly? What if you are so full of yourself that you are blind to it, but everyone else sees it clearly? Out of love, one of your friends seeks to call it to your attention. How do you respond? Your response will speak volumes.

    In our next post, we will see how someone broken by the truth responds when he/she is confronted.

In the last post we saw that MacDuff referenced an early Church Father on Humility being the most needful aspect of the Christian life. I would concur. Pride, in my opinion, is like cancer. Left unchecked, it will grow, spread, and seek to take over every area of life.

    The Christian, and by that I mean the one who has been regenerated or born again by the Spirit of God, realizes that he was totally unable to come to Christ in his own strength (John 3:3; 6:44, 65). He was dead in sin (Eph. 2:1, 4; Col. 2:13) and opposed to God in his mind (Col. 1:21; Rom. 8:6-8). He came to grips with the truth that even his best efforts were filthy rags before God (Is. 64:6). The term for filthy garments or rags is the idea of used menstrual cloths. I know that is grotesque and repulsive. That is the idea. Before God, even our best efforts were tainted with sin and totally unacceptable! 

    When God, by His Spirit brings us to this realization, we are broken. We realize that we are totally bankrupt and mourn over our condition (Matt. 5:3-4). We then are drawn to Christ as our only Hope of being saved from sin. We cling to Christ in faith alone and realize that we have no ground for boasting (Rom. 4:4-6).

    The Christian who walks or lives in light of the truth never forgets this fact. Our problem is that we, even as believers, do not consistently and perfectly walk in light of this truth. Our “default” position is self-centeredness. We easily revert back to our former way of thinking, and by doing this, we try to impress others by our efforts. We want others to know that we are changed, so that they will be impressed. This is why we must renew our minds to truth every day (Rom. 12:1-2).

    Even our desire to show others we are changed can smack of pride. Think about it. In calling attention to our new lifestyle or other habits, we are calling attention to what we are doing or no longer doing. It is calling attention to us. We may claim it is pointing others to Christ, but it is simply a veiled act of arrogance that says, “Look at me.”

    The truth is that we all have a tendency to become self-righteous Pharisees who are proud of themselves and want to flaunt their outward religiosity for others to see. Like the Pharisee who prayed in the temple (Luke 18:9-14), we cry, “I thank you God that I am not like other [sinful] people. I go to Church. I don’t do drugs. I have never been arrested. I have a job. I don’t vote Democrat (or Republican). I don’t…. I don’t…. I don’t….” Simply fill in the blanks.

    Not only can we be proud of those bad things we don’t do, we can become full of ourselves over those good things that we do. Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount are penetrating. In Matthew 6:1, Jesus said that His followers are to beware of practicing their acts of righteousness before others. The temptation is to want to impress others by what we do and hear their praise or have them think we are spiritual. Instead, we are to desire only to please our Father in heaven and be content if only He sees what we do.

    In verses 2-18, Jesus instructs His followers to do their acts of righteousness in such a way that they are only concerned about pleasing God. As a matter of fact, He tells them to do these acts in secret. In other words, don’t worry about impressing others but seek to please only God. He sees the true motives behind the acts, and He will see you even if no one else does.

     Notice that Jesus is referring to giving, praying, and fasting. Now these disciplines are good, and when done properly, they are beneficial. However, when they are practiced in order to impress others, they do not profit at all. 

    For the sake of brevity, I will only comment on prayer. (These same applications could easily apply for giving and fasting, as well as attending church services, evangelistic witnessing, etc.)

    Throughout the Bible, Christians are commanded and encouraged to pray. We are to intercede for others and offer supplications for our own needs. To not pray is to sin and ignore the example that Jesus set as well. If He, being the sinless Son of God, prayed, how much more should we?

     However, we fail miserably when we abuse prayer and make it a means for promoting ourselves. If we seek to impress others by the eloquence, frequency, or “power” of our prayers, we are praying in a way that Jesus forbade. We are merely Pharisees that are full of themselves and full of arrogance and pride. What should be a matter of self-abasement has become a matter of self-exaltation.

     While many Christians don’t feel that way about prayer, they still engage it in pridefully. Think about this. Do you pray and realize that you sometimes stumble, stutter, stammer, and not know what to pray? Do you find yourself not wanting to pray in front of others because you are scared that they’ll think you don’t pray very well? You worry that they will think you are unspiritual or some other less than flattering thought? You know what the problem is? You are full of yourself!

     Both positions are full of pride and self. Both are concerned about impressing others and what other people think. One just masks it better with feigned humility. Trust me. I know this well because I am in the same boat. 

     Beloved, whether it is prayer, giving, engaging in evangelistic endeavors, what you wear, what you drive, where you live, or any other visible measurement, realize you don’t have to impress others. If you are a Christian, God has accepted you fully in Christ (Eph. 1:7). He loves you perfectly and completely and has promised to never leave you nor forsake you (John 10:27-29; Rom. 8:31-39; Hebrews 13:5-6). 

     All of these good things and blessings do not come to you because you deserve them. You don’t deserve them and could never earn them. The only thing you and I deserve is eternal condemnation. Nevertheless, God blesses us for His glory alone. It is because of His grace alone in Christ alone, and He provides us with the faith to trust Him and all of His promises. Faith alone is the only means we have for receiving these gifts of grace.

     What legitimate reason do you have to be proud of yourself or your accomplishments if they are all given because of Christ alone and for God’s glory alone? If it is for God’s glory, alone, that means you and I get none of it (Is. 48:11). Don’t seek to rob God of His rightful glory by your attempt to boast. 

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."--John 1:12-13

There is another and worse evil which springs from this basic failure to grasp the radical difference between the natures of the two worlds. It is the habit of languidly "accepting" salvation as if it were a small matter and one wholly in our hands. Men are exhorted to think things over and "decide" for Christ, and in some places one day each year is set aside as "Decision Day," at which time people are expected to condescend to grant Christ the right to save them, a right which they have obviously refused Him up to that time. Christ is thus made to stand again before men's judgment seat; He is made to wait upon the pleasure of the individual, and after long and humble waiting is either turned away or patronizingly admitted. By a complete misunderstanding of the noble and true doctrine of the freedom of the human will salvation is made to depend perilously upon the will of man instead of upon the will of God.

However deep the mystery, however many the paradoxes involved, it is still true that men become saints not at their own whim but by sovereign calling. The Pursuit of Man, pp. 37-38

   Last week we took a few posts to briefly examine one of the fundamentals or essentials of the Christian, forgiveness. I want to do the same with another fundamental of the Christian life, humility.

    One cannot be a Christian without it, and one cannot resemble the Lord Jesus without it. One does not proudly come to Christ, and one does not follow Christ in a spirit of pride. I am not saying one should not be bold in his witness of and relationship to Christ. He should not be ashamed of the Gospel (Rom. 1:16; 2 Tim. 1:8).

   However, pride is an insidious temptation that can easily deceive us into wanting to take the smallest portion of credit for our position in Christ or our place or portion in life. We can boast in nothing but the grace of God and the cross of Christ (1 Cor. 1:26-31; Gal. 6:14).

    I wanted to start off this series of posts with the comments of John MacDuff. These words are from 1856 and succinctly capture this truth.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John MacDuff – The Footsteps of Jesus, 1856

"I hate pride and arrogance!" Proverbs 8:13

Humility may be defined as consisting in:
1. a profound self-abasement before God, arising from a deep sense of our sinfulness;
2. and in a low estimation of ourselves, as we stand related to our fellow creatures, whatever is the extent of our attainments, or the importance of the station we occupy.

Upon this subject, too much stress cannot be laid--for without humility, true religion cannot possibly exist. A proud Christian is a contradiction in terms. We might as well speak of a wise fool, of a wicked saint, of a sober drunkard, or of a chaste harlot--as of a proud Christian! We may as soon expect delicate flowers to flourish in the frozen and barren regions of Siberia--as that true piety should grow in the heart that is proud and haughty. A vine might as well thrive when a worm is gnawing at its root--as that the soul should prosper and be in health, when its arrogance and pride are not subdued. 

One of the Fathers of the Church, when asked which was the first principle in religion, replied, Humility. When asked which was the second, he said, Humility. And when asked which was the third, he again answered, Humility. So important was this grace in his estimation, that he regarded it as the beginning, the middle, and the end of true godliness. And we may truly say that where humility is absent, everything else in religion, is in vain. A person may possess the most splendid talents--he may have the gift of miracles, and the knowledge of all mysteries--but without true humility he is, in the sight of God, nothing but sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5

I will conclude this mini-series on forgiveness with today’s post. I hope that you have been challenged again by this vital truth. (I  certainly have.) Because believers have been forgiven by God in Christ, they are  to forgive others. I have reiterated time and again that this is a work that must be accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not possess the natural, inherent ability to forgive in this manner.

    Now I want to consider this idea from the standpoint of  loving others. It cannot be any clearer in our previous texts that we are  commanded to forgive others. It is God’s will and given in the form of  imperatives in the New Testament. Therefore, this short consideration today will  add no new force to the discussion, but it will simply view it from another  angle.

    It cannot be doubted from a contextual consideration or  from common sense that there is to be a distinction in how we love other people.  In other words, my love for a spouse will be different from my love for a church  member that I know. That is obvious. Therefore, to say we are to love others  doesn’t mean that we love everyone in the exact same manner and  degree.

    With that in mind, we also cannot deny or ignore Jesus’ commands to love our enemies. Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, and Luke 6:35 all state that believers are to love their enemies. This does not and will not call for me to love those enemies, in complete identical fashion, the same way I love my true brothers and sisters in Christ.  

      Nevertheless, we are called to love those that do not act lovingly toward us. In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus tells us to love those that treat us harshly and persecute us. We
are NOT to be kind only to those that treat us kindly. That is the way the world acts. 

     Instead, we are to emulate our Father in heaven. He provides rain on the just and unjust, as well as kindness to the grateful and ungrateful. We are to resemble the One
who loves us and gave Himself for us. 

      Without going into a survey of numerous passages, let’s simply “cut to the chase” and look at the most well known text on love. It is 1 Corinthians 13. We will narrow our focus
even more and highlight verses 4-6.

     “Love is patient, love is kind is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into
account a wrong suffered.” (NASB)

     While that passage is abundantly rich in content, notice the last phrase, “love…does not take into account a wrong suffered.” That is, love does not keep a ledger marking down all of the instances of mistreatment and wrongs suffered. Love seeks to forgive and
cover any record of the offense. Love doesn’t write in permanent marker, but seeks to use permanent “white out.”

     Years ago I spoke on this text during a Valentine’s Banquet. One of my favorite people in the church, a senior gentleman of approximately 90, shook my hand as he left and claimed he needed to go “do some bookkeeping.” He was going to cancel some accounts.

     Jesus told us to love those who do not treat us in a loving manner. As a matter of fact, they aren’t indifferent to us; they mistreat us, abuse us, persecute us, and are unkind. We
are not called to be victims or punching bags. We are not to respond in harshness or unkindness or fury.

     We are called to love them. We are to be patient, recognizing that they are children of Satan and blinded concerning the depths of their spiritual depravity. We don’t act arrogantly, but we display humility and gentleness. We do not seek and pursue our own fame, place of honor, preeminence, etc., but we consider that God’s grace has made us
what we are. God’s glory is to be our pursuit. 

     We don’t record wrongs done to us and then maintain that “Ledger of Bitterness.” Love erases that debt and releases the person from any consideration of retribution. 

    Do you have any bookkeeping that calls for your attention?

    May God give us grace upon grace to consistently and faithfully use our erasers and white-out. God erased our sins and blotted them out. How can we refuse to honor and obey Him by doing the same?

Fear not!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Secret Place" 1907)

I have many agitations and misgivings. But when heart and flesh faint and fail, my Lord has three whispers for me that banish fear and alarm.

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you!" Isaiah 43:1 
My PAST brings me trouble . . . 
  the sins I have committed, 
  the duties I have neglected, 
  the guilt I am chargeable with, 
  the penalty I merit--
these make the retrospect of my days and years sad in the extreme. 
I have wrecked my own life. 
I have injured others. 
I have sinned against God. 
Sometimes I am overwhelmed by self-contempt. 

But there is redemption--there is forgiveness. God concerns Himself with the locust-eaten yesterday. He forgives it through the might of Christ's Cross. He may transmute my very sins and errors and falls into means of grace--as nature can convert the battlefield that was strewn with the dead, into the greenest of pastures. He redeems me from my past!

"Fear not, for I am with you!" Isaiah 41:10 
My PRESENT stirs in me great disquietude. 
Apart from my Savior, I am still . . .
  as weak as water before temptation,
  an easy prey to the enemy,
  the willing servant of sin. 
But then God remains with me, to preserve . . .
  my soul from death and 
  my feet from falling and 
  my eyes from tears. 
By His providence, His Gospel, His Spirit--He sanctifies and makes me holy. 

I know not which to marvel at more: His suffering for me on the cruel Tree--or His long-suffering with me always.

"Fear not, I will help you!" Isaiah 41:13 
The FUTURE has its distresses. 
Peering ahead, what do I see? 
Many perplexities, 
many trials and afflictions, 
much weariness and struggle. 
But my Lord will go before me.
As feeble as I am in myself, I shall be more than a conqueror over all the contingencies of the future, when the Lord helps and strengthens me.

To His thrice-repeated "Fear not!" 
I reply, "I will not fear, for . . .
  You have redeemed me,
  You are with me, and
  You will help me!"

We will continue our look at the topic of Forgiveness today by considering a well known passage to many Christians. It is one that needs to be revisited on a regular basis because of the importance of forgiveness. The impact of this passage never loses its force.

     In Matthew 18:21-22 we read, “Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” 

     Much has been said about this passage, so I won’t belabor the point here. Notice that Peter asked a question in order to get some kind of working model for forgiving others and, by implication, legitimately holding a grudge. He asked about extending forgiveness up to seven times. (Yesterday we saw that Jesus specified the number of times for forgiving someone in the same day at 7. We don’t know for sure, but Peter may have been asking after that occurrence.) 

     Jesus blows away Peter’s suggestion of seven times. Jesus says not up to seven times, but it is to be 70 times 7. In other words, your forgiveness isn’t to be limited. Again Peter (and us by extension) wasn’t to keep a ledger in order to ensure that he could track the exact number of times that he extended forgiveness. The use of 70 x 7 was hyperbole. It was to tell Peter that forgiveness of others by Christians is limitless.

     Jesus then told a parable to further illustrate this idea. I won’t get bogged down with all of the symbolism and details at this time. However, we will notice the high points. 

     The King forgave his servant a debt that could never be repaid. He did not give him more time; he gave him liberty from the debt. It was canceled, not extended.

     That forgiven servant went and found a fellow servant that owed him a debt thatcould be paid back. When that servant begged for more time, the forgiven servant refused and threw the indebted servant in prison. He was not willing to extend forgiveness to a fellow servant although he had received forgiveness from the King. When other fellow servants witnessed this tragedy, they informed the King. The King confronted the first servant and chastised him for his hard heart and unwillingness to forgive others the way he had been forgiven. The King directly said that he should forgive in the same manner that he had been forgiven.

     Because he had refused to extend forgiveness and mercy, the King threw this servant in prison to pay the debt that was owed him. Jesus then says that His heavenly Father will do to all of those (Christians) who do not forgive others in the same manner. (Verses 23-35)

     It isn’t hard to see the main point of this parable. We are to forgive others in the same manner in which we have been forgiven. God has freely and completely forgiven us in Christ in spite of the fact that He was completely justified in sending us to eternal condemnation. Our sin is an attack on His holy character and revealed will. We sought to supplant Him as King and establish ourselves as king. We wanted to control our own lives and establish our own destiny. We were rebels by nature and deserving of complete rejection by God.

     Nevertheless, because of God’s gracious and rich mercy (Eph. 2:4), He loved us and gave Christ to be the sin-Bearer for all of the sins of all of His people. He forgave us in spite of us and what we deserved. He cleansed us, redeemed us, and adopted us into His family. He calls us His children and upholds us by His mighty power. He maintains our inheritance and nothing can snatch us out of His hands. He is preparing an eternal and joyous abode for us and has promised to come back for us. All of this is because of His grace. He is not giving us what we deserve.

     How can we, forgiven by God’s free grace in Christ, legitimately tell God that we refuse to forgive others? He, being the eternal, Self-existent, sovereign, and all-powerful King of creation, has completely forgiven us, but we are going to object to forgiving our fellow creatures? When fellow sinners sin against us, we desire to maintain a grudge, but we beg a holy God to forgive us. Is the disparity coming through clearly enough?

     Our problem, even as Christians, is that we are still wrestling with our selfishness. Only selfishness and pride refuse to extend the forgiveness it has received. We are so blind that we think a sinner’s debt to us is greater than our debt to an infinitely holy God. God help us!

     If you have been forgiven the penalty of your sins by God because of your sole trust in Jesus Christ alone, you have no choice but to extend free forgiveness to others. It does not matter in the slightest degree how they have hurt you or what they failed to do for you. Your and I are obligated to forgive the person and release them from the debt.

     I will not pretend that it is easy or simply a matter or the will. It is hard and emotionally taxing most of the time. This is why we must ask God for the grace to wipe the debts of others clean in the same manner that He has taken away our debt. We ask God to renew our minds to this truth and keep us from falling back into the sinful and selfish patterns from which we have been liberated.

     May we ask God for this grace for His glory alone!