Great question. I would say that forgiving others is more than just the right thing to do. We are to forgive others because CHRIST forgave us. We are to forgive others because we are commanded to in scripture and it is in line with the heart of GOD. So I don’t minimize forgiving others at all, the point of the sermon is that we are to be like the FATHER and forgive others the way HE forgave us. So forgiving others is big time. But we don’t forgive others to earn anything, but we forgive others because we have already been forgiven.
Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
The Matthew verse above certainly challenges my assertion that "works" (like forgiving others) are insignificant and worthless when it comes to being right with GOD. I would submit that there are hundreds of new testament verses, such as: Titus 3:5, I Peter 1:3, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 1:12, John 5:24, Galatians 2:16, and I Peter 2:9-10 that assert salvation is by GRACE ALONE, through Faith Alone, in CHRIST alone. We could never earn our salvation our ever be good enough. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOD (Romans 3:23). For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourself (Ephesians 2:8-9).
So what about the Matthew verses, that I have to forgive to be forgiven. These verses in Matthew speak to the heart of the believer. True believers are willing to forgive others and this is one evidence of their salvation. So a willingness to forgive others reveals to a watching world that I am GOD's. Only believers consistently do this because CHRIST has forgiven them. Also, forgiveness is an unnatural act, only believers empowered by the SPIRIT of GOD can forgive with a pure motive for GOD'S glory. So followers of CHRIST forgive others because they have been forgiven, not to earn forgiveness. So believers do what JESUS said, they forgive others and this proves their true heart. Unbelievers don’t forgive others in the same way, and this proves their true heart. So these acts do not determine anything but reveal everything.
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2010-02-22 12:26:50
My alarm clock doesn’t love me. At least I think it doesn’t. Sometimes I can’t be too sure. I love to sleep as much as anyone else. There is something indescribably comforting about the warm embrace of sheets and a bedspread on a cold, crisp morning, when it’s so early the sun is still sleeping. But sometimes my life requires that I be up at some obscenely early hour (by obscenely early, I mean any time before 10am) to fulfill some duty, obligation or other task with a crazy person who obviously doesn’t understand the concept of early, and evidences his confusion by scheduling something with me at 6:15am. There are times when I really hate the idea of waking up unnaturally early, but because I know I must, I use an alarm clock.
When I set my alarm for 5:45 to give myself enough time to wake up and look presentable for whatever the thing is I have to do, I don’t really want to be up at that time. The only thing I want less than being up at that time is not being up at that time. It’s one of the worst feelings in the world to miss an early class or an early meeting with someone because I overslept. You get that overwhelming sense of guilt and the feeling like, “I am the worst…” It’s terrible.
My alarm clock doesn’t allow that to happen to me. My alarm clock always does what’s best at the time (no pun intended), regardless of the consequences. I might feel like sleeping in, but deep down inside I know I need to wake up. My alarm clock always tries to wake me up, without fail. It is faithful. It is persistent. It is punctual. Yes, it’s loud and annoying, but we’ve all got that loud, annoying friend who doesn’t seem to realize how loud and annoying she can be, and we still love her anyway. In fact, it almost makes her even more endearing to us. The same is true with the alarm clock. If its sound were more placid, I wouldn’t hold it in the same regard I do now. And no hour is too early for my alarm clock. No matter what time I need to get to the airport or the gym or that early morning class, my alarm is up for the task. It is faithful in performing its task. It is reliable. It prevents my embarrassment. It helps me start my day off right. My alarm definitely seems to have my best interest in mind.
My alarm clock does seem to always be acting on behalf of me and my needs, but I am convinced it does not love me. My first clue to its lack of affection for me is that it’s inanimate. The alarm doesn’t really care about me, does it? It’s just doing what I’ve commanded it to do. In fact, if I didn’t take the time to set the alarm on my phone, it wouldn’t go off in the morning, no matter how much I need to wake up this particular time. Also (and this one really is the worst) if I forget to turn the alarm off on those mornings I finally get to sleep in, it doesn’t realize my error and allow me to rest happily. No, if it’s set to go it jars me into consciousness regardless of my empty morning schedule and dire need for a little more sleep. All the alarm does is what I tell it to do, and it does so with complete objectivity, totally barren of feelings for me.
Sometimes I feel that in my relationship with God, I’m the alarm clock. God gives me these commands to follow… love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality… all really good stuff; divine, in fact. But when I read Romans chapter 12 and it tells me to do all these good things, am I acting like my alarm clock and just doing what I am told? Not to mention, I would be a lousy alarm clock because I definitely don’t do these things perfectly all the time. God cares much less about the tasks I perform than the motive behind all of the things I do.
God presents me with commandments in His Word and He tells me to follow them. Isn’t it good enough when I obey His words just like He commanded? It’s obvious that if I don’t even care to do what God tells me, I don’t love Him. So isn’t it fair to think that if I am doing what God gives me to do, that must be evidence that I do love him? Every morning my alarm clock reminds me that this is not the case. My alarm cares not about me, only about the task, only about its behavior. My alarm clock has this noble work placed in front of it for it to do, and when it faithfully performs, it is to my benefit, but it does not do so out of love. It might act out of obligation, habit, routine, fear of being returned to the manufacturer, because it just feels right to go off at the scheduled time. Its function might even be just simple programming without any further thought, but it does not act out of love for me.
I need to remind myself that whereas it is important for me to be faithful to follow God’s commands, and it is important to do the good works God has prepared in advance for me to do, the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6). My life can look like an alarm clock where I’m doing the right thing most of the time, but if acting simply to do my job as a Christian well, I am missing the point. Alarm clocks don’t love, no matter how timely, efficient and beneficial they are. My life can’t be measured by its timeliness, by its habitual efficiency, by its ultimate benefit to others, or by how closely I follow the commands of the Bible. Every morning when I hear my alarm clock faithfully and rigidly but lovelessly jar me out of my comfortable slumber, I pray it reminds me that my daily performance counts for nothing if it’s done without love. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Post by: David Mills
2010-02-10 18:28:21
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