John 8:1-11, Forgiveness vs. rejection (3)

We are continuing our Bible Study on forgiveness.

b)    Forgiveness is not easy for humans.

i)      What is the natural human response when others offend us, a response that must be avoided?  Do not say, ‘I will recompense evil’; wait for the LORD and He will save you (Pr. 20:22).  One of the standard Hollywood storylines has the hero taking revenge on the villain.  Everybody rejoices!  Actually, if we are referencing Hollywood (why would we?), it’s the line from Inigo Montoya after avenging his father’s death: “Is very strange. I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life.”  The “revenge business” in the Bible is called “bitterness” (Heb. 12:14-15).

ii)   In light of this, what fruit of the Spirit must be evident to make forgiveness possible?  Probably you could make a case for all the “fruit of the Spirit” being essential for forgiveness.  But Prov. 19:11 points out the need for patience or longsuffering: The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression. 

c)    Forgiveness of others is possible because God has set the pattern for us.

i)      Who is our pattern?  Of course, it is God in Christ! 

(1)  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you (Eph. 4:32).  This passage reminds us that forgiveness is an act of kindness, not just the legal transaction of pardoning someone.  If it’s just a legality we may get hung up on whether or not the other person has performed their legal requirement.  But if it is kindness, then our “requirement” is to be tenderhearted (compassionate), not legal.

(2) Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do (Col. 3:13).  In this passage I like to note how we are to forgive if we have a complaint against someone.  It doesn’t say anything about whether it’s a valid complaint or not.  We may have the idea that if we don’t say something to this person about our complaint that we have not done the best thing to help them.  We feel we must say something.  But you may not be aware that there is a lot of wisdom in saying nothing.  Re-read Prov. 19:11 above: it is a man’s glory to overlook a transgression.  Quite often, by the time we have expressed our complaint to someone and then said we forgive them, we have said enough to them to destroyed our relationship with them.  If we have no tender heart it’s hard to be used in their lives.  Again, re-read the definition of “forgiveness” from a couple days ago.