To Forgive is From Jesus (Mark 11:22-25)
Gary McManus, 06/14/2015Part of the New Life series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
To Forgive is from Jesus
New life in Jesus Christ. Easter means new life for us.
New life may not be obvious to us.
It is much more than stopping wrong-doing.
We not only turn away from doing wrong but we
continue on a path of living to please God.
(1 Thessalonians 4:1)
There is more misunderstanding
concerning forgiveness than almost anything else.
Many people, including Christians,
do not really know what forgiveness is.
FORGIVENESS is NOT
RECONCILIATION (reconciling; Matthew 5:24) and it is NOT
FORGETTING and it is NOT
EXCUSING
“To err is human, to forgive, divine.”
That is NOT in the Bible, although it IS true.
The phrase “forgive and forget” . . .
ALSO NOT in the Bible.
Forgiveness is mentioned in the
New Testament over sixty times!
Believers know to do it but often don’t want to.
Forgivensss means releasing the offender
from any obligation. Forgiveness is saying there
will be no penalty, no payback.
See Pastor Craig Groeshel’s book,
The Christian Atheist.
Craig Groeshel got on a pathway of
forgiveness by being willing to forgive.
He didn’t forgive at that point. He just
asked the Lord to help him with it.
Then Pastor Craig prayed for his enemy.
Please notice how much time it took.
Notice that it was Jesus working in Craig.
Forgiveness is something that the LORD works in us.
Notice that forgiveness lifted a weight from him
Kerri found the power to forgive her father.
All things are possible with God.
(Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27)
With us—we human beings, there is much
that is impossible. Forgiveness for example is
often impossible.
Kerri Rawson is the daughter of the serial
killer known as the BTK killer who was active
over seventeen years.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/
when-your-father-is-the-btk-serial-killer
-forgiveness-is-not-tidy/ar-BBihn78?ocid=mailsignout
OR just search for “Kerri Rawson forgiveness.”
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