Forgiveness

  • The Revelation

    Genesis 45

    We often long for things to be “just as they were before [fill in the blank] happened” in our relationships with other people. If we are the main offending party, however, we cannot realistically expect this to happen if our ...Read More

  • Our Pattern for Holiness

    Leviticus 19:1–2

    We are often tempted to trivialize God’s demand for holiness and instead look to somebody or something other than God as the standard by which we measure ourselves. Remember, though, that the Lord has pronounced judgment on His image ...Read More

  • Bearing Our Iniquity

    Isaiah 52:13–53:12

    Though the costs we incur to forgive are real, they by no means approach the high price Jesus had to pay to extend His grace to us. We should therefore forgive others willingly, refusing to hold the full cost of ...Read More

  • Adam and Israel

    Hosea 6

    God was exceedingly gracious when He did not utterly destroy Israel or Adam when they sinned but preserved them so that His original purpose for them might one day be fulfilled. Today God is gracious to us when He freely ...Read More

  • Entering into Mystical Union

    Thank God for your salvation, His righteousness, and His atonement for your sins.Read More

  • Conforming to God’s Holiness

    Pray this prayer: “Cleanse me Lord. Purge my sin and remove it from me. Cover my moral nakedness.” Read More

  • Unlimited Forgiveness

    Matthew 18:21–35

    It is not as if unforgiving people lose their salvation, Matthew Henry says, for “those who do not forgive their brother’s trespasses, did never truly repent of their own, and therefore that which is taken away is only what ...Read More

  • Redemptive Discipline

    Matthew 18:15–17

    In excommunication, Dr. John MacArthur writes, “the idea is not merely to punish the offender, or to shun him completely, but to remove him as a detrimental influence from the fellowship of the church, and then to regard him as ...Read More

  • Christ’s Divine Authority

    Matthew 9:1–8

    Some theological traditions tend to pursue physical healing as if it is the ultimate need of human beings. Yet while it is good to ask the Lord to heal us when we are ill, we fundamentally need our sins to ...Read More

  • The Disciples’ Prayer

    Matthew 6:9–15

    Lack of forgiveness, we learn in today’s passage, may prove a lack of faith. No matter how hard it may be to forgive others, we simply cannot call ourselves followers of Christ if we do not forgive those who ...Read More

  • Forgiveness Mandated

    Colossians 3:12–13

    “I can never forgive him” is commonly found on the lips of those who have been sinned against, especially when the violation is heinous. Some of us may feel like we can never pardon a particular individual even if we ...Read More

  • Guilt and Guilt Feelings

    Psalm 51

    Whether we feel guilty or not, all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Take time today to repent of your sin and acknowledge this truth. Then pray that your feelings of ...Read More

  • Talking and Weeping

    Genesis 45:9-15

    Joseph’s weeping in today’s passage shows how he longed once again to experience fellowship with those who wronged him. One of the marks of sanctification is that we long for broken relationships to be restored, and so we ...Read More

  • Joseph Reveals Himself

    Genesis 45:1-3

    Forgiveness is not optional for the Christian. In fact, one of the assumptions of the Lord’s Prayer is that we must be forgiving people if we would dare to ask our Father in heaven to forgive us (Luke 11 ...Read More

  • Grace and Forgiveness

    Genesis 1:27

    When Paul exhorts women to train women, and by implication, men to train men (Tit. 2:1–8), he is not speaking of doctrinal matters as if they are unconnected from everyday life. God wants godly men to teach and ...Read More