Forgiveness and Restoration

August 10, 2014 Background Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:23 – 2:17 Lesson Passage: 2 Corinthians 1:23 – 2:11 We readily receive forgiveness with heartfelt gratitude. We are in such awe of the grace of forgiveness when received that it triggers deep within us a spontaneous worship of the forgiver. On the contrary, it seems to take an effort of enormous proportion within us to extend forgiveness to others. When we have been hurt and offended by someone, we desire that they be punished beyond that which is due so that they will never cause such an offense to occur again. We want them to feel pain that will generate within them sincere empathy. We want them to feel our pain and do so until we relieve them of it. It is amazing that we can have such opposite desires and emotions depending on which side of the forgiveness we find ourselves on. One of the requests the Apostle Paul made of the church at Corinth was for them to accept back into their fellowship a person who had deeply offended them. Previously, Paul had advised the church to dismiss the person from their congregation. Now, Paul had been informed of the person’s repentance therefore he wrote concerning the need for restoration. In this world of wins and losses, it is sometimes difficult to comprehend situations where everyone loses. An attitude that will not embrace forgivingness is such a situation. No one wins when unforgiving attitudes reign. Forgiveness is the lone condition Jesus placed in the Model Prayer. Mankind was the first offender and God was the first to be offended. God’s act of grace towards humanity is the model that everyone who comes to know Jesus as Savior and Lord should seek to emulate. We love God because God first loved us. Likewise, we should forgive others because God first forgave us. This is the essence of the Model Prayer’s one condition. Paul instructed the Corinthian church that what the person had suffered was sufficient to bring forth repentance from the person and the church’s response to this ought to be forgiveness. This is more than lip service. The Greek word Paul employed is translated in other places in the New Testament as “grace”. Paul was literally asking the church to “grace” the repentant man. No doubt this should have caused the believers to recall their own salvation by the grace of God who forgives sin. Paul described forgiveness as though it is the litmus test of obedience in the faith. Paul said that the church’s act of forgiveness would determine if they would be obedient in all things. If we walk in disobedience in anything, Satan has the opportunity to trip us up. Satan constantly explore for weaknesses in Christians. Once he finds it, he will leverage it against us to exploit us for his own evil purpose. We defeat him when we follow after righteousness by adhering to the instructions of God. Too often we place a different price on forgiveness—or grace—depending on whether we are receiving or giving. But grace, which comes from God, has the same value in both directions. Grace brings forgiveness and restoration. Robert C. Hudson July 31, 2014