2002-10-02
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I am led to continue writing about how God has instructed us to prepare to witness to our faith in Him. The issue of forgiveness has a huge impact on the lives of people. Just consider how we might react, if we thought there was no way to be forgiven for anything we do deemed wrong. A child with this attitude loses his incentive to try to improve on his bad behavior. He takes the attitude, "I may as well go on doing what I want to do, because I have nothing more to lose." Hardened criminals take on this same attitude when faced with these circumstances. On the other hand, if we feel that forgiveness is cheap, then we would also continue the wrongful behavior. I'm reminded of the person who commits a sin, goes to confession, is absolved of the sin, and goes on to repeat it in a continuous cycle. So, what does have the effect of changing wrongful behavior in mankind? The kind of forgiveness available to a person from God. That kind involves taking responsibility for one's behavior, confessing it, repenting of it, and professing real faith in the One and Only Person Who was capable of providing real forgiveness for sin.
2 COR 2: 5-8 deals with forgiveness for the offender. "Now, if anyone has made somebody sad, he has not done it to me but to all of you-in part, at least (I say this because I do not want to be too hard on him.) It is enough that this person has been punished in this way by most of you. Now, however, you should forgive him and encourage him, in order to keep him from becoming so sad as to give up completely. And so I beg you to let him know that you really do love him." When we look at this, we are seeing an underlying group responsibility within the Body of Christ because of the supernatural bond that God established between its members. That kind of responsibility is not seen or sensed outside of it. The love which links each believer together with God and with other believers is real and not imagined. Correction encouraged by God of the offender is exactly that, correction without the intent of bringing destruction. We saw this kind of correction meted out by God in the two dyasporas (scattering and temporary loss of Israel's nationhood in response to idolatry practiced by the Jews). The proof that God had pre-established the length of the time for Israel's punishment is seen in JER 25: 11 and DN 9: 24-27. The proof that this punishment was never intended to destroy Israel, but instead, to correct her behavior and eventually lead her to prosperity is seen in JER 29: 11-13. I bring this example about Israel up, so that we can see a template for righteous correction of an offender that should be used on a personal basis as well as national and congregational ones.
The question comes up: Why is it so important that we correct and forgive in love as God does? As Paul goes on in the 2 COR 2: 5-11 passage we are examining, we can see comments that don't place emphasis on his self-importance, but instead, in Christ's leadership and revealing why this is so important. 2 COR 2: 10-11, "When you forgive someone for what he has done, I forgive him too. For when I forgive-if, indeed, I need to forgive anything-I do it in Christ's presence because of you, in order to keep Satan from getting he upper hand over us; for we know what his plans are." Paul is gently reminding the Corinithian believers that God knows everything that is in one's heart. If they were to do anything not in keeping with what Christ teaches, they will confront it on the last day of judgment. Equally important to that, Paul is reminding them of the real danger to be averted-that Satan might get the upper hand and begin establishing a stronghold in the people involved.
As parents, Peter and I had to confront the issue of correcting my son's bad behavior on occasion. We took the attitude once Hilary was around eleven, that we would have to allow him to face the natural consequences of his mistakes with the understanding that we would intervene if they ever became illegal, immoral, or unsafe. It was hard to do, just as I'm sure it was painful for God to allow Israel to be temporarily under the control of her captors. Once the consequence had happened, we would sit down with Hilary and ask him to tell us what the various choices he could have exercised in the situation were and what he thought was a reasonable punishment for making the wrong choice. This approach took some interesting turns. Hilary's ideas for punishments were almost always more harsh than we would have chosen. However, the real objective of taking this approach was to force Hilary to learn to analyze his options, eventually with the hope that he would do this before making his decision what he would do when tempted to misbehave. We took a lesson from God. The punishment is not to cause Hilary to give up and not care what he does. Instead, it was to teach him how to behave in the future. We always stressed the question: How would your choice impact not only you but the people around you? It's a tough question, but it needed to be asked. Today we must each learn to examine our lives, asking that kind of question.
PRAYER: O Lord, when we read Your word, You bring us to examine often painful issues in our lives. As 1 PET 5: 8 tells us, "Be on the alert! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." We are vulnerable to his attack when we allow ourselves to be tempted by his efforts to allure us into uncontrolled, destructive anger, refusal to correct wrongful behavior, refusal to take responsibility for our own thoughts and actions, and the holding of grudges. He lurks, waiting for the person wracked with illness or loss to give in to his pain. He waits for the opportunity to get the upper hand when an offender needs correcting, and we are tempted not to allow Christ to be in leadership in carrying out the punishment. Most of all, Satan loves it when we refuse to be forgiving. You inspired Paul to tell us in EPH 4: 32, "Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgiven one another as God has forgiven you." Those last few words really give Your perspective, the one we should accept, on the issue of forgiveness. We understand that there are some heinous offenses which require very severe punishment-things like rape and murder, for example. However, we place our trust in Your ultimate justice and take our direction from You in all circumstances. PS 75: 1-7, "We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks to You! We proclaim how great You are and tell of the wonderful things You have done. 'I have set a time for judgment,' says God, 'and I will judge with fairness. Though every living creature tremble and the earth itself be shaken, I will keep its foundations form. I tell the wicked not to be arrogant; I tell them to stop their boasting.' Judgment does not come from the east or from the west, from the north or from the south. It is God Who is the Judge, condemning some and acquitting others." When we take direction from You, Dearest Abba, then nothing we do in correcting the behavior of an offender and offering him forgiveness will interfere with Your righteous and sovereign right to be the final Judge. We humbly offer our confession of sin and our heartfelt worship, adoration, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
God has more to say to us about forgiveness, so that will be the subject of tomorrow's message. Our Lord loves us so much that when He created us, He gave us the ability to think first before giving in to Satan's deception and temptation. That behavior doesn't come natural to us. It's often difficult, and God knows this. But, out of His love for us, He did give us the ability to think first about our decisions and the actions we take. As we mature, hopefully, we learn from Him to become less self-centered. That causes us to ask what the consequences to our behavior are on others around us, as well as on ourselves. The devil is scotched when we learn to ask such a question before we take action. Another question to ask, one which I believe our loving Deity gave us, is "What would Jesus do?" As trite as that sounds, it can, when asked before action is taken, stop the devil in his tracks. Christ has given us a new commandment in JN 13: 34-35 that we must not ignore. All around us we find evidence for how what we learn from God, Who loves each of us so much, helps us to solve awful problems and move forward in our sanctification. Bask in the warm glow of that love and be reminded that it's available 24/7. Hallelujah! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn