Word from God: Forgiveness

Follower of Yeshua,

Aloha, again!

We recently watched the testimonies of two people (Daniel Ekechukwu and Angelica Zambrano) who allegedly died, were shown both heaven and hell and then came back to life to tell about their experiences. Both of these testimonies gave examples of how God denied eternal life to individuals who refused to forgive others. Thus, we thought that an understanding of what God’s Word has to say about forgiveness is important.

Forgiveness

Adonai Yeshua said, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,” Matthew 6:14-15, NKJV, and, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven,” Luke 6:37, NKJV.

Thus, in order for us to obtain God’s forgiveness, we must forgive each and every one of those who have done wrong to us. (Beyond that, in order to have any intimate human relationship, we must forgive, since we all “mess up.”)

Contradictions?

At first glance, the Bible may seem to contain numerous contradictions. For example, Yeshua did everything that is necessary for us to be restored to God — that is for each of us to receive eternal life (e.g., John 3:14-21, John 5:39-40, John 6:47-48, John 17:3, Romans 10:9-11, Titus 3:4-7) instead of the eternal punishment that we deserve (e.g., Romans 6:23). However, it also states that if we do not forgive those who have wronged us, God will not forgive us (see above). So, does that mean that we have to do something in order to earn our salvation, thus implying that Yeshua did not do everything that is necessary for us to receive God’s gift of eternal life?

It is paramount to understand that the entire Bible is true. Thus, any apparent contradictions are just that: apparent and not actual. Thus, it is true that Yeshua did everything that is required for us to be saved. He paid the price for all of our sins. Without His sacrifice, we would die in our sins.

However, someone who truly accepts Yeshua as his or her adonai (that is lord, master, etc.) will surely come to realizes the extent of the sacrifice that Yeshua gave in order to set him or her free from the penalty of sin, which is eternal death. Thus, someone who truly relies upon Yeshua to save him or her will not both receive God’s unimaginable forgiveness and refuse to provide forgiveness to another (e.g., Matthew 18:21-35).

Some Teachings on Forgiveness

Some Helpful Teachings About Marriage

Have a great weekend.

God bless, and Shabbat shalom,

Darwin and Ani