Matthew 18:32-33 “Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. (33) Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'”
As revealed by the Lord Jesus in the above quoted parable, there can be no doubt that heaven does not view unforgiveness favourably. So now that we have looked at how forgiveness operates, we can more clearly understand how believers fall into the snare of unforgiveness. With regards to unbelievers, the trap is very obvious. Whenever the believer chooses not to forgive unbelievers for whatever reason, the believer becomes ensnared in the sin of unforgiveness. With regards to believers, there are two avenues where the saint can become ensnared in unforgiveness. The first occurs when one brother sins against another brother, and the sinning brother then repents and asks forgiveness for the offence that they caused. If that believer refuses to forgive the offender for whatever reason, that believer then becomes caught in the trap of unforgiveness. The second occurs when one brother sins against another brother, and the offended brother does not confront that person i.e. bring it to the person’s attention, and in fact that person may be completely unaware of the offence that they caused. If in that instance, the believer chooses not to forgive the offender then the offended believer falls into the trap of unforgiveness. This particular trap is very common and also one that is very sad indeed, because the offended believer is now suffering the consequences of unforgiveness, on top of the wrong that they suffered in the first place.
Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (15) But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
The definition of sin is being disobedient to the Lord’s commandments. We have clearly seen in this teaching that the Lord requires us to forgive, and so the believer that chooses to walk in unforgiveness, ultimately chooses to walk in sin. Unforgiveness is a unique sin however, in that it carries with it certain consequences that other types of sin do not carry. All sin is to be avoided, as all sin carries negative consequences for the believer. But for the sake of this teaching we will concentrate on the specific sin of unforgiveness. There are three major consequences to the sin of unforgiveness. The first is that unforgiveness prevents the believer from receiving forgiveness for their own sin. In the above quoted passage of scripture Jesus makes it very plain that in order for us to receive forgiveness from God our Father for our trespasses, the pre-requisite is for us to forgive men their trespasses against us. If we choose not to forgive men their trespasses, then we are wasting our time asking God to forgive our trespasses, because He has already told us that He will not do it. But I want you to notice that unforgiveness precludes the believer from receiving forgiveness for all of their sin that they have committed. The scripture clearly states that if we refuse to forgive men their trespasses, that God will not forgive us our trespasses (plural). In other words, we cannot expect to go to God and confess our sins, except the sin of unforgiveness, and expect God to be faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We will leave the same way we came. Our sins will not be forgiven, and we will not be cleansed from our unrighteousness.
Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Because of unforgiven sin in the believer’s life, there are many negative consequences. One of the negative consequences is that their fellowship with God is affected. That does not mean that God has forsaken the believer whose sins are not forgiven, because as the above quoted passage of scripture plainly states, He will never leave us or forsake us.
1 John 1:3-6 “that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. (4) And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. (5) This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (6) If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
What it does mean however, is that although the Lord is still ever present in our lives, we will not experience the intimate relationship with Him that He intended for us to enjoy. The Lord will seem distant to the believer whose sins are unforgiven, i.e. we will not enjoy fellowship with the Lord. When believers walk in sin they walk in darkness, and the scripture quoted above reveals to us that those who walk in darkness have no fellowship with the Lord.
Michael E.B. Maher
コメント