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God's View:
Rev. 2:4
; Eph. 4:32
; Matt. 18:23-35
; Matt. 5:23-24
;
Lev. 4:20
- A lively sense of having been forgiven is essential
to vital christian devotion. Without it, one easily leaves his
'first love', and will tend to lack the forgiving attitude toward
others that is essential to proper christian living. Christian's
obligation to forgive is obvious. We are indebted to God to forgive
others as we have been forgiven. Just as Jesus paid the penalty
for my guilt, so has He for the person who has offended me.
Not to forgive is to make your standards higher than God.
Hope:
Jere. 50:20
; Ps. 103:12
; Lu. 23:34
; Matt. 26:28
;
Ps. 51
- The result of forgiveness is freedom from liability. All
remembrances, traces of liability are gone. The forgiven person
has a brand new record - freed completely from the past: "The price
is paid, I don't have to pay or have others indebted to me".