“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matt. 6:14 NIV)

There are many examples of forgiveness in both the old and new testaments, here are a few.

Old Testament: Esau forgave his brother Jacob, who had taken his birthright. Joseph forgave his ten brothers who had sold him into slavery. (Gen. 50:19)

New Testament: Steven, the first martyr, forgave those who were stoning him (Acts 7:60). The father of the prodigal son forgave him. (Luke 15:11-32)

Our Example

The most extraordinary example of forgiveness is from Jesus, Himself, who from the cross cried out, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do!” (Luke 23:34 KJV)

Not easy but correct 

It can be very difficult sometimes to forgive those who have wronged you, but it is always the right thing to do. Our example is God himself. We are to be merciful to others as He is to us!

Therefore…

“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36 ESV)

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph. 4:32 ESV)

“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25 ESV)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NKJV)

When You confess your sins to God, He forgives and forgets them and cleanses you completely from all unrighteousness! That means you are made completely clean and righteous in His sight!

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:22-24 NIV)

God has the ability to totally forget and to remember your sins no more! 

And, your sins will never be brought up against you again! And, why does God do this wonderful thing for you?

The Bible says that He does it for His own sake! 

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25 NIV)

How far does he blot out your sins? 

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalms 103:12 NIV)

Notice that the above passage says that God has removed them as far as the “east from the west” and not as far as the “north from the south”. That’s because “east from west” is immeasurable, but “north from south” is measurable! God’s amazing forgiveness is without measure!

Therefore…

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:13-14 ESV)

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (Eph. 1:7 ESV)

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isa. 1:18 ESV)

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“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.” (Eph. 1:7-8)

When I was living in California in the 1950’s, my dad bought a three bedroom house on two acres of land for five-thousand dollars! That was a lot of money for a house back then! But not so much money now. That same place would be worth over a million dollars in today's California housing market. When Susan and I bought our brand new three bedroom home in Washington State in 1971, we paid seventeen-thousand dollars for it. We sold it twelve years later for forty-five thousand. We then bought our present home for fifty-five thousand dollars. We recently had it appraised and it's now worth about four-hundred-fifty thousand dollars!

It amazes me how much prices have changed over the years! Not only houses, but everything else!

The riches of God’s grace - priceless!

Prices of things often fluctuate. They go up and they go down. But, one thing that will never change is “the riches of God’s grace,” (Eph. 1:7). Its value is priceless because it is paid for by the shed blood of God’s Son, Jesus Christ! There is nothing in existence, or has ever existed, more valuable, more precious! And to think, “He made it abound to us in all wisdom and prudence.” (Eph. 1:8).

Think what this means to you!!

No matter what you may have done, “The riches of His grace” has it covered! His grace towards you is above and beyond and it more than covers any possible need!

Exceeding riches of grace!

• “That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:7)

• His grace is more than abundant!

  “And the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 1:14)

• The riches of his kindness leads to repentance!

  “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4)

We all fall short and need God's grace!

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”. (Rom. 3:23 NIV)

Quote:

“I'm not perfect. And who knows how many times I've fallen short. We all fall short. That's the amazing thing about the grace of God.” – Tim Tebow

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Several times during his administration the past president of the United States gave a full pardon to some prisoners.Their criminal records were completely wiped clean as though their crimes had never existed. They were then set free to enjoy the benefits of their brand new beginnings.

This is a picture of what happens when a person becomes “born again” as stated in the Bible in John 3:3 and 1 Peter 1:23.

A new creation

The Bible says it very clearly this way: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

Declared righteous

At the moment a person becomes “born again,” God completely forgives their past! He no longer remembers their past sins as though they never happened! He then declares them to be a righteous person!

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:1)

“Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Rom. 5:9-11)

Benefits for the righteous

There are wonderful benefits for the righteous in the form of God’s promises! Look what the Bible says about the righteous person.

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’” (Psalm 92:12-15)

They will

• Flourish like a palm tree

• Grow like a cedar of Lebanon

• Be planted in the house of the Lord

• Flourish in he courts of our God

• Bear fruit in old age

• Stay fresh

• Stay green

• Proclaim great truths about the Lord:

This is because

• "The Lord is upright”

• “He is my rock”

•   “There is no wickedness in Him”

Claim the above promises for yourself!

They are for those who are saved. For those who have believed and confessed Jesus as their savior.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom. 10:9-10)