Description
In Colossians 3:13, Paul reinforces an uncomfortable principle of forgiveness.
Colossians 3:13
bearing with one another… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
I’m not sure I like today’s meditation. See if you agree with me. It’s Colossians 3 verse 13. Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
And I was thinking about this before I hit record: this way that Christ detached the act of forgiveness from the act of repentance. So normally we’re taught as children that you have to say sorry and then your parents will forgive you. But Jesus did it the other way round. He forgave us first. And then we obtain salvation through repentance and through following him. But the forgiveness came first.
If one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you. That means when somebody has wounded us or offended us, and we’re talking about brothers and sisters in Christ here, if somebody has done something that we consider to be wrong, we forgive them even though they may not have come and made things right with us.
Jesus made his act, his sacrifice, going to the cross. He did that act before anybody had said sorry. So he paid for all sins. And there was nothing on our part that was done to make that happen. It’s just the other way round to the way we’re used to thinking. And can we do it? This is why I don’t think I like this.
I would much rather that my brother or sister who’s offended me, comes to me and says, "I’m sorry, Rob." And then we can go, "Oh, it’s all right." It’s very easy to be gracious when somebody’s said sorry, isn’t it? It’s much harder to be gracious when they haven’t. This is the radical teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ that we have to follow. And I fully admit I’m not very good at this. So let’s ask for help.
Lord God, you know, we find it hard to forgive in this radical way that you did. Please help us too. We want to follow your way. Amen.
