A spirit of unforgiveness will keep a record of wrongs and try to enter into your life because of some injustice done to you, that somehow hurt and injured you. Like a wound that has not healed, or that has left a scar you are always aware of. When you continually entertain that spirit of unforgiveness you are in fact releasing poisonous chemicals into your very own body.
If the Lord Jesus/Yeshua hung on a cross and died the most horrific death and said “Forgive them Father they know not what they do”, what excuse can you have to not to forgive all as the Lord has forgiven you? Keeping in mind then the Lord Jesus leads the thief hanging next to him into salvation, what ought you do for those who have done you wrong and offended you? For Jesus gave us an amazing example here how we should practise and follow after him, denying ourselves and picking up our cross to live for Christ. At that moment when Jesus died on the cross, the veil was split, and in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth all the barriers to the throne of Papa God went down completely.
So if there is something keeping you from God’s love, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, getting prayers answered, might I suggest it may be on your side and not on the Kingdom of God side. One of the biggest barriers to blessings I know is seeing Christians who entertain a spirit of unforgiveness, and unfortunately there are way too many of them.
People tend to get all dressed up in the appearance of righteousness, looking good and then sadly allowing those religious spirits to speak through them. That seems like an old motorcar painted up pretty, but underneath it is rusting out. Keeping in mind that rust is stronger then paint, and that rust is just like sin. You can only cover it over so many times before that rust will eat through the paint. Remember it is not so much what you eat, rather it is what is eating you.
Is it possible if you harbour unforgiveness towards even one person it might have eternal consequences? For we read in Matthew 6:15, “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” We see in Matthew 18:35,” So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”
I pray you learn and practise to forgive everyone the moment you are offended in Jesus Christ of Nazareth’s almighty name. All things are possible with God! I pray the Lord’s supernatural peace, healing, provision and protection cover you always with oceans of agape love in the almighty name of Jesus/Yeshua!
PASTOR CASPAR
From Caspar McCloud Facebook
R. Crompton
There is indeed, a spirit of unforgiveness, a bitter wormwood that has the capacity to eat away at the human soul like a cancer. But your summarization completely misses what biblical forgiveness entails. Christians need to discern between overlooking transgressions and forgiving them as Christ did. Please note that forgiveness presupposes an offender seeking forgiveness of the one(s) he has transgressed again. It is conditional on repentance — not unconditional. That’s crystal clear from Luke 17:3,4 and Matt. 18:15-18.
Please note that when Christ hung on the cross He had the ability to forgive his murderers and tormentors but He didn’t. He couldn’t; and that is because they had not repented of their sins and had refused to place their faith in Him as their Messiah. He had the power as the Son of Man to forgive apart from passing the buck to His Father (see Mark 2: 5-10). But Christ could only pray that the Father would grant repentance to at least some of the unbelieving Jews so that they would recognize their grievous error and seek forgiveness. That eventually occurred on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:22-41) when they were pricked in their hearts by the Holy Spirit and entreated Peter and the other apostles, ” Men and brethren, what shall we do?” And the answer was repent of their sins against God (by implication, that they had called for Christ’s death) and be baptized in His name. They were forgiven just as the thief on the cross was forgiven, who expressed genuine repentance that he had deserved his sin and was also willing to place his faith in Jesus Christ, calling him “Lord.”
We must forgive others as Christ forgave us. But Divine forgiveness is not unconditional. We must express a sincere repentance over our sin and place genuine, unfeigned faith in Christ’s redemptive mediation on our behalf. cf. Psalm 34:18 ; 51:17 ; Isaiah 66:2 ; Matt. 3:2 ; Luke 13:1-5 ; Acts 3:19 ; Acts 17:30 ; 2 Tim. 2:24-26 ;
John 14:6. Christians should seek to “overlook” the minor misconduct and slight offenses of others because as James 3:2 notes, we are all guilty of doing the same things. But that is not the same as forgiving. We should overlook what is simply out-of-character peccadilloes. However, should those offenses continue or gravitate to more serious ones, we are called by God to confront the offenders to relate their transgressions in order that their wicked influence will not permeate the body (again Matt. 18:15-18). That quest to instill repentance within the sinner’s heart is Paul’s thesis in 1 Cor. 5 and. 2 Cor. 7:8-12.
Jeff Fenske
R,
You are in grave error if you refuse to love people who have hurt you but but haven’t yet apologized to you — and tell others to do the same.
If we don’t forgive others our sins won’t be forgiven. This is what the Bible clearly says. And if they keep hurting us we keep forgiving them, “seventy times seven.”
And by us forgiving others, that doesn’t mean they’ll be forgiven, which is up to them. But we’ve done what we’re commanded to do, releasing them from what they’ve done to us, asking God to forgive them.
Jesus forgave all who crucified him. Stephen forgave all who stoned him. It’s Christianity 101; though, maybe is the hardest thing to always fully do.
There isn’t one text that says to not forgive someone until they ask forgiveness. This is a false doctrine, and I’ve seen it destroy an entire church. Thus the main reason for my 4GIVNG and NOHATE license plates.
Here is Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit because he bravely told the truth to the Jews who are now killing him with rocks as he preemptively forgives them, probably making a huge impression on Saul.
Acts 7:54 Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord. 58 They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Jeff
R. Crompton
You’re mixing up forgiving and overlooking. Not the same thing. As I already stated, we can overlook offenses but BIBLICAL forgiveness presupposes that the sinner has realized his need for repentance. Thus we are called to warn the sinning soul of the need to repent when the sins are wounding the body of Christ. Again, please READ Luke 17:3,4. We love our brethren and also our enemies but we cannot forgive the transgressor when he sins without his expression of heartfelt repentance because we are called model our conduct and conform ourselves to what Christ would do in like circumstances. Christ never did and never will forgive sins without our repentance. And no person ever found eternal life without said contrition over those sins. Read the verses I listed. It’s evident by your response that you either didn’t read them or you are just willfully rejecting biblical truth. Remember, the apostle John wrote that IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” IF means forgiveness is conditional to confession of said sin — the sure evidence of repentance toward God.
Nobody understands the need to be saved unless they understand that they are lost. And the awareness of one’s lost condition is through the conviction of the Holy Spirit who convinces the unregenerate that their transgressions are not simply offenses against society but sins against the Almighty (see Psalm 51:3,4 ). That’s how we receive forgiveness from God and by extension, we are called to acknowledge and repent of our individual sins to those whom we have offended. We go to others when we have sinned against them and seek forgiveness/restoration. And likewise we expect others who have offended us to do likewise. That’s the clear message of Matt. 5:23,24. In relation to Luke 17:3,4, when Christ speaks of forgiving those who have offended us seventy times seven in Matt. 18:22, He is referring to those who have not forgiven others when the offenders have expressed sorrow for their misconduct. In view of the context of 18:15-18 which requires acknowledgment of sin from the offender(s),there can be no other possible exegesis.
You quote Stephen as forgiving those who stoned him. He did no such thing! Read your quote again. He called upon God to forgive them — big difference! It’s just as Jesus did when He called on His Father to forgive those who had put Him to death. No repentance — no forgiveness. He had power as God Incarnate to forgive but could not forgive them because they did not express any repentance.
Jeff Fenske
R,
You posted about 16 verses in your first comment, expecting me to look them all up? I don’t do that to you. If I have important verses to share, I usually post the quotes, instead of making you and others look them up.
This is loving our neighbor as ourself.
You’re right about Luke 17:3, 4, regarding actually saying to the person “you are forgiven.”
The person can only be forgiven when they apologize and reconcile, and then we complete the process, but in the meantime, while they haven’t apologized to us, we should not hold anything against them, holding a grudge, letting the sun go down on our anger, giving the Devil a place, which then becomes hate, which keeps us from inheriting the kingdom of God (Gal. 5). [I’m not expecting you to look that up, for the record, like you are of me. But if you aren’t familiar with it enough it would be very good.]
Jesus said: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Stephen said:“Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!”
This is forgiving them in our hearts, which is not the same as declaring to them: “you are forgiven.” We can only do that if we know for sure they are.
This is related. Luther got it all wrong. Martin Luther became mean and vengeful in his later years, a reverse-Christian in the area of forgiving. He wrote false doctrine in his Large Catechism regarding forgiving others and being forgiving.
This is why he was a bad example for Hitler. But Hitler gets all the blame [though there was no extermination program] while Luther is presented as a saint, multiple millions calling themselves ‘Lutherans,’ while their founder cannot even be in heaven. I wrote this:
What the Lord’s Prayer really says about FORGIVING. Jesus made it clear right after “Amen”: “IF YOU DON’T forgive…” VS. Luther’s Catechism: “God forgives WITHOUT CONDITION,” forgiving even “REVENGE”!!!
Jeff
Jeff Fenske
R,
Also, Jesus was mostly just like you and me when on earth, but he was perfect, without sin, doing the things he saw his Father doing — led by the Holy Spirit:
A Call to Intimacy: The Holy Spirit in John’s Gospel & Epistles — A paper I wrote for D. A. Carson’s Johannine Theology class at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1993
We’re supposed to be like Jesus because we can be, because we have the Holy Spirit in us like Jesus did in him.
So we’re supposed to be doing a lot better than we actually are, especially collectively. But the church is falling flat on its face instead, teaching that we don’t really have to abide in Christ to be “in Christ.”
Many ‘Christians’ aren’t even close to going to heaven right now, based upon what the Bible really says:
“God is love, and HE WHO REMAINS IN LOVE remains in God, and GOD REMAINS IN HIM. In this, love has been made perfect among us, that we may have BOLDNESS IN THE DAY of judgment, *because* AS HE IS, even SO ARE WE in this world.” – 1 John 4:16-17
jeff
R. Crompton
You are so lazy that you cannot look up the verses and have the unmitigated gall to imply that someone who takes the time to give you several Scripture references but doesn’t choose to write you out each and every word verbatim is unloving? Are you still a child? You need to rise above your spiritual immaturity, sir.
I never suggested in anything that I wrote that we are to hold a grudge against the unrepentant. We love them by refusing to forgive and until they have exercised a proper repentance we are to have nothing to do with them. This is not hatred but genuine love that moves them to reconsider their obstinate and ungodly intransigence. cf. Matt. 18:17 ” And if he refuses to hear them [those who witness against him] and the church [ who affirm that witness], let him be to you as a heathen and a tax collector.”
1 Cor. 5:11 “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolator, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner — not even to eat with such a person.”
2 Cor. 2:6-8 7 ” This punishment which was inflicted by the majority [of the church] is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought to rather forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps he be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.” This conveys the stance we take when the sinner turns God-ward in repentance.
2 Cor. 7: ” For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it… Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a GODLY manner, that you might not suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
Distancing ourselves from the unrepentant backslider does not equate with hatred. It is brotherly love in action that provides the impetus whereby the offender is brought to his senses and which keeps him from fellowship within the body of Christ until such time as he quits his sin and seeks forgiveness from those he has wronged. That’s the whole point of Christ’s counsel in Luke 17:3,4.
No extermination program? You are living a lie, sir. Stop trying to justify Hitler by claiming he only operated work camps. We are called to keep no company with liars — and I think by extension, any who deny the truth and in your case, the terror the Nazis inflicted in Europe. As someone who claims to be Christian, you should be pursuing the truth — not trying to suppress it for what I think may possibly be a vain attempt on your part to disassociate yourself with the reality.of Germany’s shameful past. “Fenske” I believe is a German name. Am I correct in thinking you cannot bear to believe that the nation of your forebears could commit such heinous crimes? Is this the way you try to sweep it under the carpet?
I’ll be signing off from your blog now for good because I cannot bring myself to read any more of your foolishness and insincerity.
Jeff Fenske
Goodbye R,
Your lack of asking God to forgive those who hurt you is demonstrated in your lack of love for me, and the false accusations you say that are totally groundless.
And you call me “lazy” for only looking up half of your 16 verses, of which you were too lazy to copy and paste even one?
You also misjudge why I’ve finally studied real-German history truth, for only the last two years. But I’ve put many hundreds of hours into it, and you have clearly put none into what really happened, since you refuse to look at the facts, but judge others as if you know, because TalmudVision told you so.
When people choose not to forgive, they turn bitter and mean, as God allows the tormenters to torment, as I mentioned regarding Mt. 18.
I hope you decide to become a real Christian someday, which is loving the Lord, our God, with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourself.
Father, please forgive R, and help him or her decide to walk in love, abiding in You.
And please help R realize that by strongly, publicly insisting we should not pray for others to be forgiven, that he/she is in big trouble eternally, so he/she will repent.
Jeff