This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, The Sweet Smell of Victory.
Many people in this world are absolutely driven into the ground spiritually, psychologically, and physically by two enemies:
Guilt and bitterness.
The Gospel deals with both of these enemies. When we are forgiven, we are set free from the prison of guilt. And when we forgive others, then we are free from the prison of bitterness.
The Bible calls our sin a debt. (See Matthew 6:12.) We have been created to serve God, to love God, and we have disobeyed instead. We have been brought into Heaven’s court and found to be in debt. The only way we will be set free is to be forgiven.
Forgiveness is the canceling of a debt. It costs to forgive. If you owe me a thousand dollars and could not pay, and I said, “Very well, I forgive the debt,” that just cost me a thousand dollars.
When a debt is forgiven, the forgiver is the one who pays.
Salvation is free to you, but it cost the Lord Jesus.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace… (Ephesians 1:7).
God does not overlook sin. Somebody must pay. Forgiveness is paying a debt that another cannot pay. God Himself paid the debt of my sin with the blood of Jesus, God the Son, on the cross.
Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28a; emphasis added).
That does not mean once upon a time; it means once for all.
In Rome, when a man was to be put in prison, officials would write out a certificate of debt. This was the man’s debt to society for his crime, and the document would be placed on his prison door. After he had done his time and paid the penalty, they would write a word across that certificate of debt: Tetalestai.
When Jesus said, “It is finished!” (see John 19:30), He used that same word. The debt had been paid for sin—absolutely and completely.
Jesus has once suffered for sin. You cannot pay your sin debt yourself through your good works or by beating yourself up with shame. It has already been done. Your debt is paid, and you are free to go and live for God…
And God says you must forgive others as you have been forgiven.
Perhaps there is somebody who has done you wrong: your parents, your spouse, your employer or employee. Our Lord taught you to pray, “And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).
You should forgive because your Heavenly Father has so willingly forgiven you.
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).
As the grace of God was shown to you, you must show God’s grace to one another. No one has ever wronged you more than your own sin has wronged the Lord Jesus.
If we do not forgive, then no longer can we be forgiven. Unforgiveness shuts out the forgiveness of God.
Have you ever thought how dangerous it is to pray, “Forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12)—in other words, God, treat me like I treat other people! Are you forgiving others? If not, you are asking God to deal with you in the same way.
You must forgive because you have been forgiven by God’s grace, and you must forgive because if you don’t, your guilt will remain.
You will also have personal harm. Grief that comes from an unforgiving spirit keeps you in prison. You may think, “I’m not going to let him or her off the hook.” Then you, by an unforgiving spirit, are not going to get off the hook either. Bitterness will keep you in a prison of your own making. Resentment is slow suicide. You will continue to have grief, and the hurt that person dealt you will continue to hurt until you release it.
If our God, for Christ’s sake, forgave you, can you not, for Christ’s sake, forgive others?
The person who has wounded you may be your brother or sister in Christ. If not, that person is a potential brother or sister in Christ.
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother (Matthew 18:15).
A brother is a precious thing. You are in the same Body. When you harm him, you harm yourself.
The Word of God warns against worshiping God while there is either guilt or bitterness in between you and a brother. You must seek reconciliation first.
Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24).
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).
When children are arguing, it disgraces their parents. When we argue, it disgraces our Heavenly Father.
The model for forgiving others is the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8b).
Some people forgive after they have collected a pound of flesh. They were wronged, and they want the individual to know it. They castigate, they scold, they freeze out—and then they say, “Well, I forgive you.”
No! Because you should forgive freely, you should be quick to do it.
Be in a hurry to forgive. Bitterness becomes an infection that is much more difficult to heal. While they were crucifying Him, Jesus was praying, “Father, forgive them.” You think, “They did the wrong. If they want forgiveness, let them ask for it.” Jesus said you should go to him.
What does our pride often say when a person asks for forgiveness?
“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter.”
That is not forgiveness; that is pride concealing that it did matter. You were hurt. You just don’t want to admit how much.
But you have not forgiven that individual fully, as you ought. Forgiveness is more than mere politeness.
“Forget it” is never the means of forgiveness. Forgetting is the result of forgiveness.
When God forgives, God forgets. If God could forget anything in the sense that He could not remember it; He would no longer be omniscient. To say that God forgets means that He no more remembers our sins against us.
When somebody has wronged you, when you forgive, there should be no grudge. Do not remember it against them anymore.
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:14-15).
Have you been wronged? Forgive.
Is this not the first time? Forgive again. Do not keep score. Forgiveness has no limit. Forgive freely and completely, for their sake, for Jesus’ sake, and for your sake.
When you forgive, you set two people free, and one of them is yourself.
Matthew 5:23-24, 6:9-15, 10:8, 18:15; Ephesians 1:7, 4:32; John 19:30
When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:3-5).
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22).
