“Ready to Forgive” – FBC Morning Light (10/29/2024)

Forgiveness, Confrontation, and Reconciliation in Matthew 18

What a good Tuesday morning to you. I hope your week got off to a good start yesterday. Today in our Bible reading we're in Matthew chapters 17 and 18, Mark chapter 9, and Luke chapter 9, so we're reading through these synoptic Gospels and seeing their parallelisms in those Gospel accounts.

What I want to focus on today is the fact that in any healthy relationship it's vital that we know how to give and to receive forgiveness. This is brought out in Matthew chapter 18 when Jesus says in verse 15, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he hears you, you've gained your brother. And this opens up the whole subject of forgiveness, because then down in verse 21, Peter comes to him and says, Lord, how often should I forgive my brother when he sins against me?

Up to seven times? And Jesus says, no, not seven times, but 70 times seven. In other words, there's no limit to the offering of forgiveness and the granting of forgiveness. What I want you to get in the meantime, though, is that forgiveness is not an automatic thing.

Let me clarify something. I believe that you and I, as forgiven sinners, need to be ever ready to forgive. We need to have hearts that are eager to forgive those who have sinned against us. But I want you to notice the progression of thinking here in Matthew chapter 18.

Jesus says, if your brother sins against you. This is not one of those petty, triviality things. Somebody makes a remark off the cuff and it hurts your feelings a little bit, and so then you hold a grudge.

No, you let that stuff go. You let love cover that kind of petty stuff. This is when somebody actually is malicious and somebody does something seriously sinning against you. Jesus says, if this happens, if a brother sins against you, you have to confront him.

If he doesn't come and own up to his transgression, confront him. Confront him with that transgression. Let him know, you've done me wrong. You've sinned against me. You've trespassed against me. He says, if he hears you, and that means if he acknowledges, yeah, you're right, I did.

I sinned against you. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me for sinning against you? If he hears you, you've gained your brother. You're to offer him forgiveness. But verse 16 says, if he will not hear, take with you two or more.

If the initial confrontation gets you nowhere, you need to take a couple of other people with you, and you confront the individual with the witnesses. Then if he still won't hear the witnesses, verse 17 says, if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church or to the assembly.

If he refuses to hear even the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Notice that Jesus doesn't say, forgive the guy. Did you notice that? He doesn't say, forgive the guy. He says, you let him go.

Your relationship is broken because this person has sinned against you, you want to offer forgiveness, you want there to be forgiveness, you want there to be reconciliation, but the person is not willing to acknowledge his sin, his transgression against you.

He repeatedly digs in his heels and refuses to repent, refuses to acknowledge the sin. Jesus doesn't say, just shrug it off, let it go, ignore it, pretend like it never happened. He doesn't say that. He says that while you have a heart that's ready to forgive, if the person won't acknowledge their guilt and their sin against you, after all this process, then you let them go.

You cannot continue in a healthy relationship with that individual. That leads up to Peter asking the question, how often do I have to do this? Let's suppose that we go through the process and the guy finally does repent and asks for forgiveness, how often do I have to do this?

Seven times? No. As often as necessary. Then Jesus tells this parable of the person who has been forgiven, but then won't forgive. What he's getting at there is, you and I have been forgiven. We have been forgiven an immeasurable debt.

If you've trusted Christ as your Savior, you have been forgiven a debt that you could never, ever pay because of God's grace. You've repented of your sin, you've sought the Lord's forgiveness, and he has forgiven you.

He says now, the point of the parable is, now you who have been forgiven an immeasurable debt, you need to be ready and willing to forgive the person who has sinned against you, which in comparison is a minor infraction.

As God's people, having been forgiven, let's have hearts that are ready to forgive, and let's do what we have to do to reconcile relationships, getting things right with a brother. If that means we have to go to them and confront them with how they have sinned against us, then let's be willing to do that so that relationships can be restored, so that forgiveness can be granted.

Grace, Repentance, and the Call to Forgive Others

Father in heaven, thank you for your immeasurable grace, amazing grace that has forgiven sinners such as we are. I pray, Father, that we would be ready and willing to forgive those who trespass against us, and this we pray in Jesus' name, and for his sake, amen.

Closing Encouragement for the Day

All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Tuesday. I trust the Lord will bless you in it.