Forgive As You Are Forgiven

What a huge topic forgiveness! So many to forgive, so much for which to be forgiven. And yet here we go, praying each day, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."

Just a bit later our LORD says,

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Mat 6:14-15 ESV

Strange. Sounds almost as if we might convince our heavenly Father to forgive us, based upon how we have forgiven others. How could that be, especially in light of what we learned in the previous post about the impossibility of ever paying off the debts we owe because of our own sins?

And does it mean that our forgiveness depends upon the intensity of our own forgiveness? In Psalm 103 we learn about the kind of forgiveness we can expect from our merciful and gracious LORD.

He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. - Psa 103:9-12 ESV

It appears to me that no matter how far east you travel you will never get there. No matter where you stand on our planet the east is totally separated from the west. That is, of course, the Spirit's way of saying that our sins are totally and completely removed from us. THIS is the kind of forgiveness He expects from us.

Joseph's Coat Of Many Colors

In this connection it is helpful to study the story of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph's brothers despised him for two reasons when he was but a teenager. His father favored Joseph as the child of his old age and gave him the so-called coat of many colors (Genesis 37:3 KJV). It may have been a coat with long sleeves or with stripes. No matter. His brothers were jealous. Their jealousy was increased when Joseph shared his dreams about how he would one day be their ruler. The upshot was that his older brothers allowed their jealousy to control them and lead them to sell him into slavery. Then they lied to their father about it, telling him that Joseph had probably been killed by a lion and his body dragged away and devoured. All they could find remaining was Joseph's bloody and torn coat.

Long story short, Joseph, as you probably know, ended up as the Prime Minister to Egypt's Pharaoh. Acting with wisdom and inspiration he saved the nation of Egypt from starvation caused by a many-years drought. As the famine persisted Joseph's brothers came to Egypt hoping to buy grain from the Egyptians (Genesis 43:1-44:34). In the process Joseph recognized his brothers and with a little trickery forced them to return with their youngest brother Benjamin who had been born after Joseph's disappearance. When Joseph finally revealed himself he spoke these wonderful words of forgiveness:

And Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." And they came near. And he said, "I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. - Gen 45:3-8 ESV

Joseph acted in faith, trusting the guiding hand of God. He believed in God's mercy toward himself and rejoiced in it. It did not matter what his brothers had done. He simply let it go. All this was God's plan. And so he moved his entire family to Egypt and cared for them. When his father Israel died his brothers thought he would finally get his revenge. In fear they came to him, asking for mercy.

But Joseph said to them, "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones." Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. - Gen 50:19-21 ESV

What a lesson for us all. We have seen by faith how much our heavenly Father cares for us, even to the point of giving His only Son to death to ransom us and pay our debts. How can we not then follow the example of Joseph as we pray and promise, "So will we also forgive those indebted to us?"