"Forgive One Another" 2-26-23
Overview
Forgive One Another
"God in Christ has forgiven you." This single declaration from Ephesians 4:32 is the foundation of our life together as the church. Before the foundation of the world, God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless, destining us for adoption as His children Ephesians 1:4-7. Through the blood of Christ we have redemption and the forgiveness of our trespasses. This is why our worship begins where it does—with confession and absolution. Forgiveness is not a side benefit of the Christian life; it is the starting point of everything we do together. As David sings in Psalm 32, happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. When we hide our sin, it crushes us; when we confess it, the Lord lifts the guilt away.
Because we are forgiven, we are new creations, called through the waters of baptism out of the old Adam and old Eve into a new life in the Spirit. Paul tells us plainly what to pack away and leave behind: "Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice" Ephesians 4:31. Bitterness is the wrong we ruminate on until it takes root and seeps into us. Left there, it grows into outbursts of wrath, settles into a foul, angry mood, and spills out in wrangling and slander against our brothers and sisters—the same word Scripture uses for blaspheming, because to tear down a person is to diminish one whom God has made. We often excuse these things by blaming the provocation, but as A. W. Tozer observed, provocation cannot stir up what is not already there; it merely reveals the heart. Paul says: this is no longer who you are. Put it away.
In its place, Paul calls us to a different posture: "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you" Ephesians 4:32. Kindness is the active goodness of one who serves and shows favor. Tenderheartedness is compassion felt in the gut—seeing a brother or sister, even one who has wronged us, through the lens of the cross and being moved to help rather than retaliate. When the demand for revenge rises in us, we must be honest: has anyone wronged us more than we have wronged the Lord? And how does He treat us? He forgives fully, freely, and to a depth we cannot fathom. That is the measure Paul gives us. There is no end-point at which we are released from forgiving, just as Christ has never stopped forgiving us.
The good news is that this calling is not laid on us alone. God's love abides in us; His Spirit dwells in us and empowers us. "Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins" 1 Peter 4:8. His love has called you, washed you in baptism, sealed you with the Holy Spirit, and now fills you with strength to love and forgive your neighbor. This is our starting point and our ongoing life together: forgiven in Christ, loved by God, and therefore free to forgive one another.
Transcript
If you would please open your Bibles to Ephesians the fourth chapter that's on page 171, 0s
if you're using a Pue edition of the Bible, Ephesians chapter 4. 9s
Paul writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God in Christ has forgiven 19s
you. 29s
God in Christ has forgiven you. 32s
What does this mean? 39s
In Ephesians chapter 1, he writes that he chose us in Christ before the foundation of 42s
the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 50s
He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ according to the good 57s
pleasure of his will. 64s
To the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the beloved. 67s
In him we have redemption through the blood through his blood, the forgiveness of our 73s
pastes according to the riches of his grace. 82s
God in Christ has forgiven you. 90s
What does this mean? 100s
It means that we are free. 103s
It means that our sin is no more. 110s
It is forgotten. 116s
We just heard that beautiful, beautiful proclamation in the chorus of that him, forgiven for 120s
the blood of Christ we are forgiven. 129s
Knowing that our sin is forgiven, we have a response. 138s
When we hear those words, when we hear that God in Christ has forgiven you, we have a response 145s
that the Psalmist, David writes in Psalm 32, happy. 157s
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 163s
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no inequity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 172s
He goes on to write about while keeping silent, keeping silent of the sin, keeping it 180s
himself, his body wasted away. 187s
He fell under the weight of his own sin, the weight of his own guilt and iniquity. 191s
He writes, then I acknowledged my sin to you. 203s
And I did not hide my iniquity. 207s
I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the guilt of my sin. 210s
The guilt of sin is released. 223s
When we are free from our sin, we are freed to be in life together. 228s
This entire series that we have been doing from January until now has been all about 239s
the picture of what God has intended and created the church to be, what He has intended 246s
for our life together to look like. 255s
Life together begins in the forgiveness of Christ. 261s
Think about every time we gather to worship, what is the very first thing we do? 269s
We confess our sins and we are told you are forgiven. 274s
And then we continue. 279s
Our starting point in our life together as God's people is forgiveness. 282s
It is forgiveness and because Christ died upon the cross. 290s
Because He died upon the cross unto our sin and rose victorious. 298s
No longer is in the grave. 305s
No longer is in the tomb because He died for our sin. 307s
We are free. 312s
We are free to live together. 314s
We are free to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. 318s
And by the power of the Holy Spirit, we have been blessed to see what life together looks like. 323s
We see that we have fellowship with one another that God calls us to be with one another, 332s
to instruct one another, to keep to the orthodoxy of doctrine, to keep to the truth of His word. 341s
He calls us to be in life together, to pray for one another, 351s
to submit to one another, counting the other is more important than oneself. 357s
As God's people, we encourage one another. 366s
And we stir one another up, we gather around word and sacrament, ministering to one another. 369s
This is the life that Christ died for, that we would be with one another beginning in His forgiveness. 377s
All of this, all of this starts because God in Christ has forgiven you. 398s
God in Christ has forgiven you. 410s
And when we are forgiven, we are what? 414s
A new creation. 417s
And we are a new creation in Christ. 418s
And being new creations means that we are putting away the old. 423s
Have any of you ever moved? 431s
Oh, I take that as a yes. 435s
Or purged your home, got rid of just needed to get rid of the old. 439s
And every time we purge or we move or we get rid of the old, 447s
we pack things in boxes and we don't ever want to see it again. 451s
As new creations, we are called into the new creation, 459s
through the waters of baptism. 468s
And when we are called into being, when we are called into being this new creation, 469s
we are moved from the old Adam, the old Eve into this new creation that God has made us to be. 476s
And as we move away from old Adam, away from old Eve, we pack him or her away. 489s
And we move into this new place, this new being. 499s
Paul writes, he writes about exactly what we need to be packing away or putting away. 509s
Look, please, at verse 31 of our text today, Paul writes, put away from you, all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and 516s
slander together with all malice. Put them away. What are we putting away? 529s
We're putting away bitterness. Well, what is bitterness? 540s
Bitterness is when we think we've been wrong, or maybe we have been wrong, and we just sit in that. 546s
And we rumanate on how we've been wronged. 557s
And we think it over and over and we examine this wronging from every angle we can imagine. 563s
And it just sits and it sees and it soaks into us. 571s
That's the bitterness. It takes root. And what happens when bitterness takes root? 577s
Well, we read exactly what happens. The bitterness leads to wrath and anger, wrath that outburst of rage, that outburst of emotion, 585s
that causes damage, whether physical or verbal, it causes us to do and say things that we don't necessarily want to do. 600s
And after the outburst of that wrath, we may still see the bitterness and that sits there, and it becomes our state of being where we are just angry. 615s
In a bad foul mood. 632s
And when we sit and we live our lives in a bad foul mood, we can't help but have that poor out from our lips. 638s
And we take every opportunity to wrangle with our brother or our sister. 651s
We take every opportunity we can to engage in the fight. 657s
And we take every opportunity we can to slander our brother or our sister. 665s
It's very interesting. The word that Paul uses here for slander is the word that is blaspheme. 675s
He's saying that we blaspheme our brothers and our sisters. 685s
Now we always think of blaspheme as speaking against the Lord and indeed that is. 696s
But when we slander our brother or our sister, we are diminishing that person. 704s
And we are diminishing who he or she is created by our Lord. 711s
A general principle that I read as I was studying for this someone wrote a general principle. 723s
If you're raising your voice, you're probably sinning. 731s
And Paul says, put it away. Put it away. Put away the bitterness. 740s
You're a new creation. You've moved. Old Adam, old Eve, they've been drowned. 748s
They're gone. Put it away. Pack away the bitterness. Pack away the wrath, the anger. 755s
Pack away any opportunity to engage in the argument. Pack away the want to slander your brother or sister. 764s
And in fact, he goes even further. And he says, I'm not going to leave you any loop holes. Put away from you all. 773s
Malice. Put away from you all. Malice any behavior that destroys relationships because it is inconsistent with living life together in the Holy Spirit. 782s
It is inconsistent in living life together through the Holy Spirit. 803s
A. W. Tozer. He said that we have all noticed how quick many people are to excuse themselves for some outburst by pleading that they were provoked to it. 808s
How many of us? How many of us have had those moments of bitterness that lead to an outburst. 823s
Outburst of wrath that leads to that angry, bad mood that leads to speaking poorly of someone that leads to just the general malice. 838s
And we try to make excuses. Because if he wouldn't have said this, then I wouldn't have felt that way, which led me to say this. 857s
And we make excuses for our bitterness. We make excuses for our wrath, our anger. We make excuses for our malice. 870s
But Tozer, he says that that we will make these excuses. Thus their own wrongdoing is laid to others. Not only do we try to excuse the sins of these things. 885s
We hold Adam, the old Eve within us. But then we blame it on someone else. We blame it on someone else. 900s
He continues, saying, what is overlooked in this neat trick of self-exoneration is that the provocation cannot stir up what is not there. 917s
It never adds anything to the human heart. It merely brings out what is already present. It does not change the character. It simply reveals it. 929s
What a man does under provocation is what he is. The mud must be at the bottom of the pool, or it cannot be stirred up. You cannot spoil pure water. 941s
But Paul says this is not who we are, because we are forgiven in Christ. And because we are forgiven in Christ, we put this away. 960s
Before Christ called us into faith, indeed we did have that mudied heart. Indeed we did have that stirrable malice within us. 976s
But when we were called into faith, when we were called as his very own children and sealed in the Holy Spirit, when we were called to be a new creation, it means that we can. 994s
We can put those things away. We can put away the bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander. 1013s
We can put away all malice because it is God's own spirit that lives within us. And it is God's own spirit that empowers us to be able to put those things away. 1025s
So if we're not better, if as new creations we are not living in malice, then what is the picture that God gives us of this life together? 1042s
Well, let's go to verse 32. Paul writes, be kind to one another, tender-hearted for giving one another. 1062s
Kindness. In Paul's day, this was often a word that was referred to with rulers in how they treated their subjects or a benefactor and how he or she treated their clients. 1076s
It's the kindness, it's the giving, it's the serving, it's the politeness. So Paul says that we're not going to be better, but we're going to be polite. 1092s
We're going to be kind and he continued on, tender-hearted, tender-hearted. That is compassionate. 1105s
And the word that's used here means to the very core, the gut of our being. 1118s
That when we see our brother or sister in need, we have compassion, we have pity, we want to help him or her, especially when one is in error. 1125s
When one is in error, our brother or sister, whether they are harming us or doing wrong to us or doing wrong to another, we have compassion. 1142s
Instead of getting bitter and angry and lashing out, we see them through that cross of Christ. 1156s
We see them through that lens of compassion, and we want to help him or her. We take pity on that person. 1168s
And we're moved to forgive, forgive one another. 1183s
No, there are times. When we know, we know that the life that God has led us to live together is to forgive one another, to be kind, to have compassion be tender-hearted. 1195s
But it just doesn't feel like there's any justice in that. 1214s
I have been wronged. I want revenge. I need to see and feel the justice. 1220s
Take a step back. Just take a step back because we have to be honest. 1232s
We have to be honest with ourselves. We have to be honest with God. What does David say? He says, I confess my sin and my transgressions, my eniquities are no longer remembered. 1243s
We are released by Christ from the guilt of our sin. 1261s
Has our brother or sister wronged us greater than we have wronged the Lord? 1270s
Has our brother or sister wronged us greater than we have wronged him or her? 1281s
And how does God treat us? What does God do with our sin? He forgives us. He forgives us. 1291s
He forgives us. Holy. He forgives us freely. He forgives us fully and liberally to the extent that we will never imagine this side of heaven. 1310s
So to what degree are we to forgive? 1327s
Holy. 1335s
freely to an extent that we could never imagine this side of heaven. 1338s
If you did not, we're not able to participate or take the adult education class from a couple of years ago that Pastor Ibel had on forgiveness. 1346s
Just watch it, find it on YouTube and watch it. 1357s
In that class he reminds us that God tells us we are to forgive and forgive again and forgive again. 1364s
And there is no end. 1374s
We are never called to stop forgiving. 1377s
Just as Christ has never stopped forgiving us. 1382s
Out of God's love, we are forgiven and out of God's love, 1389s
we are able to forgive. 1394s
In first Peter, chapter four, I love this verse. 1397s
It's one simple verse just squeezed in there. 1402s
Verse eight, it says above all, 1405s
maintain constant love for one another. 1407s
For love covers a multitude of sins. 1410s
God's love for us. 1417s
Not only covers a multitude of sins, 1421s
it covers every single sin, 1424s
thought word, deed, sin done, 1428s
sin left, well, no, sin not left undone, 1433s
but things left undone. 1436s
God's love for you. 1442s
God's love for you has called you to be his own. 1445s
God's love for you has washed you in the waters of baptism. 1449s
God's love for you has sealed you with his own holy spirit. 1453s
God's love for you fills you and empowers you 1459s
and gives you strength through his spirit. 1462s
So that you can love one another. 1465s
And in that love, you can forgive one another. 1469s
It's not just that we forgive one another. 1475s
But Paul writes that we forgive one another 1480s
as to the extent of to the degree of 1484s
how God increased for gave you. 1491s
And the good news here is that God's love 1496s
abides in you. 1499s
His spirit dwells in you. 1502s
He lives within you. 1504s
This is our starting point. 1508s
This is where we begin in our life together. 1512s
That we are forgiven in Christ. 1518s
We are loved by God. 1521s
And when we are loved by God forgiven in Christ, 1526s
then we in our life together are free to forgive 1530s
one another. 1537s
For given, 1543s
forgiven through the blood of Christ, 1549s
we are forgiven. 1556s