The Spirit and Forgiveness

A few weeks ago I did a conference call with a group in Mississippi that has been studying my book Forgiveness is Tremendous. I had a great time talking with them and answering questions they had about forgiveness. What really stood out to me as we were going along was that almost all the questions they had came out of the chapter titled “How God’s Forgiveness Is Applied.”

All three Persons in the Godhead are involved in the gift of forgiveness. The Father is the orchestrator of forgiveness and accepts the substitution of His Son in our place. The Son willingly became a man so that He could live the perfect life in obedience to God that the Father requires of all people, and paid the price that God’s justice required of us in His death on the cross. For many Christians these ideas are familiar and are things we hear if we are in evangelical churches.

What I have been learning is that the role the Holy Spirit plays in forgiveness is a new idea to many people who have read my book. The Holy Spirit is what Christ purchased by His life and death and is what the Father gives to all people who ask for forgiveness. The Holy Spirit unites us to Christ so that His life counts as ours and His death pays the price for our sins. To be forgiven means to be united to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

This seems to be the teaching of Galatians 3:13-14 (NLT), But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. As well as Acts 2:38 (NIV), Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In Forgiveness is Tremendous, Charlie and I wrote;

This union with Christ means several things for God’s forgiveness. First, this union is what makes God’s forgiveness of us possible. Since we are one with Christ, and Christ paid the penalty for our sins, we honestly don’t have to. In Christ we already have.

Second, it is through the Holy Spirit that we receive forgiveness and it is through the Holy Spirit that our forgiveness from God is made real to us.

This union is important to understanding our forgiveness to others because it is the union we have with Christ through the Holy Spirit that enables us to really offer forgiveness. The union we have with Christ and therefore the union we have to His work on the cross is what provides the divine supernatural power that makes our forgiveness of others real and effective.

It is the offender’s connection to the cross that makes receiving forgiveness possible. The work of the cross is constantly being more and more realized in the receiving of forgiveness.

Understanding the role of the Holy Spirit is essential to understanding biblical forgiveness. We pastors and teachers need to do a better job communicating this. We are often afraid to tackle “big theological ideas” because we think we will never be understood, or that the people we are teaching are not interested.

We need to get over that. As James 3:1 (NIV) says, Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We have a responsibility to struggle and strive so that we can pass deep truths to our people in ways that they understand and can incarnate into their lives and relationships. Jesus lived the life He did because of His connection to the Father through the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1, 10:21; Acts 10:38). If we are to become like Christ, we need to have that same dependence. Dig deep. You’ll be glad you did.

Through the Roof

The world is constantly inventing; genius serves all the purposes of human desire: cannot faith invent too, and reach by some new means the outcasts who lie perishing around us? It was the presence of Jesus which excited victorious courage in the four bearers of the palsied man: is not the Lord among us now? Have we seen his face for ourselves this morning? Have we felt his healing power in our own souls? If so, then through door, through window, or through roof, let us, breaking through all impediments, labor to bring poor souls to Jesus. –Charles Spurgeon

The more worthwhile something is, the more difficult it is to achieve. That is pretty true across the board. Climbing Mt. Washington is one thing. Climbing Mt. Everest is something else entirely. It took Edison 10,000 tries before he got the light bulb to work.

Sometimes the things we want to achieve turn out to be even more difficult than we thought…the first thing that comes to my mind is the recent “big dig” here in Boston. The idea was great but what an incredible cost we have had to pay to get the underground highway to work!

What I have been learning is that this “law” is just as true for the simple and obvious things we strive to achieve as it is for the incredible. Want some examples? How about spending quality time with your husband, or wife, or kids? There is nothing complicated about getting exercise, but how many of us who make a go at keeping an exercise routine actually keep it?

This is true of our relationship with God too. There is nothing complicated about doing what it takes to build a knowledge, friendship, and faith in our Father, His Son, or with His Spirit who lives in our hearts. There is no great financial expense necessary to achieve this. All it takes is reading the Bible, coming to church, being in a small group, and having daily prayer. But we let all sorts of things get in the way of our relationship with God.

We need to be more like the four friends that Spurgeon refers to who would not let crowds, walls, or closed doors keep them from getting to Jesus. They needed Him. Their friend who lay paralyzed on his mat needed Him. And they overcame every obstacle that was put in their way to get before the Great Physician.

Why don’t we have this same zeal? What keeps us from being so committed? Why do so many of us stop short of success? We all have our reasons. They are many. Some are good things in and of themselves. Some are sinful habits that we are too blind to see, or too attached to to let go.

Whitley Phipps, a well known gospel singer, once said, “The greatest chink in the Christian’s armor today is that he thinks God is important….but not everything.” If you want to experience the power, love, freedom, and forgiveness that Jesus has for you, you need to believe that Jesus is everything. You need to be committed to do whatever you need to do in order to get to Jesus…even if that means digging a hole through the roof. It’s going to take effort. But you’ll be glad you did.

Mondays

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.—Psalms 34:7-10 (NIV)

One of the consistent bits of counsel I have received from pastors who have mentored me through the years is to not take Monday as a regular day off. The rationale being that you’re too tired from Sunday to be much of any good on Monday for family. I took this advice to heart from the beginning of my ministry.

Mondays tend to be quieter days at the office so I generally plan my Monday’s to be in the office from 9:00am-noon. During this time I’ll plan my week and do routine office work. Then noon-5:00pm I take for spiritual study, prayer, and reading. This is time that is more geared for myself and renewing my spiritual tanks than for doing church related work.

I have come to really look forward to this time. It is the one long period of the week that I have set aside to be in prayer, the Scriptures, and in the tutelage of greats who feed my soul like Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, Fenelon, and others.

However, one of the things I have been learning is that God wants me to hold loosely to this time. Not that it isn’t important, but God does not want me to get dependant on that time for my spiritual refreshment and renewal….He wants me to be looking to Him and him alone for my renewal and refreshment.

Today was a great example of this. A family in the church was having some serious problems with a neighbor—problems that may well become legal ones—and asked for a visit for prayer, support, and encouragement. The time they had to get together was Monday at lunch. When things like this come up, I have been learning not to see them as interruptions, but as special appointments God gives to remind me where my strength comes from. We don’t always get to choose the time or manner of God’s blessings.

It is easy for us to get anxious when God’s plans take us in different directions than we had been expecting. The way to respond to the temptation to be anxious, frustrated, or upset when God takes away a blessing we have been looking forward to away is to be learning to recognize and submit to His mighty hand. That means learning to rest in knowing that God knows what He is doing even when we don’t.

You don’t need to be anxious because God cares for you. You are important to Him! The Church is important to Him! It is the bride of His Son. When we have needs, we can feel free to bring them to Him. We have his promise that He will listen to us and that He will provide all we need.

One of the reasons that so many Christians struggle with anxiety is because God’s plan for you includes bringing you into places where you quickly realize that you don’t have what it takes: you don't have the resources, the confidence, the man power, or the finances.

God is not interested in making you feel capable. He is interested in helping you see that He is capable. He does this because God wants you to see how trustworthy and faithful He is. Trust Him to give you all you need. You’ll be glad you did.

Reading Chambers

My friend and mentor Charlie Jones is famous for saying, "You will be the same person five years from now that you are today except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read."

I don’t know about you, but I have been learning that if I want to change, grow, and mature as a Christian, a husband, a father, and pastor, I need to be reading. And not just reading anything, I need to be reading good, healthy, positive, God-honoring things. One of the books I am in the habit of reading is My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. This was the reading for November 30. Now before you ask, I know it is not November. Often in my study of Scripture I end up being led to books who speak to the passages I am studying. It was so good, I have reprinted it here for you in its entirety.

“By the Grace of God I Am What I Am”

“By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain …” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, “Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint.” But to say that before God means, “No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.” That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.

Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, “Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,” is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.

There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.

That is wonderful counsel. I hope God spoke truth to you through that reading as clearly as He did for me. You can always hear God speaking to you in the Bible. And you can often find great benefit in the wisdom and experience of good Christian men and women who have a passionate delight in God. Reading is one of the most important and effective ways God has provided for us to grow in Him. Make reading a daily habit. Get a copy of a good book like My Utmost for His Highest and start reading. You’ll be glad you did.

Let Go and Let God

In repentance and rest is your salvation.
Isaiah 30:15

A few years ago I taught a leadership class that used a video series by Ken Blanchard called Leadership by the Book. In one of those videos we were introduced to a Christian businessman named Ken Jennings. At one point in the video Ken shared a time when he was in the Air Force, when he had to parachute out of a plane as part of a training exercise. He jumped out and pulled the cord on his pack. The chute came out, but the cross winds they jumped into wrapped the chute around him like a shroud. Frantically he tried to untangle the parachute but to no avail. As he sped helplessly towards the ground, he prayed to God saying, “God the only way I will live is if You open my parachute, I cannot do it myself.” As soon as he stopped fighting and prayed that prayer, the parachute miraculously untangled and opened. He still hit the ground hard, but he was OK.

The popular adage, “let go and let God,” has a very real and powerful meaning to Ken. His experience is a good parable for us too. Apart from Christ’s love and forgiveness we are falling towards certain doom no less real or grave than Ken’s. And we too are made powerless to save ourselves. Our own sin has tangled us up, and without help from God we will die wrapped in our sins. When we accept God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ, God unwraps us from the power of sin and opens a parachute that He guides into His loving arms.

What I have been learning is that it is one thing to know this in your head, and it is another thing to believe it in your heart and live your life in the light of that truth. I have wasted a lot of time, energy, and effort on trying to get myself untangled from problems that were brought on by my own sins or the sins of others. You know something? I can’t fight sin! I am broken. I am weak. I am full of sin myself. How can I free myself from what I naturally produce? The answer of course, is that I cannot.

But Christ in me! He can fight sin! He defeated sin! He broke its power over me! I can be free of the tyranny and captivity of sin when I recognize that that is what Christ wants to do for me. I am free when I let Jesus be my Savior and stop pretending to do for myself what only He can do for me.

“Let go and let God” is easy to say but not easy to do. It takes effort. It takes perseverance. It takes tenacity. It takes learning humility, patience, and long-suffering. And of course, it takes trust and belief in God and in His ability and willingness to save and forgive.

God says our salvation is not based on our works, or our abilities, or our efforts, but on repentance and rest. Quit trying to open your parachute. You can’t. Repent to God for your sins that have wrapped you up and let God’s forgiveness set you free and open your chute. You’ll be glad you did.