Why should we expect God to do for us what we wont do for others?

3. Forgiving So We Can Be
Forgiven!
Mt 18:21-22 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.

5. It is clear that the need of their day
is no different than our day!
People need forgiveness and people need
to be willing to forgive!
▪ “A father may forgive, but he never _____!”
▸What he says and what he means are two very
different things!
▸What is sad is that this is often how we behave!
▪ Even when someone has asked for our
forgiveness, we are often quick to keep bringing it
back up!

6. Let’s read the whole story together!
(Mt. 18:-21-35)
Mt 18:35 "So My heavenly Father also will do to
you if each of you, from his heart, does not
forgive his brother his trespasses."
▪ True forgiveness doesn’t take place in our
heads, but in our hearts!
▪ Christians should understand better than
anyone what forgiveness is all bout!
▸When we obey the Gospel all our sins are
forgiven and we are set free! (Act. 2:38)

7. I. What God Has Done!
▪ When we come to trust in God and submit to Him
in baptism our sins are forgiven!
▸Heb 5:9 “And having been perfected, He
became the author of eternal salvation to all who
obey Him.”
▸Act 22:16 “And now why are you waiting? Arise
and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling
on the name of the Lord.”
▪ We become “justified from sin!”
▸Just-as-if-I-never-sinned!

8. The sinless one, took the payment of
the sinful ones so we could be forgiven!
The ministry of reconciliation!(2 Cor.5:18-21)
▪ 2 Cor 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.
▪ Everyone of us is like the 1st servant in the
story (Mt. 18:23-35) we owe far more than we
could ever even dream to pay!
▸Our only hope is to seek mercy and
forgiveness!

9. Understanding what God has done
for us!
▪ Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more. (10:17)
▸Indeed there is a great deal we can learn about
forgiveness from God and what it really means to
forgive!
▸God doesn’t just put a bandage on us, He heals the
wound!
▪ 1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.

10. II. What We Must Do!
▪ It is only after we properly understand what God
has done, that we can know what we must do!
▪ One might be surprised just how many times we
are told in the Bible to “forgive!”
▸“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors!” (Mt. 6:12) Jesus goes on to state that
if we forgive we are forgiven, if do not forgive,
then we will not be forgiven! (14,15)
▸“When we stand praying, forgive!”(Mk.11:25)

11. What is the point in the story Jesus is
telling? (Mt. 18:28-35)
▪ Our “many” sins that we have been forgiven of,
are far greater than the “few” sins that others have
sinned against us!
▪ Imagine two list with me, 1st all the sins we have
sinned against God (our Master) and 2nd all the
sins anyone has sinned against us!
▸Which list is longer, greater?
▸God has been merciful enough to forgive us of
many sins, we now need to forgive others!

12. III. What Happens if We Don't!
▪ It is important for us to understand that our
forgiveness is conditional on us being willing to
forgive other!
▸Mt. 6:12, 14-15
▸Mk. 11:25-26
▸Mt. 18:35
▪ We cannot expect to get what we are unwilling to
give!
▸Just as God doesn’t expect us to do what He is
not willing to do, it works both ways!

13. When we come to trust in God and
obey Him we are forgiven!
This is where we start and not where we stop!
▪ For us to continue to receive God’s forgiveness
we must learn to be forgiving!
▪ To continue to receive God’s mercy we must be
merciful!
▸Jas 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to the
one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs
over judgment.
▪ God is only calling us to do what He is doing!

14. Conclusion:
▪ We of all people should understand what
forgiveness is all about!
▪ Now, we do acknowledge that this forgiveness is
not without condition, but we must always be
“willing” to forgive!
▪ Col 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving
one another, if anyone has a complaint against
another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also
must do.
▪ Have you been forgiven and set free?

15. “Living with the saints
above will be heavenly
glory, living with the saints
below, not that is a different
story!”