Bible Studies

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11/2014
The many benefits of forgiveness.

Of all the Biblical concepts, forgiveness is one that The Father and The Son repeatedly taught, practiced and promoted in the earth among mankind.

From early Biblical times The Father spoke of and promised to forgive the children of Israel. It was conditional, which means it was based on certain actions being carried out. The children of Israel had to sacrifice animals regularly in order to be forgiven of their sins. God's edict was that without the shedding of blood there would not be remission or forgiveness. As individuals and families brought bulls, goats or doves to the High Priest sins would be forgiven.

This was a temporary spiritual benefit of forgiveness until the next year.

In Jeremiah 31 : 27 -34 The Father promised forgiveness as part of a coming New Covenant
in which He said;
.....they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive
their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” He promised a time when the regular sacrifices would not be needed.

Joseph forgave his brothers who hated him enough to kill him. They sold him into slavery. His life journey takes him
to false imprisonment and eventually to political leadership in Egypt. As Pharaoh's second man he was able to help enrich
his adopted nation and help his own family in a time of national starvation. He forgave his brothers.
The benefits are physical for his family especially for his elderly father who thought he was dead.
The benefits are also relational and emotional because his relationship with his brothers is restored [Genesis 37 - 46}.

David a young shepherd was anointed to be the next king of his people. Therefore he was hated by King Saul who attempted to kill him many times. David forgave him. Years later David becomes God's anointed king in Israel.
He received spiritual benefits. God chose David to be the line from which Jesus the Messiah, His Son would come.......God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said,
'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.' [Acts 13:22].


Forgiveness was frequently taught and exemplified by Jesus Christ to his disciples and to the people who listened to him.
In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus make several references to forgiveness.
The benefits He promised are spiritual , emotional, relational and physical. In Matthew 6: 14-15 Jesus said that they should
forgive the debts, trespasses and sins of offenders so that God the Father would forgive them. Knowing that God has
forgiven you would make you happy and give you peace of mind whereas holding on to offense can make you physically
and mentally sick.

A more permanent forgiveness is achieved when we understand and accept that Jesus came to the earth to die for our sins.

In Matthew he shared a final meal with a difference;
the symbolism of the broken bread to his `soon to be broken' flesh and the `poured out' wine to his blood that would pour out of his body - shed during the beatings and the scourging and the crucifixion that he would encounter. He knew he was soon to be crucified.

Instead of the Old Testament lamb He would be the Lamb of God so he gave his life as a ransom for all time.

The benefits of this supreme forgiveness purchased by His blood were spiritual, physical, emotionally and relational;
spiritually we were forgiven and redeemed,
physically because he said that by His stripes we are/were healed,
emotionally because hearts now set free from bondage to sin and
relationally because He made us sons of God and adopted us into His Kingdom out of the kingdom of death into life everlasting. [Colossians 1 :14].


Isaiah [chapter 33:20 - 24] prophesied about a promised time in Zion [Heavenly Jerusalem] when the people will not ever be sick and will be forgiven from sins and wrongdoing.

Medical research done by the Mayo Clinic confirm that there are many physical, relational and emotional benefits that we experience when we forgive. A PBS presentation published the findings
[http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/forgiveness/understanding-forgiveness.]

It states that
"The growing body of research on forgiveness is finding that people who forgive are more likely than the general population to have:
-Fewer episodes of depression
-Higher self-esteem
-More friends
-Longer marriages
-Lower blood pressure
-Closer relationships
-Fewer stress-related health issues
-Better immune system function
-Lower rates of heart disease and
they are more likely to be happy, serene, empathetic, hopeful, and agreeable."
The benefits described here are emotional, relational and physical.

Forgiveness is always beneficial.
Recent historic events show that there are vivid examples in our society.
Nelson Mandela was a prominent black South African who in his early youth and manhood years experienced racial apartheid and cruelty by White South Africans. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for his attempts to disrupt the apartheid government by peaceful methods. After 27 years imprisonment he was released and chose to forgive the White South Africans.

His exact words were "As I walked out of the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew that if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison".
He eventually became the first black president of his county.
The benefits were relational and emotional.

Young children are often subjected to gross abuse by adults.
One such case is Joyce Myers who is today a very vocal television Christian preacher.
She has openly forgiven her abusive father and her mother who knowingly did not protect her. She used the lessons learned as a positive platform to help others and has helped her parents
in the later years of their lives.
In her case the benefits were spiritual, emotional and relational.

The penultimate forgiver was Jesus himself. He was sinless yet he was cruelly tortured and crucified. He was beaten, scourged, spat on and nailed to a cross in order to set his people [you and I] free from the dominion of sin and death,and to restore Creation to its former owner who is God the Creator. Luke reports that the final words Jesus said on the cross was
"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" [Luke 22:34} If He could forgive torturers then so can we.

We benefit from His example. We benefit spiritually as we suffer for the sake of the Cross. Many Christians are being tortured or have been tortured for their faith. This torture is presently happening in countries that do not believe in Jesus as Redeemer and Savior. In some Middle Eastern, African and Eastern countries today there is daily evidence of this.

Forgiveness does not imply passivity. It takes greater strength of character and grace to forgive when one is wronged. We may be wronged at work, in traffic, the supermarket or at home. In forgiving we shed the load of carrying that memory if we give the issue to Jesus. We let Him be the Judge.

Abused wives and employees are prime examples.

My personal testimony is that I have had to forgive employers and fellow employees for unfair treatment. I felt such emotional, spiritual and physical relief in doing so because
I was no longer having angry and vengeful thoughts.

We must gave it over to Jesus and asked Him for the strength to keep on forgiving as he instructed us to do and as He himself demonstrated on The Cross.

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