Chapter 5

Forgiveness and Restoration

When forgiveness and restoration are the subject, Christ is our great example. In our dealings with the Lord, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn.l:9). The interpretation of this verse relates to Christians and the government of God. Application can be made to the unsaved in a gospel sense.

Once sin is confessed the Lord forgives it without our begging, pleading or "praying through," as some insist we must do. However, there may still be natural consequences like liver damage from excessive alcohol or an arrest-record after a robbery, but the formerly sinning Christian can be assured of God's forgiveness the moment he truly confesses his sin to his loving Father.

The general "kingdom" principle for all who profess to be subject to the King is found in Matthew 6:14-15. These verses also have family overtures, for they say, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Simple enough? God expects His family to be forgiving people. To be unforgiving is disobedience and will bring the chastening hand of a loving Father. See also the parable on forgiveness in Matthew 18:21-35, especially verse 35.

Today, the Church is not spoken of as being subjects of the King, although it is true enough. The reason is that we have a much more honored and close relationship to the Lord. We are the body of the exalted, heavenly Head; we are the dwelling place of God; we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ; and the future bride of Christ. We are His brethren! In this unique family of God, how much more vital is forgiveness, how much more a sin to be unforgiving!

In Ephesians 4:32 we have the measure of our required forgiveness. We are to forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us! God has forgiven us much more than we can ever forgive others. And He forgave us when we deserved the very opposite! What love!

We don't forgive on the basis of a balance-scale. One might argue, "That person hurt me for 20 years: he has damaged my family and done great harm to the Lord's testimony. Now yon want me to forgive him? No way! Not till he comes crawling on his hands and knees and I've made him sweat it out for quite a while." Sound familiar? Now, that may be human justice or even justice under the Mosaic law, but it's not divine forgive ness under Christianity. If this truly nasty, carnal, fleshly Christian repents and confesses his evil ways, and it appears to be genuine, I am to forgive, period! Nothing else will do. There are to be no conditions.

What if the person sins again? The same problem-solving course is taken. If the sin is confessed, forgive! Peter thought, in Christian kindness, maybe, that process should go on up to seven times, seven being the number of perfection or completeness. No, answered the Lord, that's incorrect! You, Peter, and all other believers, are to forgive until 70 times 7 "processes" have run their course (Mt.l8:21-22). In Luke 17:4 it is seven times even in one day! In practical terms, the Lord says the spiritual believer never runs out of the spirit of forgiveness. Don't let anything hamper your forgiveness!

Restoration

We all unfortunately get away from the Lord to a greater or lesser extent and commit trespasses as a result. As we have seen, we are forgiven by the Lord as soon as our sin is confessed and forsaken, and we who have been forgiven by the Lord, also should be forgiven by our fellow brethren! But we still likely will be uncomfortable around the one(s) we sinned against. We need restoration. Paul says restoration is a "must" (Gal.6:l). It's not easy work; it's not work to be done by a novice or a fleshly person; it's work for spiritual brothers and sisters. One is dealing with spiritual/moral defilement; consequently, great sensitivity - a gift from God - is needed. One unspiritual, unscriptural move could have disastrous, long term consequences. Let's make reasonably sure we qualify before Involving ourselves in the work of restoration.

In John 13:3-16 we have our Lord's example in washing the feet of the disciples. Impulsive Peter didn't think it proper to have the Lord wash his feet, so he protested. The protest quickly ended when the Lord told him he could have no part with (not in) Him without the feet washing. Peter then wanted a bath. No, the Lord explained, you already have been washed all over: you've been born again; but your feet get defiled as you walk in this world and you need your fellow-believers to gently help get worldly defilement off your body and to restore you to happy communion with your Christian family. We all need such Christian restoration. We need spiritual feet-washing!

We've already seen that the immoral Christian man of 1 Corinthians 5 was restored in 2 Corinthians 2. Carefully notice the words in verses 7-8. "You ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him." This man had greatly damaged God's testimony. You can imagine his terrible sorrow when he finally realized what he had done to God's honor and to his brethren. The brethren therefore were to forgive and to specially comfort him and make sure he was comfortable with them. That is restoration! The former sinning believer is no longer shut away from family communion; he is back at the family feast and is warmly received and treated again as one of the family, as if the sin had never taken place. He is restored.

Roger P. Daniel