Just as God in Christ Forgave You

One evening long ago I was standing behind a pulpit. I was planning to speak to a congregation about the power of forgiveness. As I read the Scripture I was planning to expound on, the Scripture suddenly meant something different than what it meant in my mind when I planned my talk.  

The Scripture that changed in my mind was, “…forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you.” That phrase was in Ephesians 4:29-32. Before I stood up, it meant to me the same thing Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “forgive us, the same way we forgive others.” We should forgive people, like our God forgave us.  

While it was coming out of my mouth, the Holy Spirit said to me, “Forgive one another, with the same power strength and power Source your Father used to forgive you – Jesus Christ.” The only place we can find the power for forgiveness is in the work done on the cross. He has created the power to forgive. We can’t have access to that kind of power anywhere or anyhow else.  

So – take the power that Jesus made available for forgiveness, and apply it to every sin that comes against you. He died for our sins against Him and for our sins against each other, so all sin is really against Him now. That means that all sin is really paid for by Him now. That means that you have plenty of power to forgive any sin, so the hard part is now simply deciding to be obedient and do it. So – do it.