Among other things, you could say the Bible is a book of mathematics. Indeed, the more you study the Bible, the more you realize that it is the most versatile book in the world. You start to see it as a book of surgeries, medicine, and so on. In the math aspect, we see that the Bible contains several wonderful equations, one of which we considered in a previous post. Now, we turn our attention to a different equation, the forgiveness equation.
Anytime we see an equation in the Bible, we do well to pay close attention. It is not a mathematical function that God uses too often. Take the equation in a previous post, for instance. Your life prospers as your soul prospers. If, for instance, your soul is starving because you have not been feeding on the word of God, nothing else in your life can prosper. It is serious math, but perhaps not as solemn as with the forgiveness equation.
Now, you may not agree that anything about forgiveness is severe for the child of God. After all, God forgave us of all our sins the minute we accepted Jesus into our lives. Jesus took all our sins, past, present, and future, to the cross, and nobody can argue with that. However, Jesus Himself left us a pattern of prayer where the forgiveness equation features prominently.
He prayed, in part, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Please find time soon to study the prayer in the 6th chapter of the book of Matthew. Do not pay attention only to the forgiveness equation. Study how to pray and how not to repeat yourself in prayer, or you may be guilty of praying amiss, as in James 4.3.
The Forgiveness Equation Is Critical
Our Master does not want us to pray as if He were deaf or stubborn, so He asked us to avoid repetition. Not only did Jesus want us to ask for forgiveness, but He also thought it was important enough to come at the beginning of the petition section of the prayer. Start by worshiping God, and ask for your food so you can be alive long enough to sin. Then, boom! We have the forgiveness equation. I wonder why Jesus thought forgiveness so critical that He put it before deliverance from the devil.
“I have forgiven her, but I will not forget the hurt she visited on me.” Liar, liar, pants on fire, to quote Judge Judy. How can you forgive and still remember? Especially when you claim to be following Jesus, who both forgives and forgets? He promised that He will remember our sins no more, and yet, claiming to be a child in the family of God, remember my sin?
Sorry, but according to the forgiveness equation, as long as you keep recalling my sin, God will keep recalling yours. Remember, it is an equation. I believe this is why Jesus put it next after food. Eat so you can be alive to ask God for forgiveness, knowing that He will forgive you in proportion to how you forgive me. He wanted to ensure the other needs, such as keeping us out of trouble and deliverance from all enemies, do not muddle the issue of forgiveness.
You can sing like an angel, but if your sins are not forgiven because you refuse to forgive others, you cannot be delivered. Your heart is hard, and just as Pharaoh died needlessly, the unforgiving person will die.
Are We Saying Forgiveness Is Easy?
A person who refuses to forgive others, according to the forgiveness equation, does not need prayer against temptation. He has already been tempted, and he has fallen into it. As for deliverance from satan and his cohorts, prayers of deliverance, even if offered all night, cannot save him. The only way such a person can enjoy deliverance is by revisiting the forgiveness equation and repenting. Forgive and forget, even as God does. Otherwise, according to the forgiveness equation, prepare to live with your sin, apart from God.
Are we suggesting that it is easy to forgive? Not at all. But when you remember that you cannot receive forgiveness from God unless and until you forgive others, you will work at it. Something I heard many years ago helps me, and it may help you. Unforgiveness is like swallowing poison and hoping the other person dies.
The way I look at it is this. Try holding a piece of cork, Styrofoam, or anything that tends to float in a river for any length of time. The other person’s sin represents the floating substance. The river is the flow of God’s love, which you hope has carried your sin as far as the east is from the west. In a few minutes, your back and arms begin to ache. That is how unforgiveness is, even on a small, physical scale.
Now, when you consider the spiritual aspect, the forgiveness equation, I hope you know that unforgiveness will land a person straight in hell. That is why Jesus stated it as a mathematical function. Whether old or modern math, 2 = 2 is always equal to 4. Jesus did not want us to try to rationalize it. You refuse to forgive, God retains your sin, no ifs or buts.
Maranatha!
