Word On The Street: Forgiveness

Take at least few minutes to read Matthew 18:21-35 for this week’s passage of the “Word On The Street”.

What does it mean to forgive someone? This word, “forgiveness”, is a word that we all know, but wrongly applied majority of the time in our lives. Let me give you 10 things from my brother, Mark Driscoll, of what forgiveness is NOT:
1.) Approving or Diminishing
2.) Enabling Sin
3.) Denying a wrongdoing
4.) Waiting for an apology
5.) Forgetting
6.) Ceasing to feel the pain
7.) A one time event
8.) Neglecting justice
9.) Trusting
10.) Reconciliation



Before the passage (Matthew 18:15-20), Jesus taught on confronting your brother who sinned against you. In this passage, Jesus taught on forgiving someone who sinned against you. If you’re not able to forgive someone, then your sins are not forgiven because asking God’s forgiveness requires forgiving others.

Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

As we see in this parable in the bigger context, Jesus is speaking about what kingdom of heaven is like. So what does it mean to forgive someone who sinned against you? The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. The king forgave the servant when he asked for forgiveness. Did this servant deserve any forgiveness with the amount of debt that he owed to the king? I would say “No” because he doesn’t deserve it. But the king, out of grace and pity, still forgave him. This is what the kingdom of heaven may be like.
What is the kingdom of heaven NOT like? In contrast, the same servant hunted down one of his fellow servant because he was in debt to him. He didn’t forgive him, he even choked him and put him in prison. As a result, he was reported to the king by his own fellow servants because “they were greatly distressed”. It was painful to watch, and I wonder what they were thinking. “Wait a minute, this doesn’t seem moral, and seem injustice. You were forgiven by the king but you weren’t able to forgive your servant?” The king was furious, saying, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”

Why wasn’t the servant able to forgive? The answer to this question is found in the last verse of this passage: “If you do not forgive your brother FROM YOUR HEART.” What does this all mean? You and I have heard of Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel. Most of us went to Sunday School and learned about God’s forgiveness and love for the world by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins so that we are able, by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, to come to Jesus and live a new life in repentance, which leads to holiness. This is what we call sanctification. The servant wasn’t able to forgive is due to the issue of the heart. Let me ask you this: where is your heart at? Because I know some of you have heard of God’s forgiveness. Some of you might have asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins, but did this experience of forgiveness genuinely transformed your heart?  A transformed heart must result in a changed life that offers the same mercy and forgiveness as has been received from God. Someone who does not grant forgiveness to others shows that his own heart has not experienced God’s forgiveness. Throughout Scripture, the heart refers to the center of one’s being, including one’s reason, emotions, and will.

In our lives, we all have spiritual debt that we owe to God. Our standard credit is holiness. Since we have fallen short of the glory of God, we are no longer holy, but wicked and sinful man and woman. In order for any of us to be with God, we are called to be holy as He is holy. Different religions teach you about working your way to heaven or do good deeds or follow the moral standard of this culture or try to balance over our bad deeds with the good deeds. But no matter how hard we try to be perfect, we can never reach God’s standard because our heart cannot be changed by religious good deeds. Imagine I put a little bit of poison on a bucket of water, for example, would you still drink it? If I add more water onto it (without overflowing), then would you still drink it? I would hope you say “no”. Ever since we were born, we have done nothing but sin or rebel against God. Every sin we have committed, we are already in debt. I cannot imagine myself ever finish paying that debt because everyday I sin. Just like the servant, who fell on his knees, and begged for mercy, the king was willing to forgive his debts and wipe his credit clean. Jesus came and suffered on the cross in our behalf to pay the penalty of our debt, our sin, while we were suppose to be the ones who should deserve that penalty. Every sin that I have committed in my life, from the time I was born until now, Jesus died for it. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) As He promised, He resurrected from the dead to give us new life and live free from debt if we repent of sin and believe in Jesus and what He did for us. It all come down to the heart issue. What is holding you back from forgiving? Better question: What is holding you back from receiving forgiveness of sin? I am willing to forgive, although it’s hard sometimes, because Jesus forgave me even though I don’t deserve it. Thank Jesus for erasing our debt and purchasing our salvation.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. “(Colossians 2:13-15)