Grace & Forgiveness

Grace is God's unmerited favor. It is kindness from God we don't deserve. There is nothing we have done, nor can ever do to earn this favor. It is a gift from God. Grace is divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration (rebirth) or sanctification; a virtue coming from God; a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine favor. (2)

• Grace in the Greek G5485 is God's divine influence on the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude: grace, favour, thanks, thank, pleasure, acceptable, benefit, gift, gracious, joy, liberality.
• Grace indicates favor on the part of the giver, thanks on the part of the receiver.
• Grace removes guilt.

Resource: The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

For more information on Grace see the download below:

Grace is the period of time we have to get it right, in other words, be sanctified. Grace is God teaching us what we need to know. ~ Henry W. Wright

Grace is God loving, God stooping, God coming to the rescue, God giving himself generously in and through Jesus Christ. ~ John Stott

Give the grace you've been given. You don't endorse the deeds of your offender when you do. Jesus didn't endorse your sins by forgiving you. It doesn't tell the oppressed to wink at injustice. The grace-defined person still sends thieves to jail and expects an ex to pay child support. Grace is not blind. It sees the hurt full well. But grace chooses to see God's forgiveness even more. It refuses to let hurts poison the heart. "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15 NIV). Where grace is lacking, bitterness abounds. Where grace abounds, forgiveness grows. ~ Max Lucado from his book Grace

Grace can be defined as "the influence or Spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them." ~ Debbie Morris from her book The Blessed Woman

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV)

8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV)

9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

Hebrews 12:15 (NIV)

15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

• Grace by Max Lucado

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The Bible states that when someone hurts us, we are under an obligation to God to forgive that person. Jesus is very clear on this point:

Matthew 6:14-15

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (NIV)

• Refusing to forgive is a sin. 

• If we receive forgiveness from God, we must give it to others who hurt us.

• We cannot hold grudges or seek revenge.

• We are to trust God for justice and forgive the person who offended us. That does not mean we must forget the offense, however; usually that's beyond our power.

• Forgiveness means releasing the other from blame, leaving the event in God's hands, and moving on.

• We may resume a relationship with the person if we had one, or we may not if one did not exist before. Certainly the victim of a crime has no obligation to become friends with the criminal. We leave it to the courts and to God to judge them.

Mark 11:25-26 (NKJV)

25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” 

Matthew 18:21-22 (NKJV)

21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." 

Matthew 6:14-15 (NKJV)

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Luke 6:37 (NKJV)

37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."

Colossians 3:13 (NKJV)

13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 

Answer:  Someone said, "They will not make their peace with me. It's one sided." It is not what they do; it is what you do. Someone has to get spiritual here. Why should you die because of the sins of another? I refuse to take other people's sins into my body. We have one Savior, and I am not Him.

I purpose to forgive all men and women, all humans, of everything they do. I choose to forgive their trespasses and their sins. To not do so is detrimental to my health. Unforgiveness is a sin unto death and produces disease unto death. It is critical that we be like our Father and forgive all manner of sin.

What do you do? You release them. You forgive them. In our teaching on what is called "separation", we are able to understand that what made us a victim also caused us to go into unforgiveness. We have made them one with evil. Paul said it was not even him doing it, but it was the sin that lived within him that was doing it.

"Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." Romans 7:17

I am able to understand that it is sin manifesting through that person whether it is a mother, a mother-in-law or whoever. It is something they are serving. They are allowing it to manifest through their members, and it is making a victim of you or me.

I have the right to hate that sin, as God hates it. Because I understand that it was not even them and they allowed it into their life, I am able to have compassion on them. That is what allows me to forgive them.

Someone said, "Well, if I forgive him or her, I am condoning it." No, you have a right to hate sin, but you have to love yourself and you have to love others because now you have compassion as to what motivated them.

When people did evil to me, in the old days before I had spiritual understanding, I would play ping-pong with them, repaying evil with evil. Today, I understand they are serving sin manifesting through them and I have compassion on them. Now I want to help them. Maybe they do not want to be helped and there is nothing I can do about that. I cannot do anything more for a person than they are already allowing God to do in their life anyway.

(Willard) Sometimes when people are not receiving from the Lord, we think we have to make up for that.

(Pastor Henry) No, we would become false burden bearers. I can be available, I can love, I can forgive, I can take you to the wells of living waters, but you are going to have to drink yourself.

I did not find in the Bible where we were to bottle feed anyone. The Bible says, 

"Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, let\lest thou also be tempted." Galatians 6:1

My business is restoration. My business loves my enemies. My business is being like my Father in heaven. That really is what we need to be considering and forgive. We do not have the luxury of unforgiveness and bitterness between us and other people because it is critical to our health.  

Resource: Pastor Henry Wright from It's A New Day Newsletter #10