How can we call ourselves Christians when we wont forgive! It appears that we should all take a few minutes and read what “The Savior” has to say about the life of a Christian.

Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

Mark 11:25-26, 25″Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”

If you can read at a 3rd-grade level you can easily see that forgiveness is a necessity, not an option for the Christ follower.

At what point in our history did we choose to become gods? I just don’t understand how we expect God to give us the moon (as if we deserve it) and not give of ourselves to those we feel don’t deserve it.

Can it be that we have taken God’s word out of context? I’ve heard many people paraphrase John 20:23 to imply that they have God’s authority to forgive or not with His blessing. Lets read it together: John 20:23, “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

With immaturity and lack of biblical knowledge. I can see how you could take it way out of context. And if you did, then the Bible would have many contradictions. Such as the above referenced scriptures. So what is John 20:23 really about?

First lets look at what happened in the book of Mark chapter 2. Jesus pronounces forgiveness to the paralyzed man. In verse 7, the Pharisees were thinking: “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” See, they even knew that it is only God that can forgive sin, not man. And right they were, yet did not believe that Jesus was the Son. In John 20:23 we are being told that we can boldly declare the certainty of our forgiveness by God because of what Jesus did on the cross.
Furthermore as a believer, you with absolute certainty can tell a person that if they do not accept Christ as their “Savior” their sins have not been forgiven. It is more of a proclamation that we as believers can state with confidence. It does not give us authority to forgive.

If you are one of those that like to argue for the sake of arguing, let me put it this way. If you feel that the statement in John 20 gives you this authority then read once again mark 6:15. “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

So if your going to stand your ground on John 20:23 think again, you’ve just bound yourself by God’s word and you will not be forgiven either. See how God’s word will never come back void. It is true, clear and perfect in every way.

This is not an a la cart faith, is it? No Lord, I don’t want my portion of meekness. You can give that to someone that needs it. And since I have room on my plate now, why don’t you give me a double portion of prosperity.

In the words of author John Piper, “Thank you God for Future Grace”