Have you ever heard of the old clique that says "Forgive and Forget"?

How many of us can say we have actually achieved it? Often times we are really hurt, this is very difficult to achieve. Here are 4 questions that I would just like to put out there for all to think of.
1. How may of you have failed your spouse this past year?
2. How many of you have failed your loved ones this past year?
3. How many of you have failed your friends this past year?
4. How many of you have failed the Lord this past year?

If we really want to see and understand what forgiveness is, we need to go to the Cross and Calvary.
a. At Calvary, John 3:16 becomes a reality
b. At Calvary, we understand Rom. 5:8
c. At Calvary, we understand the prophecy of Isaiah 53:5 came true
For a moment, let's look back at those key people at Calvary:

1. There were the self righteous Organized religionists of their day--The Scribes and Pharisees. They hated Jesus because He did not meet their mode of worship and their manner of traditional ceremonialism.

2. There were the Roman soldiers who crucified Him and cared less about His agony and suffering.

3. There were the mockers and accusers, who wagged their heads and their tongues against Jesus.

4. There were Christ's mother and John--friends and family who were shocked, stunned and crushed about what had happened.

5. The repentant thief who was saved.

If you stop and look for a moment, these 5 kinds of people mentioned are representative of society today but, that's another message for another day.
Religionist-- unsaved church members Soldiers--those in society who care less about Christ in their lives, Accusers--mockers of Christianity, cultists, false teachers, atheists, etc., Friiends who know Chris, but are confused and distressed about things within and without the body of Christ--The Church. The thief, who was guilty as charged, acknowledged his need, and was saved.

Here are 4 things we need to realize today about Forgiveness.

I. Our Need of Forgiveness: Look at those involved in this event.

a. Judas, who betrayed Christ, needed forgiveness
b. The Jewish Religionists who pleaded for Christ's crucifixion needed forgiveness
c. The soldiers who crucified Jesus, needed forgivenessd
d. The tongue waggers and accusers needed forgiveness
e. The disciples who fled and Peter who lied, needed forgiveness
f. We today, need forgiveness

II. The meaning of Forgiveness:

a. Jesus asked God to forgive them. Seeing His Son die like this grieved God even though He knew it must be.
b. If you look at the events prior to the actual crucifixion, Christ was questioned, wrongfully accused, beaten, hit in the face, mocked by soldiers, had his beard pulled out, spit on, laughed at, etc. yet he never said anything hateful or retalitory to the Soldiers nor did He lash out against them. He actually healed one soldier, of a severed ear, right in the middle of His arrest. (if you remember, Peter drew his sword and cut it off)!
Forgiveness is to hold and wrong against someone, no more! You ask, how in the world do you do that?
You see, there is a difference between God's ways and man's ways. Remember when Peter came to Jesus and asked him if a brother sinned against him, how many times was he to forgive him, 7 times. Jesus answer was "70 times 7". Matt. 18:21-22.

Eph. 4:32 says "be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. We aren't forgiven because of who we are, we are forgiven because of who Christ is.

When you and your spouse of friend get into a spat or argument. What makes it better? What restores the relationship? Saying "I am sorry". Admitting our actions were wrong--asking for forgiveness.

Let's look at God's way for a moment--Isaiah 43:25 says that He (God) is the one who blots out our transgressions for His own sake and will not remember our sins.
Psalms, 103-11-12, David wrote these words after his terrible sins stemming from adultery, murder, deceit.
David speaks of God's mercy and forgiveness and our sins are removed from us as far as the East is from the West. Hebrews 10: 12-17 speaks of the atonement of Christ's blood and that our sins and iniquities will be remembered no more.

See, God forgives and forgets. We say we forgive but, how often do we really forget?

III. The result of Forgiveness:

a. The joy of renewed and restored fellowship.
b. the love of knowing we have been forgiven
c. look at the prodigal son in Luke 15. When the son repented, the Father said "Bring forth the BEST ROBE".
not just any robe, the BEST robe. What our Heavenly Father has for us is the best because there is always a plan and a purpose behind ever action of God, whether we understand it or not.

IV. How do we receive forgiveness:
A. Repentance--We must realize our sin, recognize our need, then ask God for the Forgiveness needed..

B. Faith--Many people today ask for forgiveness but, they carry the remembrance and the burden of sin with them. This is like bringing a large rock to Christ, with the word SIN engraved in it. We ask Christ to remove the sin, then, we carry the rock around with us, after He has forgiven and removed the sin. Jesus said "come unto me, all ye that labor and are HEAVY LADEN, and I will give you REST. You can't rest if you are still carrying the burden of sin with you every day!!!!!!

If you have sinned, as for forgiveness, take that forgiveness with faith and feel free in Jesus. If the son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36

Start out the New Year ----FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forgive those things which are behind and start the New Year Free--Closer to Heaven in Two Thousand eleven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oldbiker