FORGIVE AND FORGIVENESS

(Heb. “nasa”) – means to forgive, to lift up or away.

Psa. 32:1, 2, 5 Who is blessed (happy)?

Are you blessed (happy) today? Why?

If not, how can you be (vs. 5)?

What should that result in?

Gen. 37:3, 4, 26-28; 45:5-11; 50:15-21 Why did Joseph’s brothers hate him (vs. 3)?

What did Joseph’s brothers do to him (vs. 27)?

What was Joseph’s attitude toward his brothers and toward what they did to him?

If you were Joseph, how would you have reacted to your brothers, who wanted to kill you, but instead sold you into slavery, and why?

Gen. 27:1-45; 33:1-11 What two things did Jacob take from Esau (vs. 36)?

What was Esau’s attitude (27:41) toward Jacob?

After several years had passed, Jacob returns home, but with fear that his brother Esau might still want to kill him. How did Esau respond (33:4)?

How would you have responded to Jacob, if you were Esau, and why?

1 Sam. 23:15; 24:10-22 What did Saul want to do to David?

What could David have done to Saul?

What did David do instead?

What did Saul say to David as a result (24:17-20)?

What would you have done if you were David and could have gotten rid of the person (Saul) that wanted to take your life, and why?

(Heb. “sallach”) – means to forgive, to send away, let go.

Psa. 86:4, 5 What does the Psalmist say about the Lord?

How does knowing this about God affect your attitude toward God, and why?

And toward other people, and why?

(Gk. “aphiemi”) – means to send, let off or away; remit; to forgive; to release from a penalty rightly due.

Lk. 17:3, 4 If a Christian person sins but then repents (changes his/her thinking that what he/she did or said to you was wrong), what should be our response to him/her?

What if he repeatedly sins against you even in the same day, but repents each time?

Is this what you actually do when a person sins against you and then repents? Why?

What makes it hard for you to forgive (not hold resentment and/or hold revenge toward) someone who sins against you?

How can you overcome this?

What if the person does not repent, should we forgive him/her anyway, and why (Eph. 4:32)?

Matt. 18:15-17 How should a sinning Christian be dealt with?

Have you ever not reproved a sinning Christian when you should have? If so, why?

Do you realize that reproving an unrepentant believer (a believer who won’t admit that what he/she did was wrong and refuses to stop doing it) is in everyone’s best interest if done with the motive of love?

[If a sin is committed in private, it should first be dealt with in private rather than gossiped about, but if the sinning believer does not confess and repent of his/her sin (change his/her thinking regarding the sin that it’s wrong and is not to be repeated again), then he/she is to be disassociated from you and your group of believers.].

Matt. 18:23-35 How did the king respond to the plea of the slave who owed him 10,000 talents?

Does forgiving someone mean that you necessarily have to have the same relationship to him/her as you had before he/she sinned against you, and why?

How did the slave react to his fellow-slave who owed him a hundred denarii?

When the lord heard about this, what did he say to the slave, whom he had recently forgiven (vss. 32, 33)?

What did the lord then do to the slave?

What does it say will be the heavenly Father’s response, if each of us does not forgive his Christian brother from his heart (vs. 35)?

What do you think it means to forgive from your heart?

Would you have acted more like the lord who forgave the slave or the slave who threw his fellow-slave in prison, and why?

When you forgive someone, is it from the heart (genuinely and sincerely) or just the mouth, and how do you know?

Matt. 6:12, 14, 15 In this prayer to God, how is the person praying asking God to forgive him his debts (moral debts or sins)?

Is this the way you think or pray? Why?

Is there any relationship to the way you want God to forgive you and the way you forgive others? If so, what?

What is the consequence of our not forgiving people?

Matt. 18:21, 22 How many times should we forgive a brother/believer who sins against us?

Is there anyone who has seemingly sinned against you that many times?

If so, what has been your response to that person, and why?

If it hasn’t been one of forgiveness, why not?

How can we develop a forgiving attitude?

[Though you should forgive (stop being resentful toward) a person who sins against you, it doesn’t mean you necessarily have to continue associating with that individual – Prov. 20:19; 22:5, 10, 24, 25; 24:1, 2, 21; 1 Cor. 5:9-13; 15:33; 2 Thes. 3:6; 6:14, 15; Titus 3:10, 11.].

Lk. 23:33, 34 What was Jesus’ attitude toward those who were crucifying Him?

Why (see Acts 2:23; 4:27, 28 for additional reason)?

What do you think your attitude would have been toward those who were crucifying you, if you were in Jesus’ place, and why?

Lk. 7:37-50 Why were the immoral woman’s sins forgiven (vs. 50)?

What seems to be the relationship between being forgiven and loving the one who’s forgiving you (vs. 47)?

How much do you love Jesus, and why?

Is the degree you love Him seen by how much you obey and trust Him?

Has a heart of repentance and faith saved you?

Do you forgive great sinners, if they exhibit a repentant heart, and why?

Mk. 11:25, 26 What should we do whenever we pray?

Why?

What if we don’t forgive others (Matt. 6:15)?

Why do you think God would respond this way?

Have you ever found yourself praying, while on your conscience is the thought of a grudge or bitterness against someone? What did you do about it, and why?

Acts 10:36, 43 Who receives forgiveness of sins?

Do you qualify? What does it really mean to believe in Christ?

Rom. 12:17, 19 What should we never do?

Do you ever take your own revenge? Why?

What should we do instead?

Will you be responding in this way from now on? Why?

1 Jn. 2:12 On what basis are our sins forgiven, and what does that mean?

How does realizing this influence your appreciation for Jesus?

Is there any visible evidence of demonstrating this? If so, how?

Mk. 3:22-30 What was Jesus accused of doing (vs. 22)?

The miracles that Jesus performed were done as a sign for the Jews to show them (or attest to the fact) that Jesus was their Savior. Casting out demons was one of these attesting miracles to His Messiahship.

Since the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts people of sin and Christ’s righteousness (Jn. 16:7-11) and causes a person to be born again (Jn. 3:5) spiritually, then rejection of the Holy Spirit’s attesting miracles done through the person of Christ to show them that Christ in fact is their Savior, will only lead to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which in essence is “the sin of unbelief” – rejecting the Holy Spirit’s conviction regarding Christ’s Messiahship (being the Savior that is to be trusted for salvation).

Realizing the above then, is it even possible for a Christian to commit this sin?

Or for anyone, for that matter, to commit this sin apart from the time that Jesus was on earth physically?

(Gk. “charisomia”) – means to bestow favor unconditionally or to be gracious to; to forgive; cease being resentful toward.

Eph. 4:31, 32 (Col. 3:13) What should be put away from us?

And how should we be toward one another?

To what degree should we be forgiving?

Is this how you are acting toward your fellow Christians?

Is your forgiveness to the same extent as that of Christ’s? How can it be, if it is not?

Col. 2:13, 14 How many of our sins has God forgiven those of us who have been made alive together with Christ (when we became a Christian by faith, Eph. 2:5)?

How did God accomplish this?

How does knowing that you are forgiven for all of your sins affect you (specifically – e.g., guilt feelings, mercy towards others, etc.)?

1 Jn. 1:9 If we confess our sins, what is God faithful and righteous to do?

[If you confess the sins you know about, God will not only forgive you for them, but will also cleanse you from all the sins you committed that you are unaware of.].

How does knowing this affect your attitude toward God and the way you live, and why?

Or, your attitude of forgiving others?

[If we’ve been forgiven for all of our sins already as Christians (Col. 2:13, 14), then why should we confess our sins? The reason is: though we are positionally forgiven for all of our sins as believers, that is, in our eternal, heavenly standing and destiny with God, we are forgiven (Eph. 2:4-6), we need to be forgiven in our daily experience with God for our present relationship/fellowship with Him, 1 Jn. 1:6.].

1 Cor. 5:1, 2 with 2 Cor. 2:6-8, 11 What sin had this man committed?

After punishing him, what should their attitude now be toward him, and why?

What does Paul urge those Christians to do in their relationship to this punished Christian (2 Cor. 2:8, 11)?

Will you?

Acts 13:5, 13; 15:36-40 What had John Mark done that caused Paul to not want Mark associating with him/Paul on another missionary journey?

[Just because you forgive someone for a sin (in this case, John’s unfaithfulness in deserting Paul and the missionary task they were on) doesn’t mean you have to continue associating with that person after you forgive them. If a person reestablishes trust to your satisfaction, then the relationship may be restored, 2 Tim. 4:11.].