Asking for Forgiveness

We are fallen people living in a fallen world. That’s not an excuse. We need to become more and more and more like Jesus. But there may be times when we have sinned against someone else and we need to make it right.

The rabbis taught that the sin against someone else was heavier than the sin against God, because God would always forgive, but someone else may not.

They didn’t have the book of Romans, so Rabbi Paul had a different point of view we follow, but more about that in a couple days.  Jesus gave us a pattern to follow in Matthew 5:23-26

“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny. (NLT)

There are a couple of things I’ll point out right away. It’s the one bringing the sacrifice that remembers someone has something against him or her. It’s the Holy Spirit that brings it to their mind. It’s the Spirit’s job to convict sin, not any of ours. Jesus Christ didn’t come into the world to condemn it, so how can we condemn a fellow believer (or the world for that matter)?

Secondly, when the Spirit brings revelation that someone has something against you, you go to them. Don’t wait for them to come to you. in the next post I’ll outline how you should approach them. Today I’ll pray the Spirit empowers you to obey the Father’s will for you.