The Fullness of the Power of Forgiveness Is Activated By Repentance

II Cor. 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

That phrase "casting down" is powerful. If you've cast down an imagination, you must have realized the imagination (something unreal) is wrong and have ceased to do it. You must have acknowledged your thinking was wrong. It's a fancy way of saying, you've changed direction and are doing something new, or you've repented. Something was built in your life and mind that should have never been there and you cast it down. Now you have this drive to take revenge, not on people, but on that false hope or idea that held you back for so long. (That's a good passage for you growth guys. Wow! Double JM shout out; his and hers!)

The fullness of the power of forgiveness is activated by repentance, forgiveness being fully received by virtue of the very act of repentance. It is an open shew of acceptance of forgiveness. And reconciliation proves the forgiveness is real. These things are true whether the offense is between God and man or between men. There are two sides to this doctrine. I've said before. I will never teach one without the other. This is the strait and narrow way; the ability to come strait down the lane that both sides may be healed and the Body be whole. It is linked to the concept of the golden rule; do unto others what you would have done to you. If you wrong a man, don't you want to be forgiven? If you are the victim, don't you want an apology, and restoration if something was taken, if possible? Is this not reconciliation? Friendship? Brotherhood? Love?

We often hear of the great forgiveness of God and of great men in history. But hear the other side.

Josephs brothers repented.

The city of Ninevah repented. (Then returned to a sinful state. See their end result. Things we don't want to talk about. Also, I must point out that Gods forgiveness was real, but Jonah was a messenger only. He never forgave, though he preached repentance. I will say again. The two go together. I had to guard my heart against this. I will never be a Jonah, and it isn't even a threat any more and for years now.)

David repented. (Jesus comes to sit on his throne.)

The protocal son repented.

Peter repents after denying Jesus. (There's no evidence Thomas repented and we see he's not mentioned much later, is he? Though, we are not suggesting Thomas wasn't saved, or lost his Apostleship, but Judas doesn't repent and we know his end.)

Paul repented.

And all believers or Christians; Catholics and Protestants receive the fullness of God's Love and forgiveness through repentance. It's not a matter of Love or no Love. It's not about forgive or no forgiveness, it's about receiving and using the power of love and forgiveness from God and from one another fully.

2 Corinthians 11:14
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Satan can transform himself into an angel of light. He is using God's goodness, forgiveness, grace, and unconditional Love against many, by getting them to throw out repentance, saying I'm sorry, admitting when they're wrong, doing what's right, and to the best of their ability restoring one wronged. I tell you truth. Read all of II Corinthians 11. ( and I've said time and time again. I love the preachers I speak of and retweet. So, please do not get it in your mind I'm refering to any of them. Those I know not to be of God, I literally just ignore and pray.)

The power of forgiveness and the gospel is fully charged and activated in repentance. Repentence says I believe that You are, God. You are merciful, God. You, are good, God. And You are right and I'm wrong, God. It says I believe You have forgiven me, so I can come boldly before Your throne of grace. And do not most parents teach their own children these same things? Don't they say, no matter how bad, we want you, our children, to come to us? 

To not repent, says just the opposite. Look at Mathew 25. The servant that buried his talent never repents and what are his thoughts about the Lord? The servant says to the Lord about the Lord, that He is hard and so he was afraid. And then, the servants fears were realized.

Jesus often said go and sin no more. He didn't just heal and forgive and say go, but go and sin no more.  In Mathew 18, Jesus talks of forgiving 70 times 7 in a day. We love this parable of forgiveness, but read the entire passage. Read what we conviently skip. I'll give the verses that have the clues:

Matthew 18:26
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. (Fell down, worshipped, will pay = Repentance and willingness to restore.)

Matthew 18:29
And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. (Fell down, besought, will pay = Repentance and willingness to restore.)

Matthew 18:32
Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:  ("Because thou desiredst me" = Repentance!)

Did the Lord just forgive? I think not. And also, look at Luke 17:3-4, my favorite text about forgiving and repenting.

Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
(I'm sure Dr. Stanley would love verse 1 of Luke 17. "It is impossible...". But see a bigger picture. It's why I emphasize mankind's and the believer's responsibility to one another through Christ. It's why I stress Enoch and Psalms 91. It didn't HAVE to happen. But we lay down our life willingly.  I'm ready to sit with any theologian and state my case! Faith makes the impossible, possible. Truth of the finished work, trumps any stage in between. I say the same to the growth preachers. But we thank God none the less for the spectrum of faith being preached and for every preacher. God indeed is good and not hard and will meet you where you are at. Sorry. Way off topic :-)

Notice in both Mathew 18 and Luke 17,  Jesus deals with how we are to deal with offensives one to another, not just with God.  And the dealings are the same. There is no different pattern or standard when dealing with one another. Love is Love.

Don't be confused. Don't be proud. Don't be hard hearted. And sincerity does count. Repentance can't be used as a strategy to do more harm, but if you're not sure whether you're sincere enough, do it insincere. (A spin on Joyce Meyer's "Do it afraid".) God is a judge of the hearts and this gift is given unto men as well through the Spirit and Word. Read Hebrews 4.  So let's not play these games. If you're wrong, just deal with it. We'll get to sincerity later, if it's an issue. There's too much at stake. Far too much. And the night is far spent.

Let's Go. Let's Be. Much love.

And the unconditional love of God is perfectly exhibited when the people love one another.

-Yulanda K.

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