Is Saying

Sorry
Enough?

SORRY
Commonly used to
earn forgiveness
It is also used to
express sympathy

SORRY
One of the most
misunderstood terms
Merriam Webster Dictionary
defines it as feeling sorrow,
regret, or penitence.

ISITLETTINGYOURBROTHEROFFTHEHOOK?

Ephe. 4:32 Bearing with one

another, and forgiving one
another, if anyone has a
complaint against another;
even as Christ forgave you,
so you also must do.

Forgiveness
The bedrock of
Christianity. The
basis of our
relationship with
Christ.
Yet I believe it is
one of the most
misunderstood
concepts in
Christendom.

In the name of
Forgiveness
In the name of
Forgiveness, people
experience
unfortunate, unjust,
and even tragic events.
In the name of
forgiveness, people
are denied justice and
deprived of mercy.
In the name of
forgiveness, people
are abused.

Many people say they are willing

to forgive, but few are actually
prepared not to remember the
hurt.

 The Bible is the best place to find out

what God means by forgiveness.
Let us develop a biblical meaning of
forgiveness by defining an assortment of
words that the Bible uses for forgiveness
from a variety of Bible contexts.

I. Kaphar
Psalm 78:38 But He, being full of
compassion, forgave their
iniquity, and did not destroy
them, yes, many a time He
turned His anger away, and did
not stir all His wrath.
To cover brings out the idea
that the injured party starts the
process of forgiveness.

I- What Forgiveness
IS NOT?
Forgiveness is not
denying what
happened.
The nature of
forgiveness demand
a need for it. We all
experience little
hurts at one time or
another.
Forgiving is for the
wounds that stab
at our souls.

Fallacious
presumption
It is a fallacious
understanding that
forgiveness is
denying what
happened.
God didnt tell Adam
and Eve: Oh, thats
only a little problem.
That was nothing!
Ive forgotten all
about that.

Extravagant
Forgiveness
Yet while God
offers us
extravagant
forgiveness, it
came with a price:
the suffering of
Christ for bearing
the pain of sin that
we deserved.

We must
suffer

As Christians, we are
told we will suffer. And
we suffer when we
forgive, but it is not the
suffering we think it is.
We are not called to
deny a wrong inflicted
upon us as if it never
happened, and then
allow that person(s) to
continue to inflict
wounds and even abuse
us.

What is
Forgiveness?
It is to give up our
right to hate,
resent, or take
vengeance on the
person who
wronged us.
We give up our
right to give them
what they deserve.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The law of Christ, which is our duty
to fulfill, is the bearing of the cross.
My brothers burden which I must
bear is not only his outward lot . . .
But quite literally his sin. And the
only way to bear that sin is by
forgiving it in power of the cross in
which I now share. Thus the call to
Christ always means a call to share
the work of forgiving men their sins.
Forgiveness is the Christlike
suffering which is the Christians
duty to bear.

II. Nasa
Psalm 25:18 Look on my
affliction and my pain, and
forgive all my sins.
To lift up or away brings out
the idea that the injured party
offers to bear the weight of
guilt or punishment unto
himself or herself.

 To remove or carry
away
It is used in vicarious
bearing of sin like the
priest to bear the
iniquity of the children
of Israel. Lev. 10:17

II- What Forgiveness

IS NOT?
Forgiveness is not
forgetting. Forgive and
forget is a warm fuzzy
adage, but this is an
erroneous one.
We are bothered so
much thinking that we
havent truly forgiven
someone if we
remember what they did
to us.

Its not Amnesia!

Forgiveness doesnt
require amnesia or
senility
We only give up our
hatred, our selfpreservation, our
right to get even--- but
we dont give up our
memories. In
forgiving, we heal our
memories.

 Lewis Smedes: Forgiving

is the only way to heal
the wounds of a past we
cannot change and
cannot forget.
Forgiveness changes
bitter memory into a
grateful memory, a
cowardly memory into a
courageous memory, an
enslaved memory into a
free memory . . . .
When we forgive . . . we
open door to an unseen
future that our painful
past had shut.

Forget vs.
not Remember
Does God forgive and
forget? Jer. 31:34 I
will forgive their
iniquity, and their sin I
will not remember.
God does not forget
our sins but only He
will not remember of
them.

Human condition
Forgetfulness is a
human condition.
But God has no faulty
memory and thus
forgets.
God has no divine
amnesia. He not only
remember our sins
because He chooses
not to bring them to
mind.

It is a decision!
Remembering or not
remembering is a
decision of the will
In our forgiveness, we
dont forget the
wound/wrong inflicted on
us.
But once we have
confronted the wrong and
worked through the
process of forgiveness,
we can choose not to
remember as well.

III. Charizomai
Luke 7:43 Simon
answered and said, I
suppose the one whom
he forgave more. And
He said to him, You have
rightly judged.
To cancel a debt
brings out the idea that
the injured party deals
with sin at his or her
own expense.

 To do a favor, to
give graciously
Vv42-43 Tell me
therefore, which of
them will love him
most?
I suppose that he
to whom he forgave
most.

 Simon pronounced
judgment upon
himself. Tactfully,
the Saviour led the
proud Pharisee to
realize that his sin,
his seduction of
Mary, was greater
than hers, as 500
denarii was greater
than 50. DA 566,567.

III- What Forgiveness

IS NOT?

Forgiveness is NOT
reconciliation
Forgiveness frees us
from the hate,
resentment, and
vengeance that
unforgiveness
offers.

Not dependent on
the offender
It is not dependent on the
offender. It can be done
without the offenders
knowledge.
Reconciliation, however, is
dependent on the offender.
Matt. 5:23 is not geared on
Forgiveness because you
might have already
forgiven the offender but
this is for Reconciliation

 When we realize that

forgiveness is not
denying what happened,
and that it is not
forgetting, we can see
more clearly the need for
reconciliation --- for
acknowledging our part
in the pain caused to the
other person.

Trust sake
Our initiation of
reconciliation allows that
other person to trust again,
to risk being hurt, because
we have acknowledged our
wrong.
Matt. 5:21,22 depicts that
verbal abuse/verbal
murder will place us in
danger of hell--- it will hurt,
causing the wounds that
stab at our souls

Our calling
We are called to forgive;
for the Christian there is
not other option.
However, we are not
called to allow someone
to continue to abuse and
harm us when it is
within our power to stop
it.

 When we forgive, we open

the way for reconciliation,
for trust to be rebuilt
within the relationship.
Forgiveness may not
automatically reconcile a
relationship. The offender
must act.

IV.Shalach
Psalm 103:2,3 bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits: Who
forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all
your diseases.
To send away brings out the idea that
the injured party sets the other party
free by dropping the charges.

How many times?

Matt. 18:21-35 seventy times seven
Verse 35 So My heavenly Father also will
do to you if each of you from his heart
does not forgive his brother his
trespasses

When we withhold
forgiveness we
become prisoners in
our own self-made
cells of bitterness.
We think were
exacting revenge on
this other person,

when in reality,
our bitterness is
taking its
revenge on us.
Were the ones
who suffer,
whose capacity
to love is
diminished.

RESENTMENT AND ANGER IS

JUST LIKE THE CHIME OF A
BELL; WHEN THE SAXTON
SWINGS THE ROPE, THE BELL
RINGS. THE MOMENT THE
HANDS ARE OFF FROM THE
ROPE,

THE DECIBEL
EVENTUALLY AND GRADUALLY
DECREASES UNTIL THERE IS
NO MORE RINGING. BUT
CONTINUE HOLDING AND
SWINGING THE ROPE AND
THE CHIME NEVER STOP!

woman 1953

Suppose you never

forgive, suppose you
feel the hurt each
time your memory
lights on the people
who did you wrong.

And suppose you have a

compulsion to think of
them constantly. You
have become a prisoner
of your past pain; you are
locked into a torture
chamber of your own
making . . . .

Carnegie/Blood pressure

The only way to

heal the pain that
will not heal itself
is to forgive the
person who hurt
you. Forgiving
stops the reruns of
pain . . . .

Research shows that

people who are
grateful, forgiving and
optimistic are much
more likely to be happy
than those who arent.
Gregg Easterbrook, quoted
quoted in
in GLOBE,
GLOBE,
Jan.
Jan. 6,
6, 2004,
2004, p.
p. 9.
9.

My purpose . . . [is] to
point out what a
tremendous role our
attitude plays in our
well-being as well as
in our ability to fight
disease.

Few today would

question that our
emotional state affects
hormones in our body.
Hormones significantly
influence white cells
and bodys ability to
fight disease.

This means that we now

actually have a scientific
explanation for the fact that
people who become very
depressed dont do well in
recovering from disease.
Carson, Think Big, p.142.

(Carson, Ben. Review and Herald

Publishing Association, Hagerstown, MD
21740,1992)

When you release

the wrongdoer
from the wrong he
did, you cut a
malignant tumor
out of your inner
life.

You set a
prisoner free,
but you discover
that the real
prisoner was
yourself.

Before sunset!

Lingering anger has both effects to:

a. physical literal death
b. spiritual coming of Christ

 Forgiveness is not an easy work; the cross testifies to

that. But it is the only way for us to be truly free to love.
Reconciliation is not an easy work; but it is the only
way to restore trust in relationships.

Take one & Take two

Forgiveness takes
one; reconciliation
takes two.
Forgiveness is
revealing the glory
Jesus Christ in our
life.

Testimonies for the Church Vol. 5 p. 639

If you have given offense to your friend or
neighbor you are to acknowledge your
wrong, and it is his duty freely to forgive
you. Then you are to seek the forgiveness
of God because the brother whom you
wounded is the property of God, and in
injuring him you sinned against his
Creator and Redeemer.

Testimonies for the Church Vol. 5 p. 636

The only reason why we may not

have remission of sins that are
past is that we are not willing to
humble our proud hearts and
comply with the conditions of
the word of truth.

WORLD FAMOUS DUET-TENOR

PLACIDO DOMINGO
Of Barcelona, Spain
JOSE CARRERAS
Catalonia, Spain
Their joint concert made famous of the duo worldwide

WORLD FAMOUS DUET-TENOR

JOSE CARRERAS
Catalonia, Spain

PLACIDO DOMINGO
Of Barcelona, Spain

But political aspirations of their regions separates their ways and reach to
the point that they are no longer in talking terms. Their region made them
enemies.

WORLD FAMOUS DUET-TENOR

JOSE CARRERAS
Catalonia, Spain

PLACIDO DOMINGO
Of Barcelona, Spain

Catalonia is fighting for autonomous while the central govt. of Barcelona is

opposed. So the 2 regions wont allow their tenor-singer to have concert
together. They were not allowed to talk together either.

WORLD FAMOUS DUET-TENOR

JOSE CARRERAS
Catalonia, Spain

PLACIDO DOMINGO
Of Barcelona, Spain

Placido Domingo got sick of leukemia and cannot sing anymore. He lost his fortune for
medication but to no avail. He became penniless. His case needs medical attention in
the USA. But he has no means until he was introduced to Leukemia International
Foundation that brought him for medication in the USA. He was healed.

WORLD FAMOUS DUET-TENOR

JOSE CARRERAS Catalonia, Spain

PLACIDO DOMINGO
Of Barcelona, Spain

Jose Carreras on the other hand was at the height of his popularity. He became wealthy.
Now Placido is getting back to the stage after his ailment. Reunion duet was arranged
and right in the stage Placido prostrate before Jose Carreras to give thanks for the
former knows later that the foundation that brought him to the US was founded by Jose
Carreras. But Jose pulled him up and said; I purposely created Leukemia International
Foundation so you will be be brought to US for I know you need it.