“Freed By Forgiveness”
Philemon 6-22
Sermon Series: “No Longer A Slave”
Introduction: I think we all desire forgiveness but can sometimes struggle with extending it to others. We often feel guilty and want God or another person to forgive us. However, when someone wrongs us, it can be difficult to forgive that person and let go of the hurt. This can be incredibly detrimental to us emotionally and spiritually. Neil Anderson writes, “I have had the privilege to help people around the world find their freedom in Christ. In every case, forgiveness was an issue and in many cases it was the issue that needed to be resolved.” Paul’s letter to Philemon speaks to this issue. It does not use the word, forgiveness, but it exemplifies forgiveness for us. Paul had been forgiven by the grace of Jesus, and he changed from being a persecutor to being a gracious person. Philemon was forgiven by Jesus, and Paul was asking him to forgive Onesimus. Onesimus was also forgiven by Jesus, and I presume that there was a really good chance that he needed to forgive Philemon for some things as well. This leads us to our main idea.
Main Idea: We are set free by Jesus’ forgiveness to forgive others.
Charles Stanley correctly defines forgiveness as “an injury, a debt resulting from the injury, and the cancellation of the debt.” Ultimately, forgiveness is the choice to no longer hold another person’s wrong and hurtful actions against him or her.
Forgiveness is always costly. As this relates to us being forgiven by God, it cost God the sacrifice of His Son to forgive us. People often question this. They ask, “Why can’t he just forgive us?” The answer is that He is holy and just, and His nature compels Him to punish sin and uphold His Law. We have wronged Him by sinning against Him through breaking His Law. We now owe Him a debt we cannot pay. However, when we trust Jesus our debt is cancelled because Jesus put it on His account and paid it for us. When we forgive another person, it means they have wronged or injured us and owe us a debt because of the injury. Forgiving is choosing to cancel the debt. Our motivation is obedience and the gracious forgiveness God has given us in Christ (Ephesians 4:32). We are called to graciously forgive because we have graciously been forgiven by Jesus. His forgiveness sets us free to forgive others, which is a huge part of living like we are free (Matthew 18:21-35).
Conclusion-Apply it:
1. If you are not a Christian, Jesus died to forgive you of all your sins. Trust Him and be forgiven today (Romans 4:5-8).
2. If you are a Christian and struggling with a particular sin, remember 1 John 1:9, which says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us or sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness.”
3. If you have wronged someone and need forgiveness, go to him to apologize and make it right.
4. When someone sins against us, forgive him. Here are some practical suggestions regarding forgiveness. It is a conscious choice, an act of obedience to God, to be unlimited, a blessing to both parties, an act that sets us free, an act of mercy, usually expressed to the other party, and costly; while unforgiveness is something that hurts both parties, an act of hard-heartedness, ultimately more costly than forgiveness, an act that means we are acting like God has not forgiven us, something that hinders our fellowship with God, and something that puts us in bondage.
