Colossians 3:12-17

Preached on Sunday, May 15, 2011
Listen to this week’s message here:

Message #18 – SERIES: Colossians: Jesus is First
This week we look at the other side of Paul’s exhortation to “Dress the Part” as a follower of Jesus. Not only should we put off and kill our sin, but we need to replace it with something, and put on the new self.

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About Forgiveness

Pastor Josh discussed the following things about biblical forgiveness during the message this week. These lists are from Chapters 75 and 76 of the book The Hope of Glory: 100 Daily Meditations on Colossians by Sam Storms.

What Forgiveness is Not:

• Forgiveness is not forgetting what happened.
• Forgiveness doesn’t mean you no longer feel the pain of the offense
• Forgiving someone who has hurt you doesn’t mean you are to ignore that a wrong was done or that a sin was committed. It doesn’t ignore justice.
• Forgiving does not mean you are to make it easy for the offenders to hurt you again.
• Forgiveness is rarely a one-time, one and done event. It is often a long, sometimes life-long process… much like repentance.

Forgiving Like God Forgives:

• God in Christ forgave us by absorbing in himself the destructive and painful consequences of our sin against him.
• God forgave us in Christ by canceling the debt we owed him. That is to say, we are no longer held liable for our sins or in any way made to pray for them.
• Forgiving others as God has forgiven us means we resolve to revoke revenge.
• Forgiving others as God has forgiven us means that we determine to do good to them rather than evil. (Romans 12:17-21)
• God forgave us in Christ by reconciling us to himself, by restoring the relationship that our sin had shattered.

For more on this, buy and read Sam’s book here, and listen to the message above.