By
Arthur J Licursi
“We…
are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:11).
There is much that we all
do for our own sake, for the sake of our children, our loved ones or
others, but the real test of the believer’s love for the Lord is what
he does “for Jesus’ sake.”
Under the dispensation
“of Law” that continued even while Jesus was in His
earthy ministry (Matt 5:18):
our Lord told His disciples that to be forgiven they must FIRST
forgive:
“Forgive,
and (then) ye shall be forgiven” (Luke 6:37)
“but
IF ye forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (sins)”
(Matt. 6:15).
“But
now,” is a term used often by Paul in order to
introduce and draw significant contrasts
between the basis of life under “the
gospel of the grace of God”… versus the basis of life
under “the Law” of
Jesus' time
“But
Now We Are Discharged From The Law
and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died to what once
restrained and held us captive. So now
we serve not under
[obedience to] the old code of written regulations,
but [under obedience to the promptings] of
the Spirit in newness
[of life].” Romans 7:6
(AMP)
Now, under
“the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph 3:2), the
Lord through Paul exhorts us to forgive one another
“AS God for Christ’s
sake hath forgiven you (us)”
(Eph. 4:32) - "freely."
“And
become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted
(compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted),
forgiving one another [readily and FREELY], as
God in Christ (already) forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32 (AMP)
“Be
gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a
grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other;
even as the Lord has [Freely]
forgiven you, so must you also [forgive].”
Colossians 3:13 (AMP)
The difference between
Jesus’ words spoken to the “lost sheep of the house of
Israel
,” to whom Jesus exclusively came and addressed (Matt
15:24), and the words of Paul to
“the body of Christ” are tremendous. The
motive for forgiving is remarkably different.
1.
Under “the Law,” before the cross: If you would be forgiven, you
must FIRST forgive.
Thankfully, Christ’s
cross brought the “end of the law… to
everyone who believes” (Rom 10:4).
2.
So now, under Paul’s “gospel of
the grace of God,” we as believers have already been
graciously and “freely”
forgiven “for Christ’s
sake.” Thus,
in the light of being freely forgiven already, we are to be
tenderhearted and
forgiving toward others (Eph
4:32, above).
