If there is one single act that would make the Christian like Christ, it may very well be the act of extending forgiveness. Forgiveness is at the heart of the Gospel and is championed over all the Gospel’s other magnificent facets. God as holy, the Creator of all things, and a just and righteous Judge is surely embedded in the Gospel. Man as separated from God at birth and deserving of punishment because of his sin is also readily found within the message of the Good News. Even Jesus’ being 100% God and 100% man, living a perfect life, and rising from the grave are found within its walls. The response of man to repent and believe the message of salvation is the call to anyone who would hear. But there is not one single point within this message that is more centralized than forgiveness.
The Gospel is about forgiveness. It has borders and walls. It has context and a response, but from the beginning to the end, it is about why the Christian needs to be forgiven, how God accomplished forgiveness on behalf of sinners, and what the sinner needs to do to be forgiven.
The death and resurrection of Christ opens the door for rich Gospel truths to be understood. Justification, whereby a man is legally declared righteous; reconciliation, whereby a man is at peace with God; propitiation, the satisfaction of God’s wrath; expiation, in which the sin of man has been removed even as far as the east is from the west; and adoption, the glorious doctrine in which the inheritance of the saints is found and in which a sinner is made to be a child of God – all of these, while they bear the marks of forgiveness (justification basically being that) are not as rich and plentiful in the Scriptures as forgiveness is.
Forgiveness, in a sense, is simple to understand but hard to grant. But if God, Whose wrath burned greater than man’s ever could, found a way to forgive, who is man that he must unleash his wrath on another? Christ satisfied the wrath of God, and so should He satisfy the wrath of the believer.
Christ brought peace between God and man; so should Christ bring peace between a man and his neighbor. Surely, there is no man who is in a position to cast a stone, for all have sinned.
This brings us to Paul’s concern for both the church in Corinth and the one who wronged Paul. Did Paul want to hold a grudge? Did Paul want the Corinthian church to hold a grudge against his offender? Second Corinthians 2:5-11 tells the story.
Forgive and comfort
The context of this portion of Scripture comes on the back end of Paul’s telling the church that he was not planning on making another painful to visit to Corinth (2 Cor. 2:1). As we approach 2:5-11, it seems as though this same dilemma is expounded on by isolating a single person. Was a single person the cause of Paul’s refraining from going to Corinth? It is hard to know for sure.
However, it does appear clear that this person would have contributed at least considerably to Paul’s refraining from going. Verses 5-6 tell of someone that had caused Paul pain. But then, Paul redirected his focus onto the Corinthian believers. What was most likely taking place was that there was a man who had been coming against the authority of Paul.
This was not a minor matter. If Paul’s authority was under attack, then so was the church. Paul was the overseer; he was the bishop. He started the church, and his ties to the people ran deep. If Paul’s authority would begin to be brought into question by the church, the church itself would have collapsed.
But what took place is that the church rose up against this person, and in verse 6, Paul tells us that the church punished this individual. It is hard to know what this means. Maybe he was excommunicated or something of the sort.
As Paul saw this, Paul moved toward the church and the individual with the mind of Christ. Scripture says, “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive and comfort him…” (2:7). Paul brought up punishment in verse 6, but he then told the people to do the opposite when he said “contrariwise.” He then told them what that opposite is: “forgive and comfort him.”
Forgive for sorrow’s sake
It appears as though the punishment the man endured brought him to a state of sorrow. In 2 Corinthians 7, Paul talks about a godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Based on the context, this is most likely what this man experienced. Paul wanted the people to welcome this repentant man back into the church, “lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow” (2:7). It is good for people to be sorrowful over their sin. However, Paul knew that too much sorrow is not good. Rather, the people had a duty to embrace this repentant man.
Forgive by reaffirming your love
But how exactly were they to forgive? What steps would they need to take? Paul sought to be their guide and answer this question. Scripture says, “Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him” (2 Cor. 2:8). One of the necessary steps of forgiveness involved making it obvious. Paul did not want the people to just say in their hearts or before the Lord that they forgave the offender. Paul wanted the people to go out and make it clear to the one who had committed the offense.
It is as though it would have taken more work on the side of the victims than on the side of the offender. But is this not indicative of the work of Christ? Who did the greater work, God or man? Surely the answer is clear. There could never be One Who worked harder at forgiveness and reconciliation than the God of these things.
Forgive for you are being tested
Along the same lines, there will times in the life of the Christian when God will test his faith. In actuality, all things are brought about in the life of the believer for his good. Therefore, each and every day, even every second of every day, God is at work, and in that, there is always a test. But there will be some more obvious, bigger moments. Moments will arise in which there is the clear offense of another and the duty, or better yet, the privilege, of forgiving.
During these times, it is important to know that you are being tested by God. Does God test? Yes. Does He desire for man to pass the test? Yes. Testing is for growth, not failure. Paul said he wrote to these people for this purpose, that they would forgive and that he might “know the proof” (2:9) of them. This means that Paul tested them. When someone takes a test in school, it is to prove that he knows the material.
Forgive to guard against the schemes of the devil
If forgiveness is at the heart of the Lord’s work, it would make sense that Satan can be found there attempting to disrupt it. Paul desired the people to forgive, and he ended this portion of Scripture by saying, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2:11). One of the primary attacks of Satan is to foster bitterness in the hearts of God’s children.
Application
Turn to forgive. Look to the work of Christ and the great debt of which you have been forgiven. Forgiveness is a choice; it is not a feeling. Do not wait around until you “feel” like forgiving or until you “feel” as though you have forgiven. Forgive by reaffirming your love for your offender. This also is a choice, not a feeling. Choose forgiveness. It may cost you, but it also cost Jesus Christ.
Final prayer
Father, I thank You for the forgiveness that I have in Jesus Christ. Help me to forgive like You forgive. I pray that I would not hold grudges and that You would help me to do what Your Word says. In Jesus’ name, Amen.