“Whenever you stand up to pray, forgive whatever you have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins. But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.”
– Jesus (Mark 11:25-26)
This reads pretty straight forward – if we want God to forgive us then we need to forgive others. But hasn’t God already forgiven us through Jesus and His atonement on the cross? Yes He has, and that forgiveness is available for anyone to walk in … or not. Our tendency of worldly thinking sees forgiveness as a pardon for an action. You step on my foot and say sorry and I forgive you. But forgiveness as provided by God is more than just a pardon for deeds – it is a state of heart.
Instead of forgiveness being something we give, it is something we exist in. And if we do not exist in forgiveness then we cannot benefit from that state – in other words we cannot receive the benefits of God’s forgiveness. Now I better clarify, when we are forgiven by God through Jesus we are cleansed from our old ways and deeds so that we stand before Him new. That does not change, even if we fail at times to walk in forgiveness afterwards. What does change are the benefits of being forgiven. In the above passage of Mark Jesus tells us of forgiving when we pray, and immediately before that He tells us the impact.
“I tell you with certainty, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ if he doesn’t doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. That is why I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.”
– Jesus (Mark 11:23-24)
When we walk in forgiveness we have the confidence of God hearing our requests and answering them, and the certainty of God honouring the authority Jesus has granted us. If we are not walking in forgiveness that certainty of heart becomes undermined and we cannot truly believe.
Many, many, many of us have asked something of God and seemed to have received nothing from Him. A person was not healed, a circumstance did not change, or that important supply never arrived. It can be any number and type of requests but what is so very often common is the first thing we search for is where our faith fell short. “I didn’t believe enough!” Or worse, “They must not have had enough faith!” That is the immediate thought because Jesus did say we would have what we ask if we do not doubt. But Jesus shows us in these combined verses how important forgiveness is when connected to our requests.
Am I saying then that it’s faith plus forgiveness? No, our requests to God are answered according to our faith. He said so, and so it is. But our faith is an extension of who we are inside.
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
– Paul (Romans 10:17)
All that Christ spoke and commanded are to be a part of us and who we are, and He spoke plainly about forgiveness and its necessity in our walk. The parable of the sower provides a good tie-in to the point. There were several ways the word was received, and none bore lasting fruit except one type. The ones with the good soil.
“But the ones on the good soil are the people who hear the word but also hold on to it with good and honest hearts, producing a crop through endurance.”
– Jesus (Luke 8:15)
The words of Christ go through our hearts first, take root, and produce fruit – that fruit being both growth of character to be more like Jesus, and growth of power to work His works. Without the fruit that evidences His word in us, we can do nothing.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
– Jesus (John 15:5)
So this begs the question, what is forgiveness and the state of forgiveness? Jesus had at times spoke of forgiving trespasses – acts that cause hurt. That is forgiveness, but it is only a portion of the state of forgiveness.
forgive whatever you have against anyone
Whatever you have against anyone. Here Jesus is making it evident that it’s not just about someone who has done something wrong – it’s about us having anything against another. Whether that other person did anything to warrant forgiveness of their act is not at issue, but our response to that person is.
We can look at this closer by asking what does unforgiveness want? It wants revenge, it wants to be proven right, it wants to be recompensed, it wants to see punishment. And what does unforgiveness look like? It looks angry, it looks bitter, it looks mocking, it looks selfishly triumphant. Unforgiveness is a way and a method of the devil.
I better make this next part very clear. Our Father God may not forgive at times solely because He cannot, like when a person sins willfully and knowingly and makes it their practice. They refuse forgiveness and therefore cannot receive it, though our Father is always ready and willing to receive that person back to Him. Whereas the devil chooses and insists on unforgiveness and its consequences.
Unforgiveness is a way and a method of the devil.
When we harbour unforgiveness we are giving place to the devil by adopting his methods into our own hearts. How can we believe in our hearts when we have his ways there? But forgiveness is a way and a method of God our Father and Jesus our Lord. We can believe with faith that sees mountains move when we have His ways in our hearts.
So a person steals your wallet. Forgive them. A person bumps you in a line up. Forgive them. A person sneezes somewhat in your direction. Forgive them. A person just bugs you and you don’t know why. Forgive them.
“forgive whatever you have against anyone”
How often have you searched for those who you may not have forgiven? You try to find everyone who has done you a wrong to one degree or another, but you never really look for those who you might share some blame with, and those who really didn’t do anything wrong at all. But if you were instead to look at anyone you harbour negative sentiments and thoughts towards you would find an unexpected amount of people. Each one of us is key to our own state of forgiveness. Looking for those who have done us wrong quite naturally places us into the position of judging each person – who needs to be forgiven and who shouldn’t need it.
“…do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.”
– James (James 2:1)
We have already seen the state and way of the devil is unforgiveness. Whether justified or not it’s all the same tools of darkness brought into play. Forgiveness is not a judgment that says, “I am right and you are wrong.” Forgiveness is a refusal to pick up the tools of the devil. Our thoughts and feeling are often an indicator of actions on a spiritual, principality level. That person who did nothing wrong but we feel bothered by them, to the point we look for failings in them, and we know rationally we have no right to feel that way against them so we suppress the feelings but do not actually forgive – and the tools of the devil are put to work. We didn’t even see it coming. But the state of forgiveness releases anyone from our thoughts against them and renders those tools as nothing.
Forgiveness is not a judgment that says, “I am right and you are wrong.” Forgiveness is a refusal to pick up the tools of the devil.
Forgiveness, then, is the state of releasing everyone from our negative considerations. Everyone. That is what our Father’s heart is, and that is why Jesus went to the cross. As His children, we refuse to pick up the methods that Christ came to destroy. Instead, let us walk in forgiveness and grow fruit with joy!
“I tell you with certainty, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ if he doesn’t doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. That is why I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.
“Whenever you stand up to pray, forgive whatever you have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins. But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.”
– Jesus (Mark 11:23-26)
