“Lord Jesus, have mercy on us that we will learn to be indwelt by the fullness of thy Spirit and thereby be Your image bearers. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 3:19-21 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, (20) and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, (21) whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
Jesus has forgiven and has also blotted out our sins. This brings us to the New Covenant relationship with our Lord Jesus.
Hebrews 10:10-18 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (11) And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. (12) But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, (13) from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. (14) For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. (15) But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, (16) “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR HEARTS, AND IN THEIR MINDS I WILL WRITE THEM,” (17) then He adds, “THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” (18) Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
The blotting-out effect of the work of Jesus on the cross brings us into this New Covenant relationship with Jesus. Through His Holy Spirit, He places His laws in our hearts and writes them on our minds.
This New Covenant relationship was what was prophesied in the Old Testament.
Jeremiah 31:33-34 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (34) No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
The church is now to live out the New Covenant relationship. One vital area where we demonstrate this New Covenant relationship is in the matter of forgiving those who hurt and harm us. We do this because forgiveness is what we have experienced in Christ.
Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
If we as His church are not forgiving others then we are refuting and rejecting all that Jesus has done for us. Forgiving others is proof that we are truly experiencing the New Covenant relationship with Jesus Christ.
Jesus told the disciples the story of the servant who did not forgive his fellow servant for a small amount when he himself had been forgiven of a very large amount of money that he owed his master.
Matthew 18:32-35 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. (33) Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ (34) And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. (35) “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
The master expected this servant to have his character and nature and forgive his fellow servant. This is the big lesson of His church. We are to forgive others just as God has forgiven us. We are to be a display of His character and nature.
This is the reason why we are to love our enemies for we are filled with His Spirit to reflect His character. Matthew 5:44-45 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, (45) that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
We seek God to forgive us because we have forgiven others just the way He has forgiven us. Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
As His church, we are to live out the New Covenant relationship in the enablement of His Holy Spirit.