"Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
-- Romans 4 NIV
God's forgiveness of our sins is conditional.  God requires us to forgive others of their wrongdoings against us in order for Him to forgive us of our sins.  It is in the contract.  Forgiveness initiates within our will. We do not have to have a warm fuzzy feeling about the person we must forgive. We have to be willing first to forgive from the heart.  When we forgive that person, we are not only letting them go free, but we are also freeing ourselves from strong negative oppressive feelings of rejection, anger, bitterness, resentment, hatred, and murder. Once you forgive, you then turn your case over to the Lord and let Him take care of the justice side of your case.  We can trust Him to take care of the wrong that was done to us by another person in this lifetime of that person, or the next. He will repay them; for He is the Judge of all the earth.  We can forgive and forget about it because our hearts need to be protected. He, the Holy Spirit will heal our hearts from the sting of that wrong that was done to us by another person. 
*Let us have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church* 

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. 
--Matthew 6:14-15

Blessed is the person whose sins are forgiven. --Psalm 32:1

We want mercy for our sins but are unwilling to show mercy.

God is concerned with our inner life.  He is concerned with what we are in our inner being.  Have you ever stopped to think why is God's love unconditional, whereas His forgiveness of sins conditional? God's agape love is offered to us freely without any strings attached, but His forgiveness has a condition attached to it. It is vital we forgive others so that our spiritual growth will not become impeded. 

When our heart is not free from the sin of unforgiveness; it put our heart in a weakened state.  It leaves our hearts open--unguarded.  I like to say, there is no membrane of peace surrounding the heart...there is no guard around the heart...feeling of anger, bitterness, resentment, hatred, and murder can fester in the heart creating a wound. 

*Let us have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church*

Jeremiah 29:11, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (NKJV) This episode is a continuation of the last episode from the podcast on the love of God: this God who is love. I'm sharing with you the unfathomable love of God. This is a love that is incapable of being fully explored or understood on this side of eternity.  Again, this is an out-of-this-world kind of love; a love that needs a divine revelation to be fully understood for the natural human mind is incapable of fully comprehending it because we are finite human beings.

Some ask how can a loving God send people to hell. If He is so loving, why does He send people to hell?  A simple answer to this question...a simple answer...His righteousness demands it. His righteousness demands it. We are all going to face Him...either at His throne of mercy or His throne of judgment...you decide. The Bible does teach eschatology...a final, catastrophic, apocalyptic time of destruction and judgment...the judgment of the living and the dead.

The lake of fire is God's execution--the carrying out of the judgment upon Satan and all rebellious things. -- See Revelation 20:10  However, it is not God's desire that anyone should perish, but that all will come to repentance. Jesus is our Redeemer. He removed the condemnation on all who would accept His sacrifice. 

*Let us have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church*

The love of God! Some call it an extravagant love, some call it a reckless love, and yet, some say it's a love to die for, while others may call it an out-of-this-world kind of love. God's agape love is not of this world...our earthly world...within our human existence. God's agape love does not exist within the human race. God's love is an out-of-this-world kind of love. It is from another realm, however; it can be poured into the heart of human beings to be expressed according to the epistle of Romans.

Think about this with me: Do we, human beings, really comprehend the love of God? Can we, who are finite beings fully understand the love of  God...the love of an infinite God, on this side of eternity? Do we realize how deep His love runs for us? It was this deep love that compelled Him to the cross.

*Let us have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church*

In Matthew 16, Jesus said, "I will build My Church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it." Satan is trying to overthrow the Church of God by using certain people (unbelievers) to blaspheme… to speak irreverent words against God and the Bible. He has also deployed into the Church false teachers...false apostles, false bishops, false prophets, false evangelists, false pastors, false elders, and false ministers to disregard and twist the true teachings of the Bible. However, Jesus emphatically said he, Satan, would not be able to do that…he would not be able to overthrow His Church. So, why do we, God's saints, have to contend for the faith? Our contending for the faith is our agreement with the Lord Jesus that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. 

Furthermore, Jesus employs the fivefold ministry to build His Church. According to Ephesians, the ministering gifts He gave to the Church are for the perfecting of the saints. Each of these ministering gifts handles the word of God…hence, they are also teachers of the word.

*Let us have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church*

In the Bible, Jude encouraged the saints to contend for the faith because they were in danger of having the faith...the trues of the Bible debunk, rebuttal, and twisted by the false teachers that crept into the Church.  These false teachers were lowering the grace of God...treating the grace of God as if it is an amusement park ticket, to sin. Jude encouraged the saints to rise and speak out concerning the trues delivered to them by Jesus Christ and the first apostles. 

The saints today are facing this same danger with the rise of false teachers:  false apostles, false bishops, false prophets, false evangelists, false pastors, false elders, and false ministers who have entered the Church.  Just as the saints in Jude's day rose to the occasion, we have to rise to the danger we are facing within the church. Let us today use our voice to speak out the trues that are in the Bible!

*Let us have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church*