Hidden Treasure | Part 7

The big idea

Because God has forgiven us a debt we could never repay, forgiven people must be forgiving people.

God's very first instinct toward us is love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness, not condemnation. Because Jesus has canceled a debt we could never repay ourselves, He calls His followers not merely to forgive occasionally, but to be forgiving people — releasing our hurts to Him rather than staying chained to the past.

Point 1 of 6

Pastor Pat retells the story of Moses at Mount Sinai after the exodus, where God passes by in His glory and describes Himself first as compassionate, merciful, slow to anger, and forgiving before mentioning that He does not excuse the guilty. The point is that if you want to know who God really is, you look at how He describes Himself, and His first foot forward is grace, not an endless list of do's and don'ts.

Point 2 of 6

Pastor Pat asks whether, when people mess up, they run to God or away from Him, arguing that many Christians secretly picture God as an overbearing boss handing down rules rather than a God whose nature is kindness and forgiveness.

Point 3 of 6

Peter asks if forgiving someone seven times is enough (already double the religious teaching of his day), and Jesus answers seventy times seven, meaning stop counting. Jesus then tells of a servant forgiven an unpayable debt who refuses to forgive a much smaller debt owed to him, and is handed over to be tortured, showing that our relationship with God is tied to our willingness to forgive others.

Point 4 of 6

Pastor Pat clarifies that forgiveness is not condoning, pardoning, forgetting, a feeling, or the same as reconciliation and trust, quoting a pastor friend that forgiveness is free but trust is earned. He shares his own recent experience of being deeply wounded, writing down every hurt and burning the paper, and admits forgiveness is a process that can resurface even in dreams.

Point 5 of 6

Pastor Pat walks through several favorite passages — Isaiah, Psalm 103, and Second Corinthians 5 — having listeners insert their own names, to show that God no longer counts our sins against us and has removed them as far as the east is from the west, with no 'deleted folder' of past sin.

Point 6 of 6

Pastor Pat sharpens the phrase from 'should' to 'must' for those who claim to follow Jesus, then describes Jesus' brutal crucifixion in detail and His first words from the cross, Father, forgive them, as proof that forgiveness was never easy, even for Jesus Himself.

Take it into your week

Pastor Pat's charge is that forgiven people must be forgiving people, so stop holding on and give it to God.