Instead Of This Individual Forgiving Me, He Should Have Been Thanking The Lord For His Servant’s Example! It Comes With The Call!
“For the zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.”
-Psalm 69:9
If there is one thing that sticks out in the last 30 years of ministry, it is something my former pastor had stated from the beginning. He said, Bradlee, “You cannot change people.” Oh, how he was so right. The soon-learned, hard lesson for me was that trying to convert people, who confessed that they were converted, from their being in a state of reprobation is not the duty of the Christian overseer. Instead, it is for him to preach repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21), and leave the regeneration to the work of the Holy Ghost where it belongs (Titus 3:5).
Case in point: Recently, I received a message from someone that I had known from the past, who had reached out to let me know that that they had now forgiven me.
Of course, the first thing that I did was to examine myself to see where I had warranted this individual’s forgiveness (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Was I guilty for holding the line (2 Peter 3:19), in leading the way as I was following Christ in holiness (1 Peter 15-17)? In other words, was I tolerating anything that would offend the Lord lest I should be given up to the enemies of unrighteousness concerning this warfare (Deuteronomy 23:9; Psalm 119:11)?
Was I to love, as sinners call it, on this individual who had now forgiven me in such a way to withhold reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness (Leviticus 19:17;2 Timothy 3:16)? Absolutely not! For then it would not be love (1 Corinthians 13:5).
Was I to put the beam back in my eyes to go back to being as blind as this individual would have liked me to be? This, so that the everyone around us could end up in a ditch (Matthew 15:14)? Absolutely not!
Should I have lowered the standard, which is Christ (Acts 17:31), to fallen man as the example, in which we were to follow? Because if I would have done that, I would have been a partaker in living out a false peace in an offense to God.
I wonder, was my obedience to the Lord the cause of this individual’s divorce? Or perhaps, this individuals issues with alcohol? Lust for pornography? In short, was I the cause of this individuals love for sin in their current reprobate state (2 Timothy 3:8)? Was I to be disobedient and rebellious because as this individual was? Wasn’t going to happen. I repented of my transgressions towards the Lord, and out of gratitude for what Jesus did for me on the cross, I, by His grace, live unto Him who died for me (2 Corinthians 5:15). I am to have nothing to do with that which kicks against the sacrifice!
I ask, is not this the same Spirit that works in the sons of disobedience? Yes, it is (Ephesians 2:2; 1 Peter 2:13). No wonder why this individual hated me! It was because this individual hated the Lord, and this individuals fruit, actions and choices, spoke loud and clear (John 15:22-23).
Now, I do understand what Galatians 6:1-2 says:
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Yet, this is to those who are broken and are of a contrite heart over their sins towards the Lord (Isaiah 66:2), not to those who feel within themselves that they have to offer up forgiveness to someone that is in Christ.
How arrogant and self-righteous. This is what the self-righteous Pharisees did to Jesus when they rejected and crucified Him (Matthew 24:7; John 8:46). They crucified the One who preached, “Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).
Jesus did not need their forgiveness. He was looking for their repentance. It was the other way around. The guilty ones needed His forgiveness. I can feel what King David meant when he said by the Holy Ghost, “For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me” (Psalm 69:9).
One who walks in the light as Christ walks in the light does not need to be forgiven for following the Lord in living in a way that is well pleasing to the Lord (Genesis 17:1).
Remember, when the Bible says that the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me, it comes with the call when you adhere to the Lord.
Conclusion: Instead of this individual who thinks that their is cause for forgiving me (Proverbs 17:15), this individual should be thanking the Lord for His obedient servant so that this individual might see the light of men (John 1:4) in knowing the difference. Without such, this individual would have never repented.
