Chapter 9 – Forgiveness
The Inner Healing Ointment
Inner healing usually brings healing and prosperity to those “external issues” that we are so concerned with. 3 John 2 says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” Notice the words “even as” in this Scripture. That means that to the same degree your soul prospers so does your health and prosperity.
Most inner wounds are caused by shame, rejection, lack of love, and primarily by broken relationships, especially with father figures. God created us for relationships and in all of our lives our prime relationships have been less than perfect, so it reflected in the degree of inner wounds that we acquire.
Jesus’ mission as stated in Isaiah 61 and as He spoke in Luke 4 is to set us free from the things that enslave us through forgiveness.
“And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.’ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:17-21).
The acceptable year of the Lord referred to the Year of Jubilee as described in Leviticus chapter 25. This was the Sabbath of Sabbaths. The Sabbath was every seventh year and during that year people were to allow their land to rest for one full year. However, each 50th year was the Year of Jubilee. This is when all slaves were set free and all mortgaged land and loans were forgiven. In short, this was the “Year of total forgiveness,” and Jesus was proclaiming the final fulfillment of this promise in Him. This Year of Jubilee began on the Day of Atonement, which was the only one day per year that the priest went into the Holy of Holies with the blood for the forgiveness of sins.
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What exactly is forgiveness?
Jesus was proclaiming that His primary mission was forgiveness. What is forgiveness? First, it is not excusing someone or someone’s sin.
Forgive means to separate. It is the same word as the one that is used in the New Testament for death. To die is to be separated. To forgive requires cutting the sin away from one and putting it on another.
Forgiveness defined: (Greek) ‘aphiemi’ - means to remove – to send away, to remove, the remission for the punishment due to sinful conduct, the deliverance of the sinner from the penalty.
To forgive someone means to account their sin against you as having been done, not to you, but to Jesus, and to agree to allow the sin and its penalty to rest there and there alone!
Forgiveness runs in two directions; for the sins we have committed and for the sins committed against us. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
Sins committed against us are transgressions, and Jesus was wounded for them. Iniquities are those inner wounds that could be the result of inherited and generational iniquities or curses, or they could be actual deeds committed against us. Notice in this Scripture that Jesus was bruised for our iniquities. Bruises are inner wounds, and they are the price that He paid for our inner wounds or iniquities.
Humans attempt to medicate their inner wounds with “outer ointments.” The problem is that we do not even realize that our outer issues are usually the result of inner wounds, so we try all sorts of medications and activities, none of which work, indeed they make things worse.
Forgiveness, as we will demonstrate later in this chapter, is the ointment for inner healing.
The Lord gives us a clear message and a warning in Matthew 18. This is the parable of the unforgiving servant.
Matthew 18:18 says, “…whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” You receive what you don’t forgive, memories, thoughts, deeds. You will experience those things. This is a law.
Matthew 18:21-22 describes the story when Peter came to Jesus and asked, “If my brother sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Seven?” Jesus replied, “No seventy times seven.” In other words, there is no limit. Then Jesus tells the parable:
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Matthew 18:23-35).
Why did the original servant have to pay the penalty for the smaller hundred denarii debt that was originally the fellow servant’s and not his original penalty for the ten thousand talents?
We always pay the penalty for the sin that we do not forgive in others.
You get what you don’t forgive, memories, thoughts, deeds, you will experience here and/or in eternity. This is a law.
Notice the penalty was to be delivered to the torturers or tormentors. Unforgiveness will always result in torment.
Who are you not to forgive?
Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
If, as the Scripture verifies, you have indeed been crucified with Christ, and He now lives in you; then who are you to keep Him from forgiving?
His very essence is forgiving. That is who He is! If you do not forgive you are denying Him. It is a very serious matter.
If we find ourselves in that position with a wicked heart, we can get rid of it as it’s said in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess (agree with God’s judgment) our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (take them away from us and put them on Jesus) and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.”
Ezekiel was shown a vision of the New Testament Temple of God, which is you and me. God was telling us and reminding us that we are the Temple of God and that it is a serious matter. Look how He puts it in Ezekiel 43:7 which says, “And He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places.’”
Ezekiel 43:10-12 says, “Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them. This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.” For more on this look at our lesson, “The Flowing River.”
Getting back to Jesus’ mission and His work, notice the progression of events in Luke chapters 4-5 and how it leads to forgiveness as being the key to everything.
Jesus proclaims His mission. The people try to kill Him. Then He casts out demons. He preaches the Kingdom of God. In Luke 5 He calls His disciples and cleanses a leper. Then, in Luke 5:17-25 He exercises the greatest gift of all, forgiveness as an inner healing to a paralytic.
The same story is also recorded in Mark chapter 2, which says, “Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’ And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, ‘Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven you,” or to say, “Arise, take up your bed and walk?” But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’ – He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!’” (Mark 2:3-12).
When this man received forgiveness he was totally healed of his outer infirmity. Jesus called him “Son” or in Greek, ‘teknon.’ That word infers that this man had been born of a family but has no relationship there now. Most likely, he had experienced broken relationships with his family and those were forgiven. This man knew that not only were his sins forgiven, but also Jesus absorbed those perpetrated against him on his behalf. Jesus was bruised for his iniquities.
Jesus told him to go to his house. Why? Perhaps to take his Dad in his arms and say, “I forgive you; I love you.”
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:30-32).
When you take up your cross, and allow Jesus in you to forgive, you are on the overcoming path.
In Revelation 21:7 God calls the overcomers “sons.” However, this time teknon is not used, but rather huios, which means a son who looks like Jesus in solid relationship with God the Father and His Body here on earth.
“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son” (Revelation 21:7).
Remember who you are.
You are a vessel filled with God; the Temple of God.
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