Overcoming Conflict (Part 2)

Matthew 18:21-35

This week's sermon is the second part of the "Overcoming Conflict" sermon from a couple of weeks ago. In this second part, we will focus on the topic of forgiveness.

Our society values the idea of forgiveness. In our world today, many people point to the benefits of forgiving by pointing to recent findings in psychology, neuroscience, and other areas of research. However, this completely misses the mark: society advocates forgiveness primarily because it benefits our own selves.

The gospel preaches forgiveness as well, but for an entirely different reason. Christians are to forgive not merely for their own benefit. Instead, they forgive because they themselves have been forgiven of the greatest offense—their own sin before a holy God. God's forgiveness is not only undeserving, but it is expressed through the most sacrificial way possible—through the death of his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. So Christians do not forgive simply because of psychological benefits, but because it is the appropriate response to the fact that they themselves have been forgiven.

Therefore, forgiveness is not a topic that primarily deals with our relationships with other people. Rather, forgiveness is primarily related to our own relationship with God. Being able to forgive is one of the key symptoms of whether or not we are truly living in Christ.