MESSAGE

REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS

by
Jane T. Flores

Bible Week Celebration Program

January 31, 2020

A blessed afternoon to everyone.

The topic that was given to me is about Repentance and

Forgiveness. I had the whole night, last night contemplating about these
topics…I pray that God will make me a credible messenger to convey the
real message of these topics, because honestly…and admittedly, these are
the virtues that I am not really good at……Thus, I am doing this primarily
not because of this program or because of you guys….I am doing this for
me. So, let us walk this through together.

Let’s shred piece by piece….

(1) First, why the topic…. Repentance and Forgiveness? Bakit

hindi forgiveness lang? Because we have to approach the explanation na
holistic ang dating. Di ba nga sa communication, merong doer and
receiver? For this case, we have to discuss both yung receiver and doer
din. Ang nakagawa ng offense – Repentance; Ang nagawan ng offense –
Forgiveness. Whichever comes first is similar to the chicken and egg issue.
Ang importante dito ang totoong nauna ay ung offense o kasalanan. Which
will bring us to the next strand…kasi diba hihimayin natin….

(2) SA LAHAT NG RELASYON, may masasaktan at may

mananakit. In any relationship we will always bound to be hurt or to hurt.
Agree? Accept? Truth? Absolute? Kahit na anong relasyon po ito a. Sa
mag-asawa man, boyfriend-girlfriend man, sa magkapatid man, mag-ina,
mag-ama, officemates, magkaibigan, even between empleyado at ating
mga boss, even BUSINESS PARTNERS (pagpapautang), even
relatives…absolute po ito….in any relationship. Actually, pati sa sarili
natin….Kaya ko po tinanong kanina, if tanggap natin ito na katotohanan,
kasi if tanggap natin, alam natin sa duration ng relasyon natin, darating ang
panahon masasaktan at masasaktan tayo o masasaktan at masasaktan
natin ang ating mga karelasyon. This is the risk that we are WILLING to
take…conscious man tayo o hindi.

So, when we enter into any relationship, its not always that we think
of the “ever after” not only the “hirap and ginhawa” but also the “trust and
betrayal” but do not stop there….if the relationship is important to you and
you chose to keep it….meron din “repentance and forgiveness.”
 (3) So what is REPENTANCE….triggered by one’s CONSCIENCE,
then feeling of REGRET, REMORSE, or GUILT. Then ADMISSION and
RECOGNITION of one’s mistake and the DECISION TO REFORM. It is
followed by the SINCERE ACTION TO RESTITUTE after the commission
of the sin or wrong doing.

Super heavy naman pala itong word na repentance. Parang adobo

lang andaming recado. Nakonsensya, naguilty, binigbig na nga basol na,
inaklun na nga basol na, nagsorry, nagdesisyon nga agbal-baliw – haan na
nga ul-ulitinen ken sincere wenno ikar-karigatanna nga isubli ti dati nga
estado weno nga langen-langen ti relasyon.

If one component of repentance, just like adobo, nu awan ti maysa

nga rekado…. wen mabalin met nga makan ngem haan nga
kumpleto….posible nga maulit to manen, wenno rugi ti haanen nga
panagtalek ti maysa ken maysa.

Classic and prominent example kasi ng repentance and forgiveness

ay the story of the prodigal son or in Luke 15: 11:32, the parable of the lost
son. We all knew about that story…marami ngang version na ito tuwing
holy week….and we have that versions in our own families as well.

There are many lessons we can learn from this parable. But let me
point the start of it all – CONSCIENCE.

(4) Our conscience is part of your human psyche (your mind). God
created it when he gave us the abilities of self-awareness and rational
thinking. Notice that it’s spelled with two words, con and science. Science
comes from the Latin scire meaning “knowledge,” and con means “with.”
So, you’re thinking with knowledge. What knowledge? The value system
you have been taught. Simply stated, your conscience recalls what you
have accepted as right or wrong.

So kung dito sa opis, nang uwi ka ng 5 sheets ng bond paper at hindi

ka na nakonsensya o nakunsensya ka – yun ay batay sa turo sa iyo,
accepted mong prinsipyo mo at sa mga pinaniniwalaan mo.

Kasi, socially speaking, our conscience is TRAINED by our parents,

our schooling, our peers, and our CIRCUMSTANCES. Later we design our
own values by what we want to accomplish in life. In addition, in Romans
2:14-15 Paul teaches that God has put knowledge of himself and of basic
right or wrong in every person. Therefore, everyone is “WITHOUT
EXCUSE” (Romans 1:20). When people go against their God-given
understanding that abusing a fellow human is wrong, Paul says in 1
Timothy 4:2 sin has seared their conscience.

When we say seared ang conscience o wala nang konsensya – we

have become accustomed to doing wrong things and that we are living a
callous life. Sabi nga, PRACTICE MAKES……PERMANENT. (cite an
example) We do not heed to our conscience until there is no more room for
realization. This is very important if we are to stop any form of malpractice
in public service or even in our own relationships.

May promise naman si God in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people will

humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear
from heaven and heal their land.” So we hold on to God’s promise.

Full restoration of favor and blessings only happen when we act on

our decision to reform and go back to a godly life. In the story, after the son
turned away from his sins, he said to his father the words, “MAKE ME like
one of your hired servants.” This signifies his desire to be molded,
disciplined and to be under the covering and authority of his Father. For
indeed, it is only when we humble ourselves and turn away from our selfish
ways that genuine personal transformation is possible. Let us repent from
our wicked ways and heed the call of transformation.

(5) Now we move to our connecting topic, FORGIVENESS….

While modern conceptions of forgiveness focus mainly on its

emotional dimensions, in Jesus’ first-century context, forgiveness had more
concrete implications. The Greek word translated as “forgive” in the New
Testament, aphiēmi, carried a wide range of meanings, including to remit (a
debt), to leave (something or someone) alone, to allow (an action), to
leave, to send away, to desert or abandon, and even to divorce.

In fact, the Greek word appears 146 times in the New Testament, but
it is translated in most English versions as “forgive” only 38 of those times.
Considering the entire range of meanings of this word gives us some
indication of what “forgiveness” might have meant to listeners in Jesus’
first-century context. Most of all, FORGIVENESS WAS AN ACTION
RATHER THAN A FEELING, and so our contemporary ideas about
forgiveness as an emotional state must come from sources other than the
biblical text.

In Matthew, Jesus says that church members should forgive each

other “seventy times seven times” (18:22), a number that symbolizes
boundlessness. Pero believe me, sa nature ng tao may nakakarating na sa
491st na beses….will dat mean pag ika 491 na puedi na nating patayin?….
Kaya nga boundless…agree po ba?

Another parable in Matthew 18:23-25

Similar sa ating experiences…Going back sa relationships….we

made clear a while back that at any point of the relationship, may
mananakit o magkakasala, may masasaktan…. Everytime na may conflict
o may offense

Sa ganitong relasyon kasi, we often use our human standard of

evaluation na kapag, kunwari, ako at sa partner ko….i always see my
offense as smaller pero kung sya ang nagkamali, BIGGER…a lot more
HUMONGOUS….we think that when we sin against someone, it is far more
smaller compared to the sins commited against us. Pag tayo nagkasala,
maliit lang nman yun. May rason naman ako. Pag nagkasala sila sa iyo,
galit nag alit ka. In our eyes, we are far better than the other person. Kaya
almost all fights, you are never wrong and he is never right.

….we tend to judge their actions…pero kapag tayo ang nagkasala we

tend….hindi tendency….most of the time ….we explain our
intentions….Agree po ba? Like when we sin, smaller justice, pero if they
sinned against us, they deserve the wrath of God.

My point is in relation to the parable, ano pang pagkakasala kaya ang

hihigit sa ginawa at ginagawa natin against our God kumpara sa ginawang
pagkakasala sa atin ng ating kapwa. At ang Diyos pinatawad tayo…Jesus
redeemed our sins on the cross and God forgave our sins….and yet hindi
tayo magpapatawad…?

Our Father in Heaven insists that we forgive all who seek our
forgiveness, otherwise He will not show mercy to us in our sins:

Matt. 6:14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you.

Matt. 6:15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not
forgive your transgressions.

Theologian Lewis Smedes writes, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free

and discover that the prisoner was you.” Much of Christian self-help
literature touts the emotional and physical benefits of forgiveness. And
while contemporary understandings of forgiveness may very well have
positive psychological outcomes for those suffering in the aftermath of
mistreatment and abuse, the idea that forgiveness is good for the forgiver,
that it “sets you free,” does not come from the Bible.

But in the Gospel of Luke Jesus instructs his disciples to “pray for
those who abuse you” (Luke 6:38)

When we truly forgive…yung hindi inch-deep forgiveness…

makakarating ka sa punto na pinagdadasal mo na ang taong nakagawa ng
pagkakasala sa iyo. Pinagdarasal, hindi para….sana makarma din siya o
malasin siya….Ipagdasal that your offender will find peace in his heart and
will truly lead a life that is directed towards God. Mahirap din ito. Imagine, ni
rape ka o pinatay ang buong angkan mo….will you truly forgive your
offender? How about justice? Ano baa ng totoong puso ng forgiveness….

Again, forgiving is an action word…

Yes, you forgive…ok na…hayaan mo na yun…pero pag nagkita kayo

ulit naalala mo nanaman ang kasalanan nya, ang utang nya. It’s because
that was just inch-deep forgiveness…. Mababaw lang kumbaga. Ito yung
hindi kailanman makakamove on ---kasi wala talagang nangyaring totoong
pagpapatawad.

True biblical forgiveness sees another’s sin for the evil that it is,
addresses it…. Points out the sin……pero hindi nagtatapos doon……THE
FORGIVER SHOULD ACCEPT AND BE WILLING TO ABSORB ALL THE
HURT AND THE PAIN, THE DISTRESS, THE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, THE
RESULT THAT CAUSED BY THE COMMISSION OF THE SIN.

Forgiveness is costly….It is absorbing all the pain, the hurt – I’m

taking it all…if willing to absorb all that was done to you….then this is truly
forgiving.

Forgiveness is a costly activity….when you Cancel a debt, it does not

simply disappear, instead you absorb a liability that someone else deserves
to pay. Similarly forgiveness requires that you absorb certain effects of
another person’s sins and you release that persons liability to punishment.
This is exactly what Jesus did on the cross for our sins so that we would be
forgiven and be transformed.

One last thing….forgiven sinners forgive sins, forgiven sinners repent

on their sins. A person who has Forgiven can forgive any sin that’s
committed against him.

Of course….not a part of my message claims all of these are

easy….my friends, in fact these are all easier said than done….but if we
understand who we are in light of the holiness of God, we will all
understand that these are all true. This is a very challenging message. The
only great motivation for us to forgive is what Christ has done to us.

LET US PRAY

Lord as we gather today and be educated by your teachings through

the Bible, we believe Lord that you made this day for all of us, ordained this
very day for this laudable purpose.

For us all who have been convicted by the words of God in this
message….Lord we take today to come to you and repent from all our sins
we have committed. Lord cleanse us and make us the person that you
have called us to be. We allow you to live in us and rule our lives. Lord,
please give us the strength to resist all kinds of temptations. Help us turn
away from all forms of unrighteousness, O Lord.

Yes Lord we have no right to hold grudges and unforgiveness and

bitternes against anyone Lord, because we, ourselves have rebelled, have
sinned against our Holy and Gracious Loving God…. Who am I, Who are
we not to forgive…

Please follow after me, Lord, I am releasing that forgiveness.

I release and I forgive…. and Lord I am absorbing the liability, all the
hurt and the pain that are caused by the offense of my brothers sisters,
family members, partners, officemates done against me….. and Lord I am
tapping on, I am holding on to the grace of God to see me through this. Tru
forgiveness is absorbing all hold on to Christ to fill us up and complete us

Lord we need your grace….so we can truly forgive, not worldly

forgiveness but true biblical forgiveness.

I absorb all the hurt and pain and we surrender to God for only Jesus
can heal us.

Yes Lord, not time nor place can heal us, only Jesus can truly bring
healing to us, to everyone.

Thank u Lord for you are such a benevolent God, forgiving and loving
God….Thank you Lord…we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.