Forgiveness: The Key to Freedom

Welcome back to the bitterness course today. We are going to talk about forgiveness the key to freedom We are going to learn about how to accuse the devil back with the cross Hallelujah in part one. We spoke about what bitterness is and how it's a root part two We spoke about what causes the root which is offense part three. We spoke about the danger of unresolved anger part four we spoke about unforgiveness and how unforgiveness Causes the danger of unresolved anger and today we're going to talk about forgiveness So in part four if you haven't watched it, I encourage you to go back to part one two, three and four part four We spoke about how unforgiveness creates legal ground for the accuser and how the judgment you thought was on the person who hurt you can Circle back and land on you and today I want to give you a weapon Because this is not just a teaching about what the enemy does to you This is a teaching about how you fight back. The enemy uses someone's offense against you as an accusation before the throne He essentially says look at him or her. She has been wounded. She's holding it She cannot forgive like Jesus and now he is accusing you of not being like the son And here is how you answer him. You're gonna answer him back by saying you forgave but actually forgiving But you're not going to forgive passively, right? It's not a passive act not just an emotional release as it's you're gonna forgive as a declaration as a counter Accusation to the enemy when you choose to forgive the person who wounded you you're not just releasing them You are picking up the cross and holding it in the face of the accuser You are saying this is what Jesus did and I'm doing it to now try to accuse me Forgiveness is the cross the cross was the ultimate act of forgiveness God forgiven a debt He did not owe releasing people who deserve judgment Absorbing the wound so the offender could go free and every time you forgive someone who hurt you you are not just performing a spiritual act you are Reenacting the cross you're becoming the image of the one who died on it The Greek word for forgive is epi me it means to send away to release to let go completely It is the same word used for releasing a prisoner when you forget you are releasing them from the debt And you are releasing yourself from the prison of holding it Hallelujah, you're not letting them off the hook. You are taking yourself off the hook You are tearing up the legal document. The accuser was holding against you

I want to address something because some of you have been told that forgiveness means Excusing what was done to you that it means saying it was okay that it means pretending it didn't happen That is not what forgiveness means Forgiveness does not mean what happened was acceptable. It means you are no longer letting Anything hold you captive think about Stephen in the book of Acts. Stephen was being stoned to death Stones thrown by his own people people he had served people he had preached to and as the stones were hitting him He knelt down and cried with a loud voice Lord. Do not charge them with this sin He forgave in the middle of stoning not after the pain stopped not after time passed While it was happening and notice what happened immediately before that It says Stephen saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of the father Jesus was standing not seated He stood for Stephen Stephen met that moment with the same spirit Jesus carried on the cross father Forgive them forgiveness is not weakness It is the most powerful posture a believer can take Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32 says be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you Ephesians 432 does not say forgive when you feel ready. It says just as Christ forgave you So also must you do that is the standard that is the image we are being conformed to So when the enemy sends someone to provoke an offense He is actually handing you an opportunity to pick up the cross to show him all of heaven that the cross is not just something That happened 2,000 years ago You're not just showing the enemy this you're showing that heaven that you understand what Jesus did It is important that right now every time that somebody does something wrong You choose to forgive because that accuses the devil right back With the cross and watch his accusation Collapse because he has no case against someone who looks just like Jesus Christ and that is you I want you to take this question from this teacher today Who do I need to forgive today? And what would it mean to pick up the cross and use the act of forgiveness as declaration against the accuser? You want to think about it? I want you to think about who Who do I need to forgive? Who do I need to release from that prison?

Who do I need to reenact the cross to? Who do I want to show the cross to? Because every time you forgive someone, you are showing them the cross. You are showing them what Jesus did. And you are accusing the enemy right back, letting him know that you understand what was done on that cross, because you understand that God forgave you and you too have to forgive. Hallelujah. Let me pray for you before you go. Lord, I thank you that every single listener today, every single viewer is deciding to pick up the cross today. They choose to forgive, not because the person that hurt them deserve it, but because the pain, Lord God, was real and it's not gone. But Lord, they're deciding to forgive because you did it first for them. And they want to become like your image. They want to become like Stephen, Lord, just like Stephen who chose to release his pain, who chose to release his anger, who chose to forgive in the middle of his pain, not waiting until it feels easy, Lord. And I just declare that the accuser has no case against all of the viewers that are watching, no case against us, because Lord God, we are holding on to what you did. And every time we forgive, just like you forgave, Lord, we are releasing every single person we're forgiving from their debt and from the wound that we have been holding on to, Lord God. We let go of every legal accusation against us. And we dismantle this act and this accusation the enemy has against us with what you did on the cross, with your forgiveness. We accuse the enemy back. We thank you for the cross, Lord God. We thank you for what you did. You showed us how to forgive. And we love you in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you. And I will catch you in part six of the bitterness series.