A Forgiving Spirit
Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:…


God's pardon of sinners is full and free and irreversible, all sin forgiven — forgiven, not because we deserve it; forgiven, every day of our lives; and, when once forgiven never again to rise up and condemn us. Now, because God has pardoned us, we should cherish a forgiving spirit, and be as ready to pardon others as He has been to remit our trespasses. His example at once enjoins imitation, and furnishes the pattern. And thus the offences of others are to be pardoned by us fully, without retaining a grudge; and freely, without any exorbitant equivalent; and when pardoned, they are not to be raked out of oblivion, and again made the theme of collision and quarrel. According to the imagery of our Lord's parable, our sins toward God are weighty as talents, nay, weighty and numerous as ten thousand talents; while the offences of our fellows toward ourselves are trivial as pence, nay, as trivial and few as a hundred pence. If the master forgive the servant so far beneath him such an immense amount, will not the forgiven servant be prompted by the generous example to absolve his own fellow servant and equal from his paltry debt? (Matthew 18:23-35). In fine, as God in Christ forgives sin, so believers in Christ, feeling their union to Him, breathing His Spirit, and doing homage to His law of love, learn to forgive one another.

(J. Eadie, D. D.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

WEB: Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice.




A Christian's Forgiveness
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