Forgiveness is Hard - the 5th Mark

Here is J.C. Ryles 5th Mark of Forgiven Souls

"Forgiven souls are FORGIVING. They do as they have been done by. They look over the offenses of their brethren. They endeavor to 'walk in love, as Christ loved them, and gave Himself for them.' (Eph. 5:2.) They remember how God for Christ’s sake forgave them, and endeavor to do the same towards their fellow-creatures. Has He forgiven them pounds, and shall they not forgive a few pence? Doubtless in this, as in everything else, they come short—but this is their desire and their aim. A spiteful, quarrelsome Christian is a scandal to his profession. Forgiveness is the way by which every saved soul enters heaven. Forgiveness is the eternal subject of song with all the redeemed who inhabit heaven. Surely an unforgiving soul in heaven would find his heart completely out of tune. Surely we know nothing of Christ’s love to us but the name of it, if we do not love our brethren.
~ J.C. Ryle

When I hear the word forgiveness, I think of the Gospel. It is no small thing for God to forgive us. Unfortunately, I think many of us have gotten comfortable with the idea. I am sad to say that we even sometimes think that we ought to be forgiven. There are those that I have heard criticize and judge God because He does not forgive everybody.

We must never forget that forgiveness is expensive. Forgiveness is not the removal of justice. It is the satisfaction of justice on those that did not commit the offense. In order for God to forgive us He had to take on our sin and be punished for it. That is why God took on flesh and Jesus died.

For us to forgive others we have to be willing to sacrifice. We must take the right we have to pour out our wrath and anger on others and simply crucify it. That is hard.

God did it for us and He demands that we forgive others.

Matthew 18:21–35 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”