Monday, November 7, 2011

“The Circle of Forgiveness,” Part 4—
Restoration

 

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
      and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
      or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
      and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

—The words of King David from Psalm 51:10-12

 

In my three previous blog posts, I laid out a new series of posts using these words:

Recently, on this blog site, I’ve written quite a bit about confession, repentance, restitution, and reconciliation. These four individual elements form an interdependent and interlocking, life-sustaining process that some have called “The Circle of Forgiveness.” This process becomes a very important part of the pathway for a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ—that is to say a “Christian” or “Christ-one”—to develop into a fully obedient citizen of the Kingdom of God.

At the same time, each of these elements offers its own set of challenges to our normal understanding. While the basis for the fundamental morality of the United States has deep roots into the Judeo-Christian values, time has tended to soften or distort some of the directness of certain of those values. As a result, people end up with a skewed or distorted view of what these values really mean.

“Restoration” is the final such value. It marks the end of the journey through the “Circle of Forgiveness.” In a very real sense, it also marks the beginning of another journey through the Circle. Our sin nature will always bring us to the need for yet another confession, repentance, restitution, and restoration. Praise God that—in His mercy and grace through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ—He has made provision for us to continually keep short accounts with Him.

When one party in a relationship sins against another, the Holy Spirit begins a process of conviction. Unless the one who sinned has hardened his or her heart to the point that he or she rejects the urging of the Spirit, that process of conviction will lead the one who sinned to embark on a journey along the “Circle of Forgiveness.”

The one who has been sinned against plays a key role in the last element of this Circle—“...forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors...” By cheefully extending forgiveness to the one who has sinned, the harmed party may now lovingly assist the sinner to receive mercy. Once mercy begins to act on the matter, the bond of Christian love will again bloom between the parties.

“If what you describe is so, why do so many in the body of believers remain estranged from each other?”

That’s an excellent question. For each individual situation, the answer comes from conducting a very careful examination to make certain every one of the four steps has been successfully completed. In any case where you find lingering difficulty, you will find that the estranged parties have missed one of the steps.

As I have suggested in several related blog posts over the last six months or so, you can “paint over” the bad spot of sin in a relationship and try to pretend nothing has really happened. However, if the underlying sin does not become exposed and dealt with using the “Circle of Forgiveness,” that sin stain will always reveal itself, to the determent of the relationship.

Let me offer a concrete example:

Due to a bankruptcy on the part of a builder, one adult sibling in a family has an opportunity to purchase a new house at a drastic discount. This is the dream house that the sibling has longed for over many years. However, he does not have the money to purchase the house. He turns to his brother and asks the brother—who is a good deal better off financially— to purchase the house and hold it until the first brother can raise the money.

The second brother gladly complies with the request. However, six months later, when the first brother has raised the capital to purchase the house from his brother, the second brother informs the first that he will have to pay interest on the loaned money. In fact, rather than charging a modest interest, the second brother decides to seek more interest than the current market would require.

The first brother grudgingly complies. He remains grateful for his brother’s help in the matter. It seems as if the incident is settled.

The truth is, the second brother sinned against the first. He did so by not disclosing the terms of the arrangement at the beginning, and by charging his brother an exhorbitant rate of interest. But, the second brother does not follow the “Circle of Forgiveness.”

Even though the matter seems settled, over the next twenty years, every once in a while, the matter pokes its head above the surface of the normally calm waters of the relationship. And, it will continue to fester, just beneath the surface, until the second brother confesses his sin, repents of his sin, makes restitution for his sin, and receives full restoration.

I urge you, if you have sinned against a brother or sister in Christ, to prayerfully and carefully make your way through the four steps of the “Circle of Forgiveness.” If you do, God will restore your relationship and restore your joy.

Will you pray with me?

Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Savior. Thank you for giving us Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us.

We invite Your Holy Spirit to guide us in applying the truth of your Word to the sin we may find in our lives. Maybe that sin has lain dormant for a long time. Or, maybe that sin is as fresh as just a few moments ago. In either case, help us to confess our sins to You and to the one we have sinned against. And, as we repent of our sins—turning our backs on those sins—we ask You to guide us so we may provide restitution for our sins and then, receive full restoration.

Keep us from holding grudges and from allowing our arrogance or pride to keep us from full fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. With humility and gratitude, we thank you for hearing our prayer, in and through the powerful and redeeming Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Copyright © 2011 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

 

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