Sin of Unforgiveness
The sin of unforgiveness can also be called the most dangerous sin because it can make even a believer into an enemy of God.
Mark 11:25-26 (NASB)
25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
26 [“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”]
This scripture above says that when a believer is praying to the Lord but he has something against someone in his heart then he must first forgive that person who sinned against him. If he will forgive others who sinned against him then the heavenly Father will also forgive the sins which he has committed. The scripture above states clearly that if a believer does not forgive the sins of others which are committed against him then his heavenly Father will not forgive his own transgressions.
Matthew 18:21-22 (NASB)
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Peter asked the Lord how many times he should forgive someone who sins against him. Peter thought seven times of forgiving someone would be a big number to forgive them. But Jesus said not seven times but seventy times seven! It would not even be possible for someone to sin against you 490 times in one day because there is not enough time in one day to do that much sinning! Seventy times seven is an expression of unlimited times of forgiving because if a believer does not forgive, they will make themselves enemies of God and God will not forgive them of their own sins either. Believers must forgive everyone at all costs and never allow any unforgiveness in their heart in any way. It is a matter of survival to keep them out of hell because the sin of unforgiveness will send them to hell if they do not repent and forgive others before they die!
Matthew 18:23 (NASB)
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
Jesus then taught a parable to illustrate how the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. In this parable, the king represents God and the slaves represent believers and the debts owed represent sins that are either forgiven or are retained.
Matthew 18:24-27 (NASB)
24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’
27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
There was in slave who owed the king ten-thousand talents. A talent weights about 34 KG so ten-thousand talents equals 340,000 KG of pure gold. This is an enormous amount of gold and the value is greater than many nations could afford to own even in this present time. This great debt seems to be so large as to be unfathomable! This great debt represents the price that Jesus had to pay in order to cancel the sin-debts of all humanity by the sacrifice of himself for their sins.
Psalm 49:7-8 (NIV)
7 No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him–
8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough–
No man on earth can redeem the life of another or give God ransom for his own sins. The ransom of a human life is costly and no payment is ever enough. Even the richest man on earth could not pay God to cancel his sins for himself or for anyone else!
1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Humans cannot be redeemed with things like silver or gold or money. Their sins can only be cancelled by the precious blood of Christ as a sacrificial lamb without blemish or defect. Jesus offered himself like a sacrificial Lamb (as the innocent who died for the guilty) to pay for the sins of all humanity. Only the precious blood of Jesus is able to redeem mankind from sin.
Acts 4:12 (NASB)
12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
There is no other name given under heaven by which men can be saved except the Name of Jesus. Only Jesus died for the sins of mankind and paid for their sins by the sacrifice of his own blood. Only Jesus took their punishment in hell so that humans could be saved and not have to go to eternal damnation.
The price that Jesus paid was enormous! He was nailed to the cross and took the punishment of all humanity upon himself and bore their sickness and disease and pains and sins. He went into hell for three days and three nights and paid the worse punishment that hell had to offer. Then he provided this salvation (that he purchased using his own blood) as a free gift to whoever will receive it by faith and call upon his Name to be saved.
Canceling the sin-debt of humanity is represented by the debt owed by the slave in this parable that is worth ten-thousand talents or 340,000 KG of pure gold! It is a debt so huge that it cannot be calculated!
Matthew 18:28-30 (NASB)
28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’
29 “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’
30 “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
But this same slave who was forgiven a debt of ten-thousand talents went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owned him a hundred denarii. A denarius is about sixteen-cents or a day’s wages in that time. A 100 day’s wages may seem like a lot of money to a working man but it is a pittance in comparison to ten-thousand talents of gold!
The slave put his fellow slave in prison for this small debt of 100 denarii. Whenever a believer refuses to forgive someone then they are putting them into a prison of their heart. But this will only harm the one who harbors this unforgiveness.
The point of this illustration is that the offenses of those who sin against us may seem to be a lot in our point of view but it is nothing compared to the sin God forgave us. Even if we were the only person on earth Jesus would have died and paid the price for our sins because he loves us. The cost of paying for our sins was like paying ten-thousand talents of gold because no humans can pay such a great price for their own sins.
Matthew 18:31-35 (NASB)
31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.
32 “Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’
34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
In this parable, the king summoned the slave whom he had forgiven of ten-thousand talents and said, “I forgave you all of that debt because you pleaded with me!” “Should you have not also had mercy on your fellow slave in the same way I had mercy on you?”
The king then was moved with anger and handed this slave (who owned ten-thousand talents) over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed!
Jesus made the meaning of this parable clear by saying, “My heavenly Father will do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from their heart!”
This means that if a believer does not forgive those who sin against them then the heavenly Father will turn that person over to the torturers (demons) until that person should forgive those who sinned against them.
The number one cause of sickness among believers comes from when they hold unforgiveness in their hearts toward others. They have opened the door to demonic torment by their sin of unforgiveness and this gives the devil right to torment and afflict their bodies. If such a person does not forgive before they die then they will go to hell and their demonic torment will last forever!
It is for this reason that unforgiveness is the most dangerous sin because it makes God an enemy of those believers who refuse to forgive others who sinned against them.
God forgive the believer of a huge debt of sin and it cost the precious blood of Jesus to pay for this sin. This sin is like the debt of ten-thousands talents that no person can afford to pay! If God forgive that great sin (that cost the blood of Jesus to pay for it) then God expects that the believer to also forgive those who sin against them on earth. When someone sins against a believer or offends them, this is like the 100-denarii debt. It may seem like a lot to the person but it is actually nothing compared to the sin-debt that was cancelled against them by the blood of Jesus.
If God forgive them of their own great debt of sin then it is no small matter to expect them to forgive others. It is for this reason Jesus warned Peter to never stop forgiving those who sin against him. If they sin against him seventy times seven or 490 times a day then they should forgive them no matter how many times they sin or offend. If they do not forgive then they will make themselves an enemy of God and be handed over to demonic torment. If they do not repent (even after all of their physical afflictions of demonic torment on earth) and they happen to die then they will be sealed up forever in hell being tormented by demons eternally!
A believer can lose his salvation if they do not forgive others! The man who refused to forgive others in this parable then had his entire sin-debt of ten-thousand talents reinstated against him and he was handed over to the torturers until he would pay every last cent! So, the heavenly father will do to any believer who from their hearts do not forgive those who sin against them. Their entire sin-debt will be reinstated because they refused to forgive others and this will send them to hell!
For this reason, believers must forgive everyone who ever sinned against them. If they should die with unforgiveness in their hearts then they can be eternally damned forever! That is why they should not even let the sun go down without forgiving because their life might end suddenly and they could no longer repent and end up in hell forever!
Ephesians 4:26 (NIV)
26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
Yes, everyone has opportunity to get angry at the sins of others against them but they are not to sin themselves by committing the sin of unforgiveness. Believers are not to let the sun go down on their anger because they must forgive and release it. If they hold a grudge and do not forgive others and if they happened to die in the night before they can forgive then they would end up in hell!
Notice that the slave who had the debt of ten-thousand talents cancelled was later brought before the king again and this debt of ten-thousand talents was reinstated again because this slave failed to forgive others. In the same way, the great sin-debt owed by every human is cancelled by faith in the sacrificial blood of Jesus. But if they have unforgiveness toward any other human then their great sin-debt of ten-thousand talents will be reinstated and they will be like an unsaved unbeliever! If they die in that condition, they will be in hell eternally.
It is for this reason the believers must train themselves to forgive everyone immediately in their hearts no matter how bad someone has sinned against them.
If they have unforgiveness against others from their childhood or against parents who failed them or against someone who cheated them or humiliated them then they must forgive completely. If they have a hard time to forgive then they can ask God for grace to forgive. They can tell the Lord that they are unable to forgive that person in their own strength but then ask God for his grace to forgive others. They should go through their memory and forgive everyone from their past that they can remember. They must also forgive anyone who might sin against them in the present or future time to come.
If they do not forgive then their own sin-debt will be reinstated and they will be equal to an unbeliever who will be damned eternally in hell’s torments because their sin-debt has not been cancelled. It is for this reason that believers should make it their goal and purpose in life to search their hearts (while they are still alive on earth) and forgive anyone who sinned against them. If they will forgive then God can forgive them. But if they refuse to forgive and hold a grudge then neither will God forgive them.
Many people suffer physical afflictions and diseases simply because of harboring unforgiveness and once they repent and forgive others then they can receive their healing. They open the door to the devil for afflictions whenever they refuse to forgive. But if they die in that condition then their tormentors (demonic spirits) will torment them forever in hell!
It is for this reason that the sin of unforgiveness is the most dangerous sin because it can make the believer who has unforgiveness into an enemy of God! No believer can afford to harbor unforgiveness. If a believer has a fight with his family member, they should not even leave the house without making things right because if they have an accident and die, they could end up in hell.
Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, and watch over it, for out of it spring the issues of life.
A believer must guard their heart with all diligence and watch over it because if they have any unforgiveness this can reinstate their sin-debt and send them to hell. If they do not forgive others then their heavenly father will also not forgive them. This is what makes the sin of unforgiveness the most dangerous sin because it can make a believer into an enemy of God!