Bury the Hatchet

Good morning and welcome in. Today I wanted to take a look at a few passages of scripture, but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.

In these modern days, a soldier will go into battle with guns and grenades, but in years past they used things like bow and arrows, spears and hatchets. A lot of people don’t know it, but there was a centuries old custom where people literally buried their hatchets in the ground! It’s been claimed that this practice was seen among native American tribes of North America.  The Chiefs from certain tribes would meet and as a symbolic gesture of peace and reconciliation they would bury their weapons in the ground.

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

Many people claim that they forgive others with their lips, but scripture teaches us that we need to forgive with our hearts.  Forgiveness that is led from the heart will have outward evidence to prove that fact.  Heartfelt forgiveness will offer complete remission of sins and possess the outward evidence of a reconciled and restored relationship with those that have wronged you.  Reconciliation is the proof that you’ve truly buried the hatchet.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

God forgives us when we confess our faults to Him.  As we were once separated from Him because of our sins, we can now confess our faults and rejoin our close daily relationship with Him once again.  This is all a process of God’s divine grace.  If you have requested and received mercy from God, God commands that you take the free gift of His grace and give it to others who request it from you.  When you lovingly keep His commands, personal relationships can be restored, in the same way that we are restored in a relationship with God.  Reconciliation is the outward evidence that you have truly forgiven someone from your heart.  

God offers us complete remission of sins which is the canceling of a debt, charge or penalty.  Remission is to grant forgiveness of sins or a complete pardon to an offender.  If biblical forgiveness has taken place, it will result in a reuniting of parties who were once at enmity and separated.  Where there was once estrangement, there is now reconciliation.  Many false forms of Christianity teach that you can forgive others and not reconcile with them again. For those who truly believe God’s Word, this is a heretical belief, because it is contrary to biblical teachings on forgiveness, that are exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ.  When God forgives us, He completely forgives and forgets our sinful deeds when we confess them to Him.  Does that sound too easy?  Jesus taught that His yoke was easy.  Sometimes people will say that there is more to it than that, but remember that there are severe condemnations to those who add to scripture.  God does not make it difficult for us to obtain forgiveness.  What He desires is a contrite and penitent heart that is humble enough to look inside and admit the truth by confessing your faults.  If we cannot admit our faults we can never learn from our faults.  We also need to confess and apologize to people that we have knowingly wronged in the church.  If you’re aware that somebody is upset with you because you have wronged them, then you are not ignorant of that fact.  God does not even want a donation from you until you first reconcile with a brother that you have hurt.  Just in that statement we learn how important reconciliation is to God.  Reconciliation is the evidence of divine love and forgiveness present in someone’s heart.

When God forgives us, He completely forgets our sinful deeds upon our humble confession.  If you truly forget something, you will cease to remember the event anymore, nor bear it in mind.

Hebrews 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Hebrews 10:17  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Imagine somebody claiming to forgive you, but every few weeks they remind you of your past fault.  If you cannot forget someone’s sin after they have apologized for it, then you really never forgave them at all.  If you cannot forget the past, then you cannot call it forgiveness.  forgiveness.  You need to call it what it is; bitterness and grudge keeping.  When you cease to remember sin, it means that you completely forget that it ever happened. It is deleted in your mind, just like deleting a file on your computer, never to be seen again.  Many heretics preach that love forgives others, but it does not forget. They are blind leaders of the blind.  They probably agree with women preaching God’s Word, or usurping over men, and are completely ignorant and non-spiritual anyway.  To hold this unchristian belief only proves that they are cold-hearted and bitter people, utterly cruel and unforgiving, hateful and hating one another.  They completely deny biblical truth in their hearts.  Numerous people actually believe this false teaching, and their lives are the evidence that we are in the latter days.  Each day the love of many is waxing colder and colder. The way of Christ is to forget sin not to relive it.  To truly forgive others in this manner you must possess Divine charity in your heart.  To reconcile with others, you must be filled with the attributes of God.

Psalms 32:5  I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There are many people who want forgiveness from God, but they won’t show forgiveness to others.  They want grace and love from God but they won’t show Grace and love to others.  They want to be in a reconciled relationship with God, but they will not reconcile with others.

Upon a confession of fault, we are required to forgive others in the same way God forgives us.  We must forgive, forget and reconcile with others so that we can move forward in our lives from the point where estrangement began.  Some people don’t want to forgive, but rather want you to suffer somehow because of what you did to them.  In their bitterness, they refuse to accept a heartfelt apology because of the sufferings that the offender has put them through.  They do this because they don’t recognize the fact of what they have put others through.  They don’t even think about the nails and the horrible death that Jesus suffered at the cross because of their sins.  He endured the suffering, so that reconciliation with God could take place for them.

We cannot go back and change what we did in the past.  You cannot undo the event.  When we sin, all we can do is admit our fault and apologize to God or others. If you have already expressed regret and apologized, but the offended party refuses to reconcile with you, there really is nothing else that you can do.  As a sinner, you have done what is required by God and you can be at peace with that, but because of their lack of forgiveness and unmerciful heart, they will incur the wrath of God.

Matthew 18:32-35  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Imagine having a child at home who did something wrong and made you really upset.  When they approached you and regretfully apologized for what they did, would you be a gracious parent and forgive them from your heart? Would you give them a big hug and put the past behind you, or would you proceed to kick them out of the house? Sounds pretty sad and unloving doesn’t it, but there are adults that do this to each other every single day, and many of them profess to be followers of Christ.  It really sickens my heart.  

Matthew 6:14-15  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

In order to receive forgiveness from God we must confess our faults to Him. When someone confesses faults and apologizes to you, it is required for you by God to forgive them. Reconciliation is the proof that you forgave someone in your heart.  It is the evidence that you choose to finally…….

……Bury the Hatchet.

Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.

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