May 25, 2025

Grow Up!

Forgiven & Forgiving

Primary Text:  1 Corinthians 13:4-5                         

This Week’s Teaching:

1)  No Record

1 Corinthians 13:4-5:  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  

DQ 1) What does it mean to “keep no record of wrongs”?

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2)  The Judgment Record

Matthew 12:34-37:  For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks….  But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

2 Corinthians 5:10:  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

DQ 2) Is there an eternal record of the sins of non-believers?

DQ 3) What happens to the “record of wrongs” for believers in Christ?

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3)  Expungement

Romans 5:8-10:  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 

2 Corinthians 5:17-19:  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 

DQ 4) How does Jesus “expunge” our record of sins?

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4)  Protective Clemency 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7:  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  

DQ 5) How can a person forgive someone but still maintain significant boundaries that minimize relationship with that individual?

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5)  Mutual Forgiveness
Matthew 6:12-15:  Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. 

Matthew 18:21-22:  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?”  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times”.

Colossians 3:13:  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  

DQ 6) What is the meaning of Matthew 6:14-15?  Is it teaching about salvation? 

DQ 7) Why is a forgiving spirit essential to Christian maturity? 

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