Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.
14 sermons cite this verse
… before we kind of take our journey toward home. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other. Just as in Christ, are you ever going to miss this now? God forgave you. so we're flipping around the kingdom teaching of Jesus, which was forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, or forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. That's kingdom teaching, but now the cross has happened. Calvary is in the story, and Paul is teaching out of the finished work of Christ and now the story has flipped. So now I'm forgiving you, not so that I can get forgiven, I'm forgiving you because I have been forgiven. This is the way Paul writes it. You see the same thing in Colossians 3. Just as in Christ, God forgave you. Now this tense of this verb in Greek is the aorist tense You're like, why does that matter to me? Well, I'll explain it from one Bible study. …
… aftershock of this initial conversations, he said, get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ God, just as in Christ God forgave you. Get rid of bitterness, then forgive. Some of us don't have a mouth problem. We have an unforgiveness problem that keeps coming out of your mouth. Forgiveness doesn't mean what happens is okay. It doesn't mean it didn't hurt. It doesn't mean that you aren't justified in feeling some type of way. it means I'm not going to then spew it on everybody else in my life and I'm not going to allow what someone did to me to keep living inside of me because if I allow bitterness to live in my heart then eventually it's going to start building things in my mouth sometimes the way God changes the language of my life is by healing the place my language has been coming from. Your mouth may be revealing something that God wants to heal. Some of us, every chance we get, we scorch those around us that we love. It's a spark, but we scorch our spouse. We scorch our children. We scorch strangers, cussing them out, going down the road. And some of y'all have got Free Chapel bumper stickers, still, made for more. …
… is because of the great forgiveness that God has extended to us. Ephesians 4.32 says, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6.14? If you forgive others, Jesus said, My heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will my heavenly Father forgive you. It's pretty clear, isn't it? Forgiveness isn't optional. It's essential for anyone who wants God's forgiveness. Number five, how do you deal with anger in your life? How do you keep from allowing anger to get out of control, either through wrath or malice? Number five, don't associate with angry people. Now remember this, if you associate with angry people, you're going to become angry as well. I'm going to give you the best piece of advice you're going to hear this week. If you are single and thinking about getting married at some point in your life, don't date and certainly don't marry someone who is habitually angry. Don't marry or even date somebody who has a problem with his or her temper. That's what Solomon said in Proverbs 22 verses 24 and 25. Do not associate with a man given to anger or go with a hot-tempered man, lest you learn his ways and find a snare for yourself. Now, if it's somebody who acknowledges he has an anger problem and he or she is dealing with it positively, that's one thing. But a person who is continually blowing up all of the time, if you marry that person, you're going to be …
… of Solomon. We got to be like Jesus. We got to let Jesus take the will. We got to let Jesus into our lives. Why? We close here, Ephesians 4.32, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. If your marriage feels disconnected today, don't despair. You are not alone. Even Solomon and his bride, the Song of Songs has nights like this. But it didn't end there. The story didn't end there. They chose appreciation. They chose communication. They chose regulation. And so God is giving us the same grace to stay in sync in our marriages and our lives today. As we close in prayer, would you please stand with me all across the church, all of us praying with heads bowed, with eyes closed, all of us just considering the work that needs to be done in our relationship. And if you would say there's some action item or there's some step for me to take today in response to this truth, could I just ask you to raise a hand up so I could pray for you? …
… because the gospel is about forgiveness this is the way paul wrote it in ephesians chapter 4 he said be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other just as now this is the key moment in this verse i think this is the fulcrum of this verse this is what it all hinges on. Just as in Christ, God forgave you. So the fulcrum, if you will, that moves us to forgiveness is not what we want to do or don't want to do, it's what God has already done. And he's saying in the same way that God in Christ forgave you, I want you to forgive one another. So let's talk about forgiveness just for a moment. And I want to clarify a few things and give some thoughts around it. Number one is this, that forgiveness does not mean we sweep things under the rug. Some of you are already there. The enemy's already working. Some of you are holding on to forgiveness because the enemy's got all these straw men in your story. …
… be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you this gospel axiom worked out in marriage is a game saver in marriage God forgave me I have the capacity then to forgive you. We're not talking about sweeping things under the rug. We're not talking about letting big giant things go un- confronted. But here's the thing. You can be right and be kind at the same time. You can be strong and be kind at the same time. You can speak the truth and be kind at the same time. You can be confrontational and be kind. I know this is one of the areas that I've still got to grow in in my life. If you meet me out in life, I hope that you will say, one thing that you'll say about me is that I was kind. I make it my effort to be kind, super kind, as kind as possible to every single person I meet. But then I can come home and be a... …
… the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32, God in Christ has forgiven you. First John 1-9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When you go into the Old Testament, you find the same thing. Here are the words of Exodus 34, the Lord God Himself said, the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth, who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin." God is introducing Himself there, as you remember in the mountain, to Moses, and He wants Moses to know His character. And He describes Himself as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Nehemiah 9.17, You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness. And I read earlier Psalm 103, as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. …
… That's the point. You can go back to Ephesians 4.32. 2, we forgive because God in Christ has forgiven us. So, do an inventory. How do you know you're a Christian? 2 Corinthians 13, rather. 2 Corinthians 13, 5. Examine yourselves whether you're in the faith. Ask yourself this. In my life, characteristically, has the truth replaced lying? Has righteous indignation replaced unrighteous anger? Has sharing replaced stealing? gracious speech replaced corrupt speech, and has forgiveness replaced retaliation. If it has, then in the language of Ephesians, you have not given the devil an opportunity, and you have honored God, because both the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all three are in this particular passage. You have learned Jesus, you have not grieved the Holy Spirit, and you've acted consistently with the Father who forgave you. So you give honor to the triune God when you are a forgiving person, and you demonstrate that you have been transformed. That's the exchange. How is it that God could forgive us? How did He do that? The answer is right here, isn't it, at the cross. This is a perfect point at which we come to the Lord's table, understanding that the Lord is able to forgive us because our sins were paid for in full by Christ on the cross. God has to be just, and therefore there must be just punishment. He also wants to be the justifier, so how can God be just and the justifier of sinners by substituting His Son, the Son of …
… with all malice or evil. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." Now our theme in chapter 4 has been spiritual transformation. That identifies the true Christian. Verses 17 and 19 that I just read to you describe the unconverted person, and then you have, as I noted, the transition in verse 20. You have learned Christ, and that is a dramatic transformation. You have heard Him. You literally heard Him speak by His Spirit in your heart and in His Word. You have been taught in Him by the Spirit and the Word. You now know the truth in Jesus, and so with reference to your former life, you laid that aside, that corrupt life. You have been renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you are a new self created in the likeness of God, in fact, created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. This is a dramatic 180-degree transformation that takes place at salvation. …
… with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." This is a very pragmatic section starting in verse 25, and it will continue to be so as we march through chapter 5 in the future. But there's a turning point here, and it's in verse 20. You did not learn Christ in this way. Prior to that, in verses 17 and 19, is a description of the unconverted, the people who are in their fallen condition. They walk in the futility of their mind. They are darkened in their understanding. They are excluded from the life of God. They are ignorant. They are hard-hearted. They are callous. They are sensual, and they are committed to the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way. And what we've been saying through our study of Ephesians is that true salvation makes a dramatic change. There is a true spiritual transformation. Yes, we understand the doctrine of imputed righteousness, that the imputed righteousness of Christ is granted to us by faith, but there is also a complete change in our nature. …
… do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. There it is, in a way. benefit those who listen. In other words, everything I do when I speak is not what meets my needs, but what meets theirs. What do they need? What do they need to hear? What do they need to hear? That's what I give them. And then you're kind. That's a kind conversation. It's kindness expressed through your words. Do you enter into conversations asking, what do these people really need from me? What do they need to hear? Where do they need the conversation to go? That's kindness. So basically, kindness is very simple. It's meeting the needs of other people instead of your own. It's noticing needs and meeting the needs of other people instead of your own. But look carefully before we move on. Even here, it doesn't say that you should say what pleases them but what benefits them. …
… be put away from you along with all malice and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Now, if our first response to someone who wrongs us is anger and bitterness and hostility, then what he says here, let all bitterness, that is, a feeling of intense animosity towards someone, bitterness. Then he says wrath, that is, that's anger with real aggressiveness and anger and clamor with real loud protest towards someone, slander, that is with the desire, intention to really injure someone else. And he says, let all that be put away from you with all malice, that is statements that you intend to damage someone's reputation or their occupation or whatever it might be. So he says, none of these things fit who we are as believers. And then he takes the very opposite. He says, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ Jesus has forgiven you. Well, when I think about God, I think about this truth. …
… HE HATH MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED. AND THE BIBLE SAYS, BE YE KIND, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, EVEN AS GOD, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, HATH FORGIVEN YOU. NOW GET THIS, DAVID, FOR JONATHAN'S SAKE, RECEIVED MEPHIBOSHETH. GOD, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, HAS FORGIVEN YOU. THE DEVIL WILL GET YOU IN AN ARGUMENT, AND THE DEVIL WILL TELL YOU, YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH, YOU HAVEN'T DONE ENOUGH, YOU DON'T DESERVE IT. it. Don't argue with him. He's right. Just point him to the blood covenant and step out of the way. Let him argue with God. Friend, you're not accepted on the basis of who you are, but what he did. What he did is grace. Paul said, I made havoc of the church of God, but I am what I am by the grace of God. When You understand this, friend. It frees you. Not to do less. You do more, but it's oh so different. Now you're burning the oil and not the wick. Friend, now you are doing what you do is unto God. …
… Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Now, when a person has an unforgiving spirit and refuses to be kind and tenderhearted and forgiving, even as God has forgiven us in Christ Jesus. When a person refuses to do that, what happens to them? Well, there's some very definite consequences. One of them is emotional bondage. And this is where people are who are living in anger and bitterness and hostility and resentment. And everybody's going to have things done to them or said about them in life because that's the kind of world we live in. It's never going to be a place where everybody just loves you. Listen, any person who acts in such a fashion to be sure that everybody will love them, Well, first of all, some people are not going to love you just because you're being too kind. …