Forgiving Forward: The Redemption Role of the Forgiven

By Felix Bamirin

This is a message to the forgiven who have obtained the mercy of the Lord and have found healing for their hearts from the guilt of sin. It is Gods love that made it so through the cross, and as we stand overwhelmed by that love, looking with amazement to the one who gave us and forgave us, he points ahead to the next sinner and says to the forgiven, Do to him what I have done for you: pay it forward, forgive it forward.

This book will bring you back to that time when you were pronounced justified and forgiven, and it will bring back a deeper appreciation for the love of God unto us by which we have become his children, and it will challenge us to look on others with the same look of mercy with which the Lord in Christ has looked upon us.

This is a message for the unforgiven that the prisons of the heart may be emptied by the unlocking of the hearts with mercya challenge to pray for the unforgiven and a compassion toward the ones who have hurt and are still hurting us. God works forgiveness through the forgiveness of his children in amazing ways.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503538047

Felix Bamirin

Felix Bamirin is a pastor at heart and a passionate teacher of the word of God. He is a lover of Jesus Christ and his people. He is a passionate worshipper and psalmist with a primary calling to edify the body of Christ. He graduated from the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, University of Ibadan in Nigeria, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. He is married to Esther Bamirin, his lovely and very supportive soul mate. They are blessed with two children, Charis and Chasiella. He is the founder and coordinator of SIGNET International, a ministry for the empowerment and development of youths toward a godly and responsible global citizenry and leadership. He also served as youth minister with African Evangelical Baptist Church, Grand Prairie, Texas. He is currently the pastor of Graceway Church in Austin, Texas, where he continues to grow in the strength and grace of the Lord as he raises disciples that raise disciples.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Felix Bamirin.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015901188

ISBN:      Hardcover     978-1-5035-3802-3

                Softcover      978-1-5035-3803-0

                eBook           978-1-5035-3804-7

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Rev. date: 01/29/2015

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One The Forgiven Debtor

Chapter Two Giving and Forgiving

Chapter Three Like Father Like Son

Chapter Four As We Forgive Those…

Chapter Five No Monopoly on God’s Grace!

To the Lord God of grace who gives and forgives endlessly with renewed mercies at the wake up each new day. To the Spirit of compassion and love beyond human understanding. To the mercy that won’t let go, love that covers over multitude of sins made accessible through the atoning blood of Christ. This book is dedicated to the grace, love, and mercies of our God.

FOREWORD

I love me very much. So I forgive you.

I MADE UP MY mind long ago to not allow anyone, including you, to push me into the dungeon of unforgiveness. The reason is that I love myself too much. I forgive you not only because of you. There is no doubt that you need it. I know it frees you to offer acceptable gifts to the Lord and to humanity. I know it restores your relationships with me and with your Lord, with all the benefits that accrue from that. I know, with my forgiveness, you are freed to live! And I don’t intend to deny you all of these and more. So I forgive you.

But what you probably fail to recognize is that I forgive you more because of me. Not forgiving you breeds hurt—a deprecating hurt that allows you to live in my head without paying any rent. Weighed down by this excess baggage, I can’t function maximally. My prayer life suffers, my relationships stagnate, my hope dims, and my life totters.

But how can I not forgive you when I am a beneficiary of the all-embracing forgiveness of God? I must pass God’s rich forgiveness forward. To do so is to be like Christ. To not do so is to deny the very essence of my being and incur the wrath of him that has offered me greater and deeper forgiveness than you will ever need or demand from me. It doesn’t matter if you think I am weak by forgiving you and others.

I know how difficult it is for me to forgive. I know how many times I cry into my pillow, giving God a thousand and one reasons why I shouldn’t forgive you. But I also know the joy I feel each time I receive grace to forgive you, the strength that comes through for me each time I say, I forgive you and the new life that oozes out of me thereafter. So don’t even try talking me out of forgiving forward. It is the only way I know to live like Christ.

Reading Forgiving Forward by Felix Bamirin has strengthened my resolve to continue to forgive you, no matter what. I hope it helps you understand the joy and the freedom of forgiveness in a world filled with the pains of disappointments and the bondage of unforgiveness. I hope it helps you discover the strength, rather the weakness, that forgiving others adds to your life and the world around you.

Abiodun Fijabi

PREFACE

M ILLIONS OF PEOPLE all