06 Nov Forgiveness Invites the Holy Spirit to Defeat the Unholy Spirit
Ephesians 4:26-32 – Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Anger is not a sin, as God Himself gets angry. Anger, however, can lead us to sin if we are not careful.
To carry anger from the daytime into the nighttime is dragging yesterday’s anger into today. You know that old anger is still with you when the words you say violate the command to “let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up.”
This is doubly true when Christians war with Christians in front of non-Christians, because the only person who wins that war is the devil. To defeat the demonic, the Bible commands us to forgive one another “as God in Christ forgave you.” This kind of forgiveness is not natural but rather supernatural.
Thankfully, the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus to pay your debt and forgive your sin is also standing at the ready to empower you to forgive. He wants to help you forgive those who have wronged you so the demonic forces causing you harm can be replaced by His hope and healing. When you focus on the one who hurt you, you ignore the One who can heal you. When you forgive, you stop focusing on winning and start focusing on worshipping.
When you forgive, you do not let those who wrong you get away with anything but rather let yourself get away from everything. When you forgive, you not only bless them, but you also bless yourself. When you forgive, you trade the haunting of unholy spirits for the healing of the Holy Spirit.
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For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.
