John Arnott - Grace & Forgiveness

GRACE AND FORGIVENESS

Grace & Forgiveness
Published by Catch The Fire Books
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
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ISBN 978-1-894310-75-8
Copyright 2009 John Arnott

The Team : Emily Wright, Marcott Bernarde, Carlos Rodriguez, Sheena Gibbons,
Benjamin Jackson, Jonathan Puddle, Steve Long
Cover and interior layout: Marcott Bernarde (Catch The Fire)

Printed in Canada
April 2015

FOREWORD

I consider it a privilege to write the foreword to this book. Reading it took me back to Westminster Chapel many years ago when John Arnott first preached for me there. I seldom opened my pulpit to a guest preacher on a Sunday morning, but I warmly welcomed John Arnott that day. It was a magnificent morning. John preached a message on forgiveness that I will never forget. I cannot remember being more pleased by a message than I was on that occasion.

Some people were surprised that I endorsed the Toronto Blessing (as Londons Sunday Telegraph called it) which broke out in his church in Toronto during January 1994. I am sure some of my own people at Westminster wondered about my wisdom at the time. My vindication, if that is the right word, came by Johns own preaching in Westminster Chapel. Everyone was enthralled. His message was theologically and biblically sound. The funny thing is, he preached on the very theme for which I myself have become somewhat known. I had preached and emphasized a teaching of total forgiveness for many of my years there, then came John with the same message! It was so powerful and fresh. Anybody present would be compelled to say that the ministry of a man who could preach a sermon like that was worth listening to, if not also taking a stand forwhich I did and I have never been sorry.

The Toronto Blessing is not merely about people being blessed by the Holy Spirit. It is also about forgiving ones enemies and then being immersed in the Fathers love. In other words, the blessing of the Holy Spirit is often in proportion to ones forgiving of others for the hurt and injustice inflicted on their lives. That is what this book is about.

Since being back in America after retiring I have preached alongside John on different occasions. I remember hearing him and Carol speak on the subject of forgiveness at a church in Texas. He brought out things I hadnt even thought of, things not in my own book and things I wish I had said! I even wondered if we should combine our books. But the nearest thing to that is my opportunity to endorse this book. This is why I am so thrilled to be a part of it.

We all have a story to tell. There will be readers who have been abused, lied about, betrayed, walked over, taken advantage of, hurt by their closest friend, let down by an authority figurethe list is endless. John and Carol give illustrations and reasons for forgiving that will make you want to forgive in a way you never dreamed possible. The greater the suffering, the greater the anointing. If you have suffered more than most, then you have a promise of blessing that is greater than that which is promised to those who have not been hurt as you have. Carol gives stories of personal forgiveness with stunning candor. She reveals the results of forgivinghow it leads to blessing beyond anything you would have anticipated.

This book will help you to forgive. It will change your lifeforever.

R. T. Kendall

JUSTICE IS GOOD, BUT MERCY IS BETTER

JOHN ARNOTT

UNDERSTANDING GODS GRACE

No one can really understand Gods love unless they understand the free gift of His mercy and His grace. And, paradoxically, no one can really understand Gods grace without understanding what true love is all aboutthe nature of Gods love towards us.

In everyday life we know that someone who is a true lover is very different from someone who is a pretender or a playboy. We know that true love should not be motivated at all by self- interest. And such is Gods love for us. It is a love that seeks the very best for us; it is sacrificial; it never stops giving.

Perhaps the closest we can come to understanding the essence and quality of Gods love for usthough it is still a faint reflection of the realityis the way in which we love our children. We bring these helpless, fragile little things home from the hospital and we love them. They have not done anything to deserve our love, indeed they are totally incapable of doing anything for us, yet we love them. From the moment we become a parent we know that from now on, life will pretty much revolve around our child and often they will inconvenience us in ways we can only dream of! Yet, we never stop loving them really loving them. Parents and their children are a model to help us understand the way in which our Heavenly Father God really loves each one of us.

As we think about how unconditionally we love our children and begin to grasp how complete and unconditional the Fathers love for us is, we can begin to scratch the surface of His grace and understand a little of the motivation behind Gods unmerited offer of salvation and forgiveness for our sins.

Despite a lot of good teaching on the subject in the Church over the years, many Christians are still mystified by grace. They fail to live in the richness of it themselves and they fail to show grace to others. Many are still trapped by a performance-based theology that thinks Gods love must be earned or deserved. They think that if they behave well and perform good works for God then He will love them more. This is so far from the truth! God cannot love us any more nor any less than He does now, and He longs for us to live in the place of grace where we understand that He gives His love to us freely. Gods love and grace are gifts for us to receive. Do we ever deserve them? No! We are totally undeserving, but we are the undeserving who are the apple of His eye.

GRACE AND FORGIVENESS

The title of this book Grace and Forgiveness is purposefully chosen because the issue of Gods grace is vitally intertwined with the issue of forgiveness. They are not simply two distinct aspects of our spiritual life that we have decided to place together in the same book. When we come into a real understanding of the extent of Gods grace towards us and what that means, we begin to see how vital and necessary it is that we pass that grace and love on to others. Grace becomes an irresistible force in our lives.

When properly understood, the unfairness and injustice of Gods grace towards us is deeply shocking, even offensive to our human understanding, as we will see. But in the same way that God lavishly and extravagantly pours His grace out upon our lives, He is calling us to learn how to show grace to others by forgiving those who truly dont deserve it. The great discovery of forgiveness is that, through a selfless act, we open ourselves up to a greater outpouring of the blessing of God on our lives.