Forgiveness concerns each of us, and without God's forbearance, we would have absolutely no hope for anything beyond this brief, physical life.

God has 'soft' virtues, which most churches proclaim loudly and often, and 'hard' ones, which get little attention. God has having a range of character traits.

Forgiveness from God is directly tied to our forgiving those who have sinned against us! We must reciprocate God's forgiveness by forgiving others.

In John 13, when our Savior washed His disciples' feet, He taught them that He was willing to accept the task designated to the lowest of the servants.

Sometimes God's sense of justice seems unusual or strange to us, giving us many questions to ponder about fairness. Justice and fairness are not identical.

God's calling us is just our initial taste of His grace. Grace is unmerited, but it is not unconditional. We have an obligation to respond to God.

God is the only perfect example of fatherhood. We need to emulate His virtues, among them being the perfect example of what we want our children to be.

To dramatize the perennial harlotry of Israel and the incredible love God exhibits toward His people, He commands Hosea to marry a harlot, Gomer.

Some may doubt that God is in control, but God's sovereignty over His creation is complete. The course of world events are moving according to His will.

God has exercised patience, longsuffering, and forbearance, but He cannot acquit the unrepentant sinner.

Because we would die from exposure to God's glory, the name of God, reflecting His characteristics, is the only way we can approach God.

God possesses attributes that are His alone, like omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. But there are other attributes that become part of our new nature.

Scripture takes a very stern view of sin because it is failure to live up to God's standard and destroys relationships, especially our relationship with God.

Micah 5 describes legal proceedings against the people who have rejected God, promising a harsh retribution but future restoration for a physical remnant.

Because we are all sinners, we have earned only death; justification is not earned, but must come through faith and believing God as did our father Abraham.

Many use Colossians 2:14 to 'prove' God's law is done away, but is this really what Paul means? Examining the whole counsel of God reveals Paul's intent.

The Bible is full of commands to forgive and examples of forgiveness, and none of them stipulates that we wait for the sinner to repent before we forgive.

Jesus teaches us how to deal with offenses and sins against us in this parable, focusing on our attitude of forgiveness because of being forgiven ourselves.

Forgiveness is not a feeling that washes over us, but a conscious choice. It does not mean that the offense will never come to mind, nor that all the pain vanishes.

It is impossible to become perfect without having mercy or compassion. Jesus' command to become perfect includes showing compassion to our enemies.

'To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.' Forgiving and being forgiven are part of being a family.

Mercy is an important dimension of God's character, displayed by our compassion on and forgiveness of those over whom we have power.

Jesus contrasts the enormity of what we are forgiven to what we forgive others. Our forgiveness is directly connected with our forgiveness of our brother.

We tend to work at cross-purposes to God, imprisoning ourselves and others in our adversarial relationships. The key to our cell is true forgiveness.

Driving out the evil must be followed by cultivating goodness and righteousness. An antidote to depression is to get our hearts focused on someone else.

Why does it mean to observe the Passover in a worthy manner? It is not about works. It begins with realizing the depth of our sin, yet our focus must go beyond this.

Sin and human nature affect everyone in society—from king to commoner—but God has covered sin from every angle in the sacrifice of His Son, fulfilling Leviticus 4-5.

When God calls us and redeems us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we suddenly come under obligation—a debt we cannot pay but overshadows all we do.

We need to nurture fellowship with our spiritual siblings, forgiving others as Christ forgave, steadfastly resisting pride and division within the church.

God put up with the foibles of Abraham, Samson, David, Job, and others, allowing them time to repent and build character. We need to develop this godly trait.

The entire life of Christ was a manifestation of God's grace, revealing the nature of God by means of a life lived to give us an example to follow.

The healing of the paralytic is a remarkable event. Significantly, Jesus honors the faith of the paralytic's friends who lowered him through the roof.

The word 'blessed' in the Beatitudes means happy from within, not dependent on circumstances. It comes from having God's spirit and hope for the future.

God is patient and tender-hearted to late bloomers, forgiving sincerely repentant individuals, but will not budge an inch on rebellion or sin.

God has ordained that His chosen grow while residing in an environment of transience and corruption created by Satan and perpetuated by those rejecting God.

Our obligation toward God mandates that we love our fellow human beings, even individuals who have severely wronged us.

God the Father does not take the minimization of His Son's sacrifice lightly, as some Protestant theologians imply with their cheap grace doctrine.

Jesus' perfect offering of Himself for us fulfilled the sin offering of Leviticus 4. Our acceptance of His offering for atonement puts us under obligation.

Biblically, patience is far more than simple endurance or longsuffering. The patience that God has shown man gives us an example of what true, godly patience is.

The phrase, 'a man after God's own heart' modifies God rather than David's carnal character. God chose David because He discerned a heart He could work with.

Hard trials are not punishments from God for unrighteousness but tests of faith in which He is intimately involved to prepare us for the world to come.