A Forgiving Community | Jason Ricafranca | 2 Corinthians 2:5-11
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea—until we have something to forgive.” It’s easy to admire forgiveness from a distance, but much harder when we’re the ones who have been hurt. Stories like the Parable of the Prodigal Son show the beauty of extravagant mercy—the father running to embrace a son who had wronged him. But would we be able to do the same? Or would we be tempted to hold back grace? In this message from 2 Corinthians 2:5–11, Paul calls the church to forgive someone who had sinned against them. We’ll explore what real, gospel-shaped forgiveness looks like in a community of believers and how the grace we’ve received from Christ empowers us to extend grace to others.
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2 Corinthians 2:5-11
5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.