The Way of Teshuvah (Repentance) & Forgiveness

The Way of Teshuvah (Repentance)

Biblically speaking true repentance is a process first motivated from a move of the Spirit on one’s heart, and then demonstrated by action, not mere words.

For repentance to be complete and lasting, there are seven principal steps that should be involved, as follows:

1. Acknowledge the wrong committed – first to self, then to Elohim, then to another, or others.

2. Remorse, or regret – to believe in one’s heart it would have been better not to have done the wrong.

3. Confession – moving from internal self-judgment to external expression of the wrong.

4. Apology – truly asking forgiveness of Elohim and of those wronged.

5. Restitution – taking action to repair or replace any physical things damaged or lost, and to rebuild and regain the former personal relationship(s) and trust.

6. Prayer – for some form of accountability (from another) to monitor that the wrong committed is not repeated.

7. Soul Searching – prayerful petition for reckoning and revealing of the cause/source of the wrong committed.

The above steps can be expressed in the form of an acrostic, as follows:

ARC, ARPS

The Way of Forgiveness

Biblically speaking true forgiveness is a move of the Spirit on one’s heart, and not necessarily the ordinary human response from one who has been wronged by another. The Apostle Paul provides a list of things to be put away in advance of forgiving others. Otherwise, harboring bitterness will impede forgiveness. In Ephesians 4:31-32, we read:

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you,

with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another,

even as Elohim in Messiah forgave you.”

Bitterness is the result of a lack of forgiveness towards one who has sinned against you. Rather than forgiving in the pattern of Elohim, Who forgave us in Messiah, bitterness holds on to the offense and escalates our desire to see “justice” done and “punishment” meted out. No, these aspects are best left to Elohim’s discipline, in His way and timing (see Rom. 12:19; cf. Deut. 32:35). Realize these elements of forgiveness:

1. The ability to forgive does not depend on the offender’s repentance.

2. Forgiveness means changing my perspective, and giving the offense over to Elohim.

3. Forgiveness means submitting to Elohim’s method of justice, rather than attempting to administer my own.

4. Bitterness affects not only the offended person involved, but the whole community, because the one who harbors a “root of bitterness” will eventually infect the whole community, sowing therein seeds of division and discord (see Prov. 6:16-19).

5. The remedy for bitterness is Repentance – also a gift from Elohim through the leading of the Spirit.

6. In forgiveness we emulate Elohim; in bitterness we follow in the footsteps of Esau.

In Matthew 6:14, we read:

“For if you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive men their transgressions, neither will your Father forgive your

transgressions.”

In Deuteronomy 29:29, we read:

“The secret things belong to YHVH our Elohim, but those things which are revealed

belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this Law.”

The Sages have interpreted the above to mean the secret sins “belong” to Elohim, in that He will deal with them Himself (as they are unknown to us). Those which are revealed (known) to us however are the responsibility of the community, and Elohim will deal with the community of the redeemed on the basis of how the community deals with revealed sin within its midst. This interpretation is based on the verses in Deut. 29:14-20, wherein Moses warns against any root of bitterness among the Children of Israel who would be unwilling to submit to the rule of Elohim, thus causing the community as a whole to falter.

Finally, full restoration of a relationship (whether personal or corporate) requires both forgiveness on the part of one who has been sinned against, and also repentance (Teshuva) on the part of one who has wronged another.

References:

Repentance: The Meaning & Practice of Teshuvah, by Dr. Louis E. Newman, Jewish Lights Pub., Woodstock, Vt., © 2010, ISBN 1-58023-426-7.

Parashah “Nitzavim,” (Three Year Cycle) No. 146, A Root of Bitterness, Commentary by Tim Hegg, of www.torahresource.com, ©.