TRUE PRIESTHOOD 2 by Don Rogers
(Thirty plus years ago God put Don Rogers in my life. He trained and mentored me in spiritual ministry. When he was no longer able to minister, I had the privilege of taking over his “Spiritual Warfare Ministries.” He wrote many fine articles about spiritual warfare. I have edited and printed one below.)
This is blog 2 in a series on True Priesthood through Intercessory Repentance. The first blog set the priesthood model. This is about the model of forgiveness and love.
THE MODEL OF FORGIVENESS AND LOVE
Intercessory repentance is not possible unless there is true forgiveness in our own hearts. We cannot go through the motions of intercessory repentance and be able to minister effectively. We who have received the abundance of God’s grace have to let go of judgment towards those who have hurt us no matter what they have done to us or to others, because that is what the Lord would have us do.
Instead, we have to adopt the Lord’s way of separating the person from their sin and show them love, because God loves them. It is often difficult at first, because it does not seem fair. Why should we, who have experienced the injustice, intercede on behalf of those who hurt us and show love to them? Why should they get off so easy? Because, it is what Jesus would do. This is what grace is all about. Strange as it may seem, we will also benefit if we are obedient in this manner. Through this act of forgiving grace, we will begin to see the person in a new light and we will also be released from the inner turmoil that has controlled us so powerfully. I am convinced that God provided this approach to bring much healing to His people. The committed practice of intercessory repentance within the body of Christ alone will bring down many barriers and bring about considerable healing and unity that could not be achieved through dialog alone.
In our ministry, we are constantly dealing with various forms of abuse in the lives of the people with whom we are working. The lingering anger, bitterness and unforgiveness connected to tormenting memories of past abuse have been like a yoke hanging around their necks, weighing them down. Each needs deliverance, emotional healing and often physical healing. If led by God’s Spirit, we have these people confess the sins of their abusers. These are sins that have been committed against God as well as themselves. As you can imagine, most are not overly excited about blessing their “enemies” in this way. They want justice! We explain to them about the grace of God which has already been extended to them. Christ provided forgiveness of their sins when they trusted Him. God wants His children to walk in love and show His grace to others who also do not deserve it. When we follow God’s principles, we are put on the path that leads to freedom and healing both for ourselves and for others. For those who are willing to accept God’s way of love, we have witnessed many breakthroughs, many great deliverances and healings. For those who continue to hold on to anger and unforgiveness do not find the complete freedom and healing they seek.
When we confess the sins of others we realize that lasting forgiveness only comes when they confess their sins. We are not able to have them forgiven without their free will acknowledgement of the sin. But what we can do is ask God for mercy to not allow Satan’s forces to use the sin(s) to so control the person that he or she isn’t able to fully understand their need of Jesus. Our prayers temporarily remove the sin as an access point for demonizing so that the person can have an opportunity to make a free will choice as to if they will turn to Jesus for salvation and victory or not. (Continued in next blog.)
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