Ephesians 4:32 - Exposition

But be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another (opposed to bitterness, wrath, anger; Bengel). Kind ( χρηστοί ), sweet, amiable in disposition, subduing all that is harsh and hasty, encouraging all that is gentle and good; tender-hearted ( εὔσπλαγχνοι ), denoting a specially compassionate feeling, such as may arise from the thought of the infirmities, griefs, and miseries to which more or less all are subject; these emotional conditions to bear the practical fruit of forgiveness , and the forgiveness to be mutual ( χαριζόμενοι ἑαυτοῖς ), as if under the feeling that what you give today you require to ask tomorrow, net being too hard on the faults of others, remembering that you have your own. Even as God in Christ also forgave you. The A.V. rendering, "for Christ's sake," is objectionable every way: it is not literal; it omits the characteristic feature of the Epistle, "in Christ," losing the force of the consideration that the forgiveness was dispensed by the Father, acting with or wholly one with the Son; and it gives a shade of countenance to the great error that the Father personally was not disposed to forgive till he was prevailed on to do so by the interposition of the Son. The aorist, " forgave ," is more literal and better than the perfect, "hath forgiven;" it points to a definite time when forgiveness was bestowed, viz. the moment of real belief in Christ, and hearty acceptance of his grace. The vague atmosphere in which many envelop the question of their forgiveness is very hurtful; it checks their thanksgivings, dulls their joy, quenches hope, and dilutes the great dynamic power of the gospel—the power that impels us to forgive our brother, as well as to abound in the work of the Lord with a tender conscience, the sense of forgiveness urges to the most full and hearty doing of God's will; but when hypocrites, with seared consciences claim to be forgiven, they steal what is not their own, and become more abandoned to wickedness.