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Step 8 Scriptures PDF Print E-mail

Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all

Leviticus 6:1-7
6:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
6:2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor;
6:3 Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:
6:4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,
6:5 Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.
6:6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:
6:7 And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.
12Step.org Comments:
The principle of making amends goes back a long way in the scriptures. This passage is from the book of Leviticus, one of the books of the law written by Moses, and is one of numerous passages from that book that tell of the requirements of the law of Moses for making amends. In this case, it is for the sin of stealing, cheating or making a gain from threats or lies. The command is to make amends by returning the amount to the person and then also pay an additional 20% of the value of the item. In addition, it is necessary to bring an offering to the priest for this sin, a trespass offering. If we are a believer in Christ, then first of all we might give praise to God that Jesus has made this sacrifice on our behalf. We should realize that this grace for us cost a tremendous price for Christ and we should not take that lightly. If we are a Christian, then we believe that there has been a new dispensation, a new covenant between God and His people as given in the New Testament. However, the character of God remains the same in the New Testament and the Old Testament. It is the same God who is revealing Himself in both places. Nothing in the New Testament has over-ridden this principle, and in fact we are told in the New Testament that our righteousness should "exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees" (Matthew 5:20). It would seem entirely appropriate, then, and, in the opinion of this commentator, would be pleasing to God if we took this principle of making amends from the book of Leviticus and applied it in our life. In verse 6:7, we are told that after this making of amends in our life that there would be forgiveness. We should not be surprised, then, that in the process of making amends we too find a peace and forgiveness that we had never known before.

2 Samuel 12:1-14
12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
12:2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
12:3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
12:4 And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
12:5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
12:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
12:8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
12:11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12:12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
12Step.org Comments:
In this passage we have an instance of what might be called "forced amends", if you will, based upon the judgment of God more than a willing heart. David has committed adultery with Bathsheba and has had Bathsheba's husband (Uriah) killed in battle in order to cover up David's sin. When Nathan the prophet makes a parable for what David has done, then David becomes infuriated and sees the great injustice of it all and says that the amends should be fourfold. Then Nathan utters those lines that have been used in many literary works since "Thou art the man". Indeed, our sin may or may not be the same as David's, but as an addict we can surely find instances where someone can point to us and say "Thou art the man" (or woman). We are guilty of taking the goodness and grace of God and of others and abusing it, ignoring it, or manipulating it into something selfish, arrogant, ugly and evil. We are the man. In this case, David had to pay fourfold for his sin, just as he himself had proclaimed in his judgment. In David's case, the judgment involved violence not departing from his own house and sexual immorality being rampant in his own family and David's shame made public to Israel. In this we see that God is a God of justice in spite of what relationship we may or may not have had with God before. If we are believers in Christ, then we can legitimately hope for mercy through the blood of Christ. At the same time, the same God is the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament so we can legitimately expect judgment mixed with this mercy as well. In reading through the events that followed in David's life, it might be surmised that had David been more diligent in rooting out sin and become more aware of the sin in his life and those around him (for becoming aware of sin in our own lives and the lives of others can often go hand in hand), then we can imagine that some of the devastation might have been avoided later in his life. That is what we might hope for in Christ - that by His grace we can be more diligent and careful and effective in rooting out sin in our lives and to see it more accurately in the world around us. We have this added grace through Christ. But amends still need to be made, consequences still need to be endured as we remain faithful to Christ. God will still need to prune us to bear fruit for Him. If we willingly embrace the notion of making amends and consciously make that effort, then that can open up a window for God's mercy and grace to flow in our lives and even possibly allow us to avoid some judgment from the Lord. At the very least, we can grow in Christ and our knowledge of Him as we endure whatever sufferings may come in our life.

Proverbs 16:6-7
16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
12Step.org Comments:
When we are making amends, we are "purging iniquity". The NKJV translates this verse "In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity...". In other words, when we live in mercy and truth we are making atonement, we are purging the iniquity from our lives and from the lives of others. This is what making amends is all about - about purging iniquity, purging the poison that came from our addictive behaviors in our own lives, the lives of others and in our relationships. In 16:7 we see a possible consequence from this purging the iniquity and that is that those who were once our enemies can become those who are at peace with us. Our relationships can be restored to those of peace, harmony and trust where there once was strife and suspicion.

Luke 19:8-10
19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
19:9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
12Step.org Comments:
Zacchaeus was the "chief among the tax collectors, and he was rich" (Luke 19:2). In those days it was common for tax collectors to take some extra tax for themselves to line their own pockets. We do not know if or how often Zacchaeus himself may have done this, and perhaps he had not even kept track. But when Jesus came to his house, Zacchaeus became a changed man. He wanted to set everything right, and part of setting everything right was to pay back anything that he had gotten unjustly - and not only to pay it back but to pay it back FOURFOLD. This is an example of spontaneously wanting to make amends. And note the response of Christ to this announcement. Christ blesses him. It is often easy once we have our addictive behavior behind us to look only forward and forget about people we may have hurt in the past. But here we see how blessed it can be to go further and to take the step of making amends to those we have wronged. In Zacchaeus' case, it brought the Lord to proclaim "This day is salvation come to this house...".

Romans 12:18
12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
12Step.org Comments:
In Step 8 we begin the process of trying to make peace with those around us who we may have hurt. We are admonished here by the apostle Paul to "live peaceably with all men". By making amends we do our part in helping to create peace where there might be resentment, hurt and destruction in the wake of our addictive behaviors. The additional wisdom of this verse also gives this qualification - "as much as lies in you". We may do our best to make amends and these amends may not be accepted by others. It is the right of others to decide whether they want to forgive us or not. What we have control over is in making the proper amends. How other people respond to our amends is up to them.