HOW MANY TIMES SHOULD WE FORGIVE?
According to Jesus, how many times should we forgive others who have offended us? Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22
Forgiving others is not easy. Forgiving ourselves is even harder. Many people find it hard to forgive others who have wronged them, however small. But Jesus wants us to forgive others who ask, or do not ask for forgiveness, so forgiving becomes second nature to us. There is no limit to how many times we can forgive others. This is His Rule. This is Jesus’ Law. If we have sinned against God, how many times can we ask God to forgive us? Again, there is no limit. Every time we ask Him for forgiveness, He will forgive us. That is His nature. That’s His law. That is how He is. Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” Will God forgive us of our sins when they are more than seventy times seven? Yes, He would. In the Lord’s Prayer, we are taught to ask for forgiveness of our sins. Many Christians play dumb as if they are immune to sin. At church, I rarely heard the pastor ask for forgiveness of our sins. But I believe that He should ask when he prays. And there is nothing wrong or humiliating if the pastor asks for forgiveness of our sins when he prays from the pulpit, praying on behalf of the church. Or does the pastor believe that his church has no sin? Some Christians believe that they have no sin after Jesus died on the cross. When we ask, I have no doubt that He will forgive us. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14. The Law says that He will forgive us of our sins when we ask. Why then was Paul struggling with sin when all that he has to do is just ask God for the forgiveness of his sin. And God will forgive him. Was he trying to hide something from us by blaming the Law? Yes, I suspect that he was trying to hide something from us! There is a proverb in Indonesian that says “ada udang dibalik batu”. What does it mean? It means there's a "shrimp behind the rock." To find the shrimp you have to turn the rock over. As human beings, we often offend God and our brethren by doing or saying things that we should not do or say. Should we change or teach others to change God’s Laws because we could not change our bad habits? No, we should not do that! We should change our bad habits instead. And repent. It’s simple. If we sin against God, ask Him to forgive us and He will forgive us - no limit. If we sin against other human beings what should we do? Jesus says in Matthew 5:23-24, "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, "leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Jesus gave us a simple formula for what to do when we have offended God and other human beings so we won’t be guilty of violating or changing His laws. What does Paul say about the Law? Here’s what he said, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 3:8-9. Where is Paul’s faith? Does he not believe or have faith in what Jesus says in Matthew 18:21-22? Does he not believe what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16? According to Paul, we have been saved through faith. But faith without works is dead. James 2:26 says, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also". To prove our faith we must do something. And that “do something” is our work. In Luke 10:25-28 and Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus said that to get eternal life we must follow the Law - the Torah - we must work. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading [of it]?" So he answered and said, "`You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and `your neighbor as yourself.'" And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." Luke 10:25-28. "Do this" means WORK. It means WORK and not GRACE. DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE. We have to work first and then we will earn eternal life or God's grace. Does he not believe what Jesus told the lawyer about how he could get eternal life? What was Paul’s evidence of his faith when he didn't believe what Jesus had told the lawyer about the work that he had to do to earn salvation? In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all [who are] in the house. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Jesus wants us to show our good works so that we can glorify our Father in heaven. Showing our good works is not boasting. Showing our good works is glorifying His name! Showing our good works is obeying His commandment. For further study please read The Triad of Salvation
I will let my readers determine for themselves what the "shrimp behind the rock" is.
Finally, I want to say one last point. We have talked a lot about forgiving others who have offended us. I now want to talk about forgiving ourselves. Forgiving ourselves? What is that all about? When we forgive someone but do not forgive ourselves we have not forgiven anyone. We must forgive ourselves too. And the way we do this is by forgetting the pain and the people who have hurt us. Forgetting completes the work of forgiving. Without forgetting, the work of forgiving is not complete. God forgives our iniquities and remembers them no more. If we do not forget, we have not truly forgiven.
Forgiving others is not easy. Forgiving ourselves is even harder. Many people find it hard to forgive others who have wronged them, however small. But Jesus wants us to forgive others who ask, or do not ask for forgiveness, so forgiving becomes second nature to us. There is no limit to how many times we can forgive others. This is His Rule. This is Jesus’ Law. If we have sinned against God, how many times can we ask God to forgive us? Again, there is no limit. Every time we ask Him for forgiveness, He will forgive us. That is His nature. That’s His law. That is how He is. Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” Will God forgive us of our sins when they are more than seventy times seven? Yes, He would. In the Lord’s Prayer, we are taught to ask for forgiveness of our sins. Many Christians play dumb as if they are immune to sin. At church, I rarely heard the pastor ask for forgiveness of our sins. But I believe that He should ask when he prays. And there is nothing wrong or humiliating if the pastor asks for forgiveness of our sins when he prays from the pulpit, praying on behalf of the church. Or does the pastor believe that his church has no sin? Some Christians believe that they have no sin after Jesus died on the cross. When we ask, I have no doubt that He will forgive us. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14. The Law says that He will forgive us of our sins when we ask. Why then was Paul struggling with sin when all that he has to do is just ask God for the forgiveness of his sin. And God will forgive him. Was he trying to hide something from us by blaming the Law? Yes, I suspect that he was trying to hide something from us! There is a proverb in Indonesian that says “ada udang dibalik batu”. What does it mean? It means there's a "shrimp behind the rock." To find the shrimp you have to turn the rock over. As human beings, we often offend God and our brethren by doing or saying things that we should not do or say. Should we change or teach others to change God’s Laws because we could not change our bad habits? No, we should not do that! We should change our bad habits instead. And repent. It’s simple. If we sin against God, ask Him to forgive us and He will forgive us - no limit. If we sin against other human beings what should we do? Jesus says in Matthew 5:23-24, "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, "leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Jesus gave us a simple formula for what to do when we have offended God and other human beings so we won’t be guilty of violating or changing His laws. What does Paul say about the Law? Here’s what he said, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 3:8-9. Where is Paul’s faith? Does he not believe or have faith in what Jesus says in Matthew 18:21-22? Does he not believe what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16? According to Paul, we have been saved through faith. But faith without works is dead. James 2:26 says, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also". To prove our faith we must do something. And that “do something” is our work. In Luke 10:25-28 and Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus said that to get eternal life we must follow the Law - the Torah - we must work. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading [of it]?" So he answered and said, "`You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and `your neighbor as yourself.'" And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." Luke 10:25-28. "Do this" means WORK. It means WORK and not GRACE. DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE. We have to work first and then we will earn eternal life or God's grace. Does he not believe what Jesus told the lawyer about how he could get eternal life? What was Paul’s evidence of his faith when he didn't believe what Jesus had told the lawyer about the work that he had to do to earn salvation? In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all [who are] in the house. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Jesus wants us to show our good works so that we can glorify our Father in heaven. Showing our good works is not boasting. Showing our good works is glorifying His name! Showing our good works is obeying His commandment. For further study please read The Triad of Salvation
I will let my readers determine for themselves what the "shrimp behind the rock" is.
Finally, I want to say one last point. We have talked a lot about forgiving others who have offended us. I now want to talk about forgiving ourselves. Forgiving ourselves? What is that all about? When we forgive someone but do not forgive ourselves we have not forgiven anyone. We must forgive ourselves too. And the way we do this is by forgetting the pain and the people who have hurt us. Forgetting completes the work of forgiving. Without forgetting, the work of forgiving is not complete. God forgives our iniquities and remembers them no more. If we do not forget, we have not truly forgiven.
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