Forgiveness

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

FORGIVENESS

Matt 18:21-35

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.   23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27 The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. 29 "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' 30 "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." 

NIV

A question and an answer, but with a long story to illustrate the truth of the answer. We should note that the Jews thought it was appropriate to forgive a person three times not the forth, at least according to our scholars. But here Peter actually doubles that idea and asks if they should forgive up to seven times. What a great man Peter was, extending the common thought twice as much. Yet he was still placing a limit on how many times we should forgive. But Jesus makes it clear by the seven times seventy number that we cannot put a number on how many times we are to forgive. This whole story about the master and servant is all about how God forgave us and therefor how can we ever go about not forgiving anyone who sins against us. How many times do we sin against God? The count is innumerable, yet his forgiveness extends past that number. We simply cannot ever not be found unforgiven no matter how many times who offend God. Of course that is not to mean we should continue to sin so that grace may increase.

Rom 6:1-2

6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means!

NIV

Surely we should try with all our might to keep from sinning, but we know that is not possible to be totally without any sin at all. We are going to fail, at least once a year, but most likely once a month or week, or day or hour. Yet because we have not turned our back on God, we have not refused his correction, his discipline, his rebuking and his training in righteousness, we continue to seek his forgiveness for each of our failures. If we ask, he is faithful to forgive us.

1 John 1:8-10

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

NIV

We know that John wrote this letter to believers, to Christians and therefor this matter about being without sin is not about the pre-conversion life, but about the life as a believer. Yet God continues to forgive us each and every time we ask for forgiveness. This is how we are to continue to forgive, in fact we are to keep no record of wrong.

1 Cor 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

NIV

We have been admonished to love each other as ourselves therefor we cannot not forgive, nor can we count the number of times we forgive or how many times that person we love offends us. And if we forgive them, it means we will never bring it up again. Now, should for any reason someone remind us of our sin against them, how do we respond to them is the question. What if they fail to forgive us completely? Would that be considered as a sin against us? Most likely and therefore we need to forgive them as our Father has forgiven us. It is always about forgiveness, we should be constantly living a life of forgiveness thus living in a constant state of forgiveness.