Forgiveness without repentance?

[Vic C.]

I agree Jordan. So...it seems, according to this passage, that Jesus granted forgiveness upon repentance. I'm beginning to see a common thread in Scripture now.

John the Baptist taught...

Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus taught the same message...

Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark 6:12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More from Jesus...

Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luke 13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Luke 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
Luke 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter in Acts...

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Acts 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesus again...

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Rev 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Rev 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
------------------------------------

Now, I am aware I have taken all this out of it's context, but it is clear to me that the meaning of these verses applies in or out of context.

The question? If Jesus and His Apostles taught repentance before forgiveness, shouldn't we do the same?

Personal experience...

I once 'forgave' someone for something they did to me. They in turn said, " Why are you forgiving me? I didn't do anything wrong."

It seems my forgiveness was in vain, no?

*edited out duplicate verse*

 

[Blazin Bones]

Jordan, if you are going to be that literal, then no, and in fact we can't fogive anything at all. Christ could forgive because he was perfect, he was God. If you are going to be that literal the text, we can't forgive at all. If this were true, then why did Jesus even respond to Peter when he asked how many times we are to forgive others. If you take this text that literal, we can't forgive at all. You have to allow yourself to interpret the text, and make it relevant to your life. Some people throw his scripture way out of context, and thats when you get a wrong interpretation.

The scripture your talking about in regards to Peter is one of the ones I quoted from Matt. 18. Jesus says that he should forgive his brother seventy times seven, and then he tells the story of the unrepentant sinner. My point was there that, the unrepentant sinner was not willing to forgive the one who owed him, even when he asked. And that we are not to with hold forgiveness when it is asked for.

I honestly don't understand how you can get from the bible that we cannot forgive, if we take the text litterally as we ought. And yes I take everything the bible says litterally! You should too. O understand that you can't take things like parables litterally, but for everything else, you can. That text is as relevent for me today as it was for Peter back then. You can't change the text to make it relevent for you!? When you are reading scripture you can't just ask how it appies to your life today. You must realize to whom it was written, why, under what circumstances...

Allow me to explain why we can't always be as literal to the text as we can in other places through out the Bible.

Here is that verse again, in Darby's Literal translation

EPH 4:32 and become one to another kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, according as also God in Christ did forgive you. (DLT)

Presenting this verse again, in a more acceptable KJV

EPH 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. (KJV)

In both text it states " as God in Christ forgave you." if you take that sentence 100% literally, we would need to offer a perfect son to be forgiven and receive forgiveness. Does that sound funny to any one? That's why proper, God given, interpretations of the text are necessary.

God gave us his Son, for all of us, that we may be forgiven, right? Has everyone, to whom God has given his son, repented, no. God sent Christ to forgive Tiger or The Tuathat'an as much as he sent the savior to forgive you or me. You and I and every other Christian had not repented before God gave us Christ's forgiveness. Repentence is how we accept the forgiveness that Christ has made available to everyone who will accept it. Does that make my point any clearer, Jordan?

 

[Vic C.]

I will concede, to a point, that God's forgiveness may be conditional upon our willingness to forgive. What you say, God's forgiveness is not conditional?

Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

So...how are we forgiven of our transgressions? Repentance through confession. You ask for forgiveness, state your faults and in the Name of Jesus, the Father will forgive you. Who here has ever asked for forgiveness without confessing their sins?

 

[Blazin Bones]

Vic, your right, confession is absolutely necessary to receive forgiveness.

 

[Jordanthedutchy]

Thanks for the bible verses Vic, I really appriciate you searching the scriptures for yourself and not taking anyones word for anything.

 

[Vic C.]

You're welcome.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

That includes testing me.

 

[IndianaEnoch]

Vic, your right, confession is absolutely necessary to receive forgiveness.

If repentance is necessary to recieve forgiveness, then forgiveness was already there to be recieved. Repentance is necessary to be forgiven.

 

[Blazin Bones]

Vic, your right, confession is absolutely necessary to receive forgiveness.

If repentance is necessary to recieve forgiveness, then forgiveness was already there to be recieved. Repentance is necessary to be forgiven.

Allow me to clarify my statement. Confession is absolutely necessary to receive forgiveness, but it is not the only peice. If you don't confess, most likely you won't reach repentence. IndianaEnoch, I don't disagree with your last post.

 

[Gary]

I believe that you cannot forgive someone until they are repentant. (Jordan)

Jordan: I believe that you can not forgive someone until they are repentant.
Luke 17:3-4 "...If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and IF he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day, turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him." (Lk. 17:3-4).
When Jesus taught us to forgive, he placed a CONDITION on that forgiveness "...IF he repent, forgive him". God does not unconditionally forgive anyone and Christ said our forgiveness of others is conditioned upon their repentance.
Forgiveness is a transaction!
I know people like to say that they forgive someone to take a load off their back. But I don't see it in scripture! It is always dependent upon the person being repentant.
Show me a verse from scripture that says that you should forgive even if they do not repent, until then I'll have to disagree with you.

Brutus: Why did Jesus even respond to Peter when he asked how many times we are to forgive others?

Jordan: The scripture your talking about in regards to Peter is one of the ones I quoted from Matt. 18. Jesus says that he should forgive his brother seventy times seven, and then he tells the story of the unrepentant sinner. My point was there that, the unrepentant sinner was not willing to forgive the one who owed him, even when he asked. And that we are not to with hold forgiveness when it is asked for.
….. I see it the same way as forgiveness. What benifit is it, if it is not recieved? I don't think it benifits you, because I don't think that forgiveness is a one-way thing, it must be recieved.

Brutus: God gave us his Son, for all of us, that we may be forgiven, right? Has everyone, to whom God has given his son, repented, no. God sent Christ to forgive Tiger or The Tuathat'an as much as he sent the savior to forgive you or me. You and I and every other Christian had not repented before God gave us Christ's forgiveness. Repentence is how we accept the forgiveness that Christ has made available to everyone who will accept it. Does that make my point any clearer, Jordan?

Vic: I will concede, to a point, that God's forgiveness may be conditional upon our willingness to forgive. What you say, God's forgiveness is not conditional?
Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
So...how are we forgiven of our transgressions? Repentance through confession. You ask for forgiveness, state your faults and in the Name of Jesus, the Father will forgive you. Who here has ever asked for forgiveness without confessing their sins?

Gary: We are to be Christ-like. We need to forgive like Jesus did as He was nailed to the cross. That was not conditional forgiveness. The sin is always against God. Therefore, ask God to forgive their sin against you.

As a part of His teaching about human need for forgiveness and the means of receiving it, Jesus spoke of the human dimension of forgiveness. A firm condition for the receiving of God’s forgiveness is the willingness to forgive others. In the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:12; Luke 11:4) and the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt. 18:12-35) Jesus clearly indicated such is the case: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses†(Matt. 6:15). The forgiven life is the forgiving life.

Human forgiveness reflects our experience and understanding of divine forgiveness. Love, not wooden rules, governs forgiveness (Matt. 18:21-22). Jesus powerfully demonstrated this teaching on the cross, as He asked for forgiveness for His executioners (Luke 23:34). Paul reminded the church at Ephesus of both the grounds of their forgiveness and the basis on which they must forgive one another (Eph. 4:32, Col 3:12-14).

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph 4:32)

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. (Col 3:12-14)

Because Christ as the model of forgiveness has forgiven all our sins totally (Col 1:14; 2:13) believers must be willing to forgive others.

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Col 2:13)

Source: Holman Bible Dictionary
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[Jordanthedutchy]

Gary: We are to be Christ-like. We need to forgive like Jesus did as He was nailed to the cross. That was not conditional forgiveness.

I have found that, that is the only passage in scripture that appears to be unconditional. And I can in no way refute what it says. BUT, this is just a possibility, and I'm not in anyway saying that is a fact because I have not researched it, but it is a possibility. We have a teacher who is absolutely fluent in Greek, and he says that in a lot of the Greek manuscripts that verse is not even there. Now if that verse was 'added' in then it would make sense, because I don't see how it fits in with the rest of scripture.

The sin is always against God. Therefore, ask God to forgive their sin against you.

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying here

As a part of His teaching about human need for forgiveness and the means of receiving it, Jesus spoke of the human dimension of forgiveness. A firm condition for the receiving of God’s forgiveness is the willingness to forgive others. In the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:12; Luke 11:4) and the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt. 18:12-35) Jesus clearly indicated such is the case: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses†(Matt. 6:15). The forgiven life is the forgiving life.

When asked for, when someone is repentant and we do not grant them forgiveness. Because Jesus does not grant us forgiveness unless we repent, but when we do repent he gives it liberally! 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph 4:32)

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. (Col 3:12-14)

Wonderful verses, the key words here are: As God through Christ forgave you. Now I think that you and I are dissagreeing one HOW Christ forgave us. It was conditional, if it wasn't conditional, and everyone was forgiven then everyone would be going to heaven. Which they aren't.

Because Christ as the model of forgiveness has forgiven all our sins totally (Col 1:14; 2:13) believers must be willing to forgive others.
[quote:a85d6] And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Col 2:13)

[/quote:a85d6]

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you (God) ...I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ - and you forgave the guilt of my sin.†(Ps 32:5)

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us."(1 John 1:8-10)
The Lord is not slow about His promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
"But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place, unless you repent." (Revelation 2:4-5 )

I don't understand why it would always say, if you repent, or unless you repent, if that is not what it meant.
Christ forgave all of our sins, yes, but not until we repented. We are to forgive as Christ forgave.

 

[Gary]

Jordan, I have to admit that the whole subject has got me thinking and researching.....

... and that is wonderful.

Thanks again for the post.

Gary

 

[Blazin Bones]

Gary I think you explained the point much better than I could have. Thanks Gary.

 

[Vic C.]

Jordan, I have to admit that the whole subject has got me thinking and researching.....

... and that is wonderful.

Thanks again for the post.

Gary

Same here Gary. More discussions like this and the free will/predestination thread are in order. :angel:

 

[IndianaEnoch]

[quote="Brutus/HisCatalyst":4c217]Vic, your right, confession is absolutely necessary to receive forgiveness.

If repentance is necessary to recieve forgiveness, then forgiveness was already there to be recieved. Repentance is necessary to be forgiven.

Allow me to clarify my statement. Confession is absolutely necessary to receive forgiveness, but it is not the only peice. If you don't confess, most likely you won't reach repentence. IndianaEnoch, I don't disagree with your last post.[/quote:4c217]

I'm sorry to keep strianing at gnat Brutus, and I feel we are in agreement because I am cutting a fine line in what I am about to say that may appear I am more picking at words.

Confession as I define it doe not bring frogiveness. Confession means we are in agreement with God, seeing thengs like He sees them. I confess that Jesus is God and savior, and I confess that I am a sinner, but that does not bring forgiveness. I could say "yeah your God and I am a sinner so what?" Repentance is being in agreement with God and turning to Him.

God orginates forgiveness (noun)
we agree with God and confess. (acknowledge our broken relationship)
We repent (turn to God) and are forgiven (verb indicating of astate of being with God)

 

[Charlotte]

Hi All,

I was reading the post and most all of the scriptures that were shown was referring to what Christ said about forgivness. When Christ preached He was under the law, so was all Israel at that time. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was still the same. none of these things was abolished before Christ was crucified. After Christ was crucified a whole new way of thinking came on the scene. Because Jesus told His disciples He had "many things to tell them but not at that time". He also said that the "Holy Spirit would LEAD them into all truth." They didn't have or know all the truth when Jesus was teaching. Of course Jesus knew, but He told His disciples that it was given to them to know these things but not anyone else.

(Rom. 5:8) says "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.

Christ died for us WHILE WE WERE SINNERS, not after we repented.

It was planned from the foundation of the world for Jesus to die for all. This means to me that we were forgiven even before we ever sinned.

(Col. 3:13) Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; EVEN AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU, SO ALSO DO YE.
(Col. 3:13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, HATH HE QUICKENED together with Him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESSPASSES.

Christ has already forgiven them.

Charlotte

 

[Free]

Hmm...I haven't read through all the posts, so I am not sure if or how this verse applies:

2 Chronicles 7:14, "14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Repentance before forgiveness.

Mark 11:25, "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions."

Matt. 6:14-15, "14 "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."

It seems that we are commanded to forgive others whether or not they are repentant, but we must repent in order to receive forgiveness from God. The other person may not receive our forgiveness until they are repentant, but it releases us from what the other person has done to us. If we had to continue to wait until someone was repentant, we may never forgive them, in which case, God will never fogive us.

 

[Jordanthedutchy]

Hi All,

I was reading the post and most all of the scriptures that were shown was referring to what Christ said about forgivness. When Christ preached He was under the law, so was all Israel at that time. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was still the same. none of these things was abolished before Christ was crucified. After Christ was crucified a whole new way of thinking came on the scene. Because Jesus told His disciples He had "many things to tell them but not at that time". He also said that the "Holy Spirit would LEAD them into all truth." They didn't have or know all the truth when Jesus was teaching. Of course Jesus knew, but He told His disciples that it was given to them to know these things but not anyone else.

(Rom. 5:8) says "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.

Christ died for us WHILE WE WERE SINNERS, not after we repented.

It was planned from the foundation of the world for Jesus to die for all. This means to me that we were forgiven even before we ever sinned.

(Col. 3:13) Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; EVEN AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU, SO ALSO DO YE.
(Col. 3:13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, HATH HE QUICKENED together with Him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESSPASSES.

Christ has already forgiven them.

Charlotte

Christ's teaching was totally different than anyone had ever heard from the law, again and again He said "ye have heard that it was said of old time..." and then he would go on to say things that were new. Read Matt 5 and you will see it EVERYWHERE.
Are you saying that we should not obey Christ's teaching because he was under the law? I think that because he said it that it should give us all the more reason to obey.
He was not the only one though that said that, Peter also did, after Jesus's death.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Acts 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Also...you said something about Jesus dieing "while we were sinners" We are STILL sinners, because we still sin.
Christ did not forgive without repentance, if he did then the whole world would be saved. He died for the whole world, 1 John 3:16. But is the whole world going to heaven? To be saved we have to be repentant.

And we are to forgive as Christ forgave

(Col. 3:13) Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; EVEN AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU, SO ALSO DO YE.

And it was Christ's commandment that we forgive on the basis of repentance, you have admitted that. why then would he command us to forgive with repentance, and then not do it himself? Does that sound hypocritical? We are commanded to forgive as Christ forgave us, therefore I think we should forgive as Christ commanded us to forgive. Don't you?

 

[Jordanthedutchy]

Hmm...I haven't read through all the posts, so I am not sure if or how this verse applies:

2 Chronicles 7:14, "14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Repentance before forgiveness.

Mark 11:25, "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions."

Matt. 6:14-15, "14 "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."

It seems that we are commanded to forgive others whether or not they are repentant, but we must repent in order to receive forgiveness from God. The other person may not receive our forgiveness until they are repentant, but it releases us from what the other person has done to us. If we had to continue to wait until someone was repentant, we may never forgive them, in which case, God will never fogive us.

The first verse you quoted has actually not been discussed yet. And it seems quite clear as to what it is saying.
The other verses that you have quoted have all been addressed in previous posts, so it might just be easier if you just caught up and read what has been said already

Happy reading :bday:

 

[Charlotte]

Christ's teaching was totally different than anyone had ever heard from the law, again and again He said "ye have heard that it was said of old time..." and then he would go on to say things that were new. Read Matt 5 and you will see it EVERYWHERE.
Are you saying that we should not obey Christ's teaching because he was under the law? I think that because he said it that it should give us all the more reason to obey.
He was not the only one though that said that, Peter also did, after Jesus's death.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Acts 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Also...you said something about Jesus dieing "while we were sinners" We are STILL sinners, because we still sin.
Christ did not forgive without repentance, if he did then the whole world would be saved. He died for the whole world, 1 John 3:16. But is the whole world going to heaven? To be saved we have to be repentant.

And we are to forgive as Christ forgave

(Col. 3:13) Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; EVEN AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU, SO ALSO DO YE.

And it was Christ's commandment that we forgive on the basis of repentance, you have admitted that. why then would he command us to forgive with repentance, and then not do it himself? Does that sound hypocritical? We are commanded to forgive as Christ forgave us, therefore I think we should forgive as Christ commanded us to forgive. Don't you?

Hi Jordan,

Christ's teaching was different, but He still adhered to the Law. Christ's early message was of law, not grace. Christ's message was much stricter than that of Moses. Christ magnified the Law and made it even more hard to keep. The reason He did this is to show that man cannot keep the law perfectly. He made it so strict no one could keep it. The reason Christ did this was to show that law increased peoples' transgressions and show that no one can gain salvation through keeping laws. He did this in order to direct people to the need of a Saviour. Christ poured laws upon laws.

(Matt. 5:23-24) "Therefore if thou bring thy gift [sacrifice] to the alter and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift [sacrifice] before thee alter, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift [sacrifice].

Jesus taught SACRIFICE.

Christ also ordered the payment of the Temple tribute that Moses demanded. (Matt 17:24-27) And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He said YES. (Verse 27) Jesus told them to "get the money out of a fish and take and give them for YOU AND ME".

Christ told a man healed of his sickness to "show thyself to the priest and offer a gift [animal sacrifice] that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them".

Christ taught circumcision. Only much later did the apostles come to understand it was unnecessary.

Christ made it clear that the religious authorities were to be obeyed throughout His ministry. These were "the Scribes and the Pharisees who sat in Moses seat" (Matt. 23:1-3).

Christ made Moses law even more strict, Moses allowed divorce, Jesus said if you even looked on a man or woman to lust after her you sinned.

The laws that Jesus taught went far beyond simple obedience to law as understood by Jewish theologians.

A young man ask Christ "what must I do to be saved? Jesus said "if thou wilt enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS" (Matt. 19: 16-17).


(Rom. 4:7) Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

Our repentance and all of our good works including the forgiving of others, comes from God, we cannot forgive others unless God puts it in our hearts to do so.

(Eph.1:7) "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the FORGIVENESS OF SINS, according TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE".

Not according to what we do or don't do, but according to His grace, WE HAVE THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

We already have the forgiveness of our sins, but sadly most just don't realize it.

Charlotte

 

[Jordanthedutchy]

Are you a universalist?