B-3
The Gospels
John 17:
6: (Jesus is praying)
Matthew 10: 34:
“I have
revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were
yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
7 Now they
know that everything you have given me comes from you.
8 For I gave
them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with
certainty that I came from you,
and they believed that you sent me.
9
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you
have given me, for they are yours.
10 All I have is yours, and all
you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.
11 I will
remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I
am coming to you. Holy Father,
protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.
12
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that
name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to
destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
…
* ”I am not
praying for the world, but for those you have given me.”
“None has been
lost, except the one doomed to destruction so that scripture would be
fulfilled."
* Satan and Judas.
Perhaps the two most miserable creatures in existence, because they both cohabited with God, yet both rebelled against Him, as
they knew Him, and tried to destroy the God they knew.
John 20: 19:
John 20: 19:
"On the evening
of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with
the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,
Jesus came and stood
among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
20 After he said this,
he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when
they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus
said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending
you.”
22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the
Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are
forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
* “…If you do
not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
* Wow. I have an article on this verse in the 'Auxiliary' section of this website.
John 2:
"13 When it was
almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14
In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves,
and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
15 So he made a whip
out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and
cattle;
he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned
their tables.
16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of
here! "
Luke 23:
“33 When they
came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along
with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
34
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”
Luke 18:
"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.
3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think,
5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
* "7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly."
* Why would someone cry night and day about someone they have forgiven?
Luke 17:
Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.
2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.
4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
* Sin, rebuke. Then either repentance and forgiveness, - or refusal to repent and the consequences. That's the formula, eh?
Luke 12:
8 “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.
9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.
10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Luke 10:
8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you.
9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’
12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’
12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
Mark 11:
"24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Matthew 25:
Matthew 25:
“31 When the
Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will
sit on his glorious throne.
32 All the nations will be gathered
before him, and he will separate the people one from another
as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep
on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the
King will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by
my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since
the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I
was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you
clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and
you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the
righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and
feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we
see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe
you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King
will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he
will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I
was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave
me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me
in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me,
I was sick and in
prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also
will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a
stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison,
and did not help
you?’
45 “He will
reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the
least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they
will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal
life.”
* This is the great, final, terrible exhibit of God’s unforgiveness.
Matthew 26: 45:
Matthew 26: 45:
"Then he returned
to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and
resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered
into the hands of sinners.
46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my
betrayer!”
47 While he was
still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a
large crowd armed with swords and clubs,
sent from the chief priests
and the elders of the people.
48 Now the betrayer had arranged a
signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.”
49
Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and
kissed him.
50 Jesus replied,
“Do what you came for, friend.”
Matthew 19: 7:
Matthew 19: 7:
“Why then,”
they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a
certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 Jesus replied, “Moses
permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard.
But it was not this way from the beginning.
9 I tell you that anyone
who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries
another woman commits adultery.”
10 The disciples
said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife,
it is better not to marry.”
11 Jesus replied,
“Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has
been given.
12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and
there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—
and there
are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom
of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
* Is divorce
unforgiveness, or is it something else? This is edgy scripture, a
hard, square box with sharp edges that Christians try to carry around
in their wet paper bag called ‘my theology’. Scripture doesn’t fit
well with a lot of personal theologies. So, how does Christ’s
permission to divorce fit with our clamor for unconditional
forgiveness; while at the same time, people wanting the church bless
non-adultery divorces?
Matthew 18:21:
"Then Peter
came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my
brother or sister who 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 bags of gold 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 “At this 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 silver coins.
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 it 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 outraged 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 handed 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 or sister from your heart.”
* I underlined "fellow servant' in the passage above.
Jesus, in Matthew
18
15:
“If your
brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between
the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.
16 But
if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every
matter may be established by the testimony of two or three
witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the
church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church,
treat them
as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you,
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
* So, here is the
game plan, as I see it, detailed in Matthew 18:
1) Talk in
private with the offender. No settlement? Go to step 2.
2) Bring two or three with you. Fault will be determined there. No settlement? Go to step 3.
3) Public rebuke in church on Sunday. No repentance?
4) Consider the person to be a spiritual outsider. Logically, stripped of all authority and responsibilities in the church.
5) This apparently includes considering them spiritually unforgiven by God. While we initially repent before God for our mistakes, we are forgiven, if we refuse to repent for an old matter that resurfaces, did we really repent at all?
6) Jesus said, “brother or sister”. He didn’t mention unbelievers, or did I miss something?
2) Bring two or three with you. Fault will be determined there. No settlement? Go to step 3.
3) Public rebuke in church on Sunday. No repentance?
4) Consider the person to be a spiritual outsider. Logically, stripped of all authority and responsibilities in the church.
5) This apparently includes considering them spiritually unforgiven by God. While we initially repent before God for our mistakes, we are forgiven, if we refuse to repent for an old matter that resurfaces, did we really repent at all?
6) Jesus said, “brother or sister”. He didn’t mention unbelievers, or did I miss something?
* Let me make a
parable about scripture and food. Sometimes we eat at a salad bar,
where there is no central focus of the meal,
and we nibble a bit of
this and a bit of that. We form an opinion of the whole dining experience by
the parts we chose to eat, because there is no central focus of the
meal. Some Bible doctrines are like that.
However, on
Thanksgiving Day, for most families, the turkey is the centerpiece
and the anchor of the dinner.
Likewise, some
theological issues have no central piece of scripture to build a
theology around, so theology is formed by accumulating all available
scripture on the topic. I think this not the case with
forgiveness. While every scripture matters, an Alpha-Scripture can
change our view of less complete or culturally-vague scripture. When
an Alpha-verse exists on a topic, then interpretations of other
scripture must submit to the plain teachings of the Alpha-Scripture.
Agree or disagree?
Matthew 18 is the
centerpiece and the anchor of forgiveness doctrine. From what I can
see, every interpretation and misinterpretation can be tested against
Matthew 18.
Matthew 10: 34:
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did
not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man
against his father, a daughter against her mother, a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s
enemies will be the members of his own household."
* Continuing in reverse gear, Jesus, Matthew 6: 9
* Continuing in reverse gear, Jesus, Matthew 6: 9
“This, then,
is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your
name,
10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not
forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
* Some will say, “
Matthew 6 proves unconditional forgiveness.”
I question that
assertion, given the weight of the other scripture listed here,
especially Matthew 18, thus inserting my opinion that confession
and repentance, as stated in Matthew 18, is a requirement for
forgiveness.
Matthew 5:
31:
“It has been
said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of
divorce.’
32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife,
except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery,
and
anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
* True or False,
divorcing because of adultery is a type of unforgiveness? And how
many professing-Christians,
who divorced for unacceptable reasons and
have remarried others, are chanting the forgiveness-chorus?
Mathew 5: 43:
Mathew 5: 43:
“You have
heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you,
45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes
his sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous."
*Jesus said about
enemies, ‘love’ and ‘pray for’, which are both steps we can
take to help people to repent. I don't see any verse that commands us to forgive our enemies in that terminology.
Matthew 5:
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
* Remember, Jesus came to earth to do a great reset on religion. He was calibrating the mindsets of Israelites to believe that people could be forgiven. This wasn’t the case in Israel at the time. The Pharisees loved to find guilty people and advocate their stoning. And we also need to broach the idea about how unconditional forgiveness of the unrepentant can mislead those unrepentant people into thinking they are forgiven by God - when they are not.
* Remember, Jesus came to earth to do a great reset on religion. He was calibrating the mindsets of Israelites to believe that people could be forgiven. This wasn’t the case in Israel at the time. The Pharisees loved to find guilty people and advocate their stoning. And we also need to broach the idea about how unconditional forgiveness of the unrepentant can mislead those unrepentant people into thinking they are forgiven by God - when they are not.
* Going
back to 1 John 1:8,
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 is not in us."
* If a parent
forgives an unconfessing, unrepentant, yet convicted murderer of
their daughter who won’t disclose the location of her body,
has God
forgiven him? I think not.
Then, are her
parents really obligated to forgive him? If the martyred saints under
the throne of God can crave vengeance for their own blood, what about
the parents of dead, missing daughters?