SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/21/2023 10:52 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The Extent of Forgiveness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 18:22
Message of the
verse: “22
Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven
times.’”
As we look at this verse we can tell that Jesus was
straightening out Peter as Peter was thinking like the Scribes and the
Pharisees who believed the things that I wrote about in our last SD, that is
forgive someone four times for the same offense and then that’s it. Peter was thinking about the measurable and
limited terms of the law, and not the immeasurable and unlimited terms of
grace. The problem is that law keeps
count and grace does not, and that is when Jesus said to him "I do not say
to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’”
In the sixth chapter of Romans Paul deals with this
subject as people were questioning him about Christians taking advantage of
grace, and the truth is that a true Christian who thinks that he can keep on
sinning because it all has been paid for may want to read a verse that Paul
wrote to the Corinthians: “Test
yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you
not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless
indeed you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 5:13).
John MacArthur writes: “The Lord was not extending the legal limit
of forgiveness. He was not speaking of
law or limits at all. By seventy times
seven He did not mean 490. He simply
picked up on Peter’s number and multiplied it by itself and then by ten, indicating
a number that, for all practical purposes, was beyond counting. Record keeping is not to be considered, and a
Christian with a forgiving heart thinks nothing about it. He forgives the hundredth offense or the
thousandth just as readily and graciously as the first—because that is the way
he is forgiven by God.”
I’m not sure but perhaps Jesus may
have been thinking about Genesis 4:24 “If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then
Lamech seventy-sevenfold.’” It is the
inclination of sinful man to return evil for evil without any limit, however God’s
standard is just the opposite; Jesus said to return good for evil without
limit.
Let us look at a verse we looked at
in our last SD: “Yes, if he wrongs you
seven times in one day and turns to you and says, ‘I am sorry’ seven times, you
must forgive him’” (Luke 17:4). Jesus
here is speaking about a brother in the Lord, and He was not setting a daily
limit, but rather the opposite. Jesus
was speaking of repeated, regular sinning that is committed many times a day,
day after day, and of corresponding repeated forgiveness. MacArthur adds “He was saying that even if a
fellow Christian sins against you every day for seven times each day, you
should be ready and willing to forgive him that often. The faithful, godly Christian will never
allow his own forgiveness to be surpassed by a brother’s sin. Reflecting his heavenly Father’s nature,
where sin against him increases, so does his gracious forgiveness.” “The Law came in so that the transgression would
increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, (Romans 5:20).
Let us look at Ephesians 4:32 “Be
kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in
Christ also has forgiven you.” MacArthur
concludes “Commenting on the rarity of such grace among believers, John Wesley
wrote ‘If this be Christianity, were do Christians live.’”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: It is my
desire to be a forgiving brother, and even though this goes against the grain
of being human, the Holy Spirit who lives in me will certainly aid me in this.
My Steps of Faith for Today: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted,
forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
1/21/2023 11:19
AM
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