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"To err is human; to forgive is divine."
Forgiveness: A new Understanding
Updated:
06/08/2021
The challenge is regarding how we can understand these
seemingly disparate words of Yeshua to be not only consistent but actually
good news, both of which are required.
Luke 5:18-20 Mt 9:2 Mk 2:3-5
And behold, men were bringing a paralytic laid out
on a cot being carried by four, and they sought to bring him in and lay him
before him. Not finding a way to bring him in through the crowd, and
going up on the housetop, they unroofed the roof and let him down through
the tiles with his cot into the midst in front of Yeshua. And when he
saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Be comforted, my son; your sins
are being dismissed."
Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter coming up, said to him,
"Master, how often shall my brother think evil about me, and I forgive him?
As many as seven times?" Yeshua said to him, "I do not say to you seven
times, but seventy times seven."
Luke 17:3,4 Take heed to yourselves;
if your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents,
forgive him. And if he sins against you, and turns to you seven
times in the day, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."
Matthew 6:9-15
You then pray like this:
Our Father in the heavens,
Let your name be hallowed.
Let your kingship come.
Let your will be done,
also on earth as it is in heaven.
You give us today our daily bread;
and you dismiss our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors;
and you lead us not into being tested,
but you deliver us from evil.
Because of you is the kingship, and the power,
and the glory for the ages. So be it.
"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses."
To forgive and forget is primarily for yourself,
and only secondarily for the other person.
Understanding the consistency and good news of these passages is a matter of
understanding the definition of sin as Yeshua used the word, and a matter of
common sense.
Personal context
Let's review the context. You didn't sign up
for this. You were born through
no fault of your own into a fallen world. Born with an imperfect body and
organic function, imperfect mind
and spirit, born with inherited tendencies, faults and weaknesses, distorted body
chemistry and appetites, always with an imperfect or inadequate diet, etc.
You were thrust into the human condition of never having everything that you
want and need, where you have been raised imperfectly, subject to inadequate
or less than perfect training, subject to various degrees of abuse, injury,
disease, pain and suffering, subject to being instilled with false values, false concepts of
God and yourself, and false religion; subject to disappointment and
heartbreak, subject to travesty, treachery, betrayal, where the overwhelming
message of reality is one of relentless indifference, etc., all along the
way. No one outside of God, including yourself, can fully grasp the total
effect that all this has had on your psychology and the limits of your behavior.
Unforgiveable sin
Now in the face of all this, you
stand up and arrogantly blame yourself for ANYTHING that you do? What
perverse nonsense! Cannot God handle and heal it all except for one thing, and
that is being dishonest with yourself and God, being in denial and not addressing the reality of
your unrequested situation, and failing to have faith in the goodness of
God? Is THAT blaspheming the God Spirit?
Personal benefit
When it comes to
forgiveness, it is not an extreme demand from an otherwise unsympathetic
God, but is simply good advice. Forgiving is only a requirement BECAUSE it is always associated with "getting",
as in ":for getting" or "in order to get". If
you cannot forgive others, you cannot forgive yourself and vice versa. If
you cannot forgive yourself, you cannot believe that God forgives you and
vice versa. It is then that you retain debilitating sin, the ultimately evil concept
that the heavenly father cannot forgive you, and that is what cannot be dismissed as
inconsequential as long as it is held. Forgiveness is first and foremost for yourself!
So, come on! Warts and
all, we are supposed to be sons and daughters of God, yet struggling in an
incredibly corrupted, traumatic and evil world. By staying in denial, we
subvert the prospect of healing and salvation. There IS only ONE solution:
"By beholding we become changed." Beholding means coming out of denial,
taking the inward journey and beholding ourselves as we really are, as
well as beholding the revelation of the Creator.
On the other hand...
What about the Unpardonable Sin?
Matthew 12:30-32 Mk 3:28-30 Lk
11:23 "The one not being with me is against me, and he not gathering
with me scatters. Because of this, I tell you{pl} truly, all the sins
of the sons of men and whatever calumnies they have blasphemed, every
sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the
Holy Attitude (the true and valid mentality or spirit) will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against
the Son of man will be dismissed; but whoever speaks against the Holy True
Mentality, whoever rails against the Holy God Attitude
has not forgiveness within this age, neither in this age nor the coming
one, but is liable to judgment for the sin of the ages."
God cannot tinker with our volition and will, he cannot
reprogram us like a computer. Never can happen! As long as we stay in a
state of denial, refuse to be intellectually responsible and seek the truth,
we are in a state of Sin that cannot be dismissed or overlooked. It's that
simple. The above integration of the Synoptic texts is not an eternal
condemnation or damnation to "Hell" or oblivion, nor do we incur any further
curse, but the refusal holds sway until the mind and spirit become open.
I have matured enough to not care about whether I like your
personal preferences, but caring about your purpose, principles, values and
agenda. It is my understanding that these are what God cares about.
I am in the forgiving and forgetting business, but the
one thing I cannot dismiss is the refusal to acknowledge me as a serious
seeker of truth and engage with me in seeking the
truth, reasoning together concerning the ultimate issues. To fail to engage
with each other is
foolishness and an insult to who we are.
The bottom lines is: As far as God and ANY spiritually
mature human is concerned, the ONLY important thing is what happens in the
future. |