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FORGIVE SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN

Writer's picture: Olufunmilayo AdekusibeOlufunmilayo Adekusibe

 

Today’s Reading:

Matthew 18:21-35 (32-33)

“Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” (vv. 32-33)

 


Forgiveness, a very deep topic is the act of excusing or pardoning others in spite of their slights, shortcomings, and errors. Forgiveness is a theological term for God’s forgiveness of mankind. The Bible teaches about God’s complete forgiveness of man’s sins (Ps. 51:1, 9; Isa.38:17; Heb. 10:17) because the initiative is from Him (Jn. 3:16; Col. 2:13).


Sin against God deserves divine condemnation, punishment, and the penalty is death in that it is a violation of God’s holy character and commandment (Gen. 2:17: Rom. 1:18-32); but God is gracious in mercy and pardoning (Ps. 130:3; Rom. 5:6-8).


In the Old Testament, for God’s forgiveness, two conditions must be met because of the seriousness of sin: a) a life must be taken as a substitute for the sinner’s (Lev. 17:11, 14; Heb. 9:22); and b) the sinner must come to God’s sacrifice in humble repentance and faith (Mk. 1:4; Acts 10:43; Jas 5:15).


In the New Testament, forgiveness is directly connected with Jesus Christ (Act 5:31; Col. 1:14); His sacrificial death on the cross (Rom. 4:24); and His resurrection (2Cor. 5:15). Only Jesus was the morally perfect sacrifice (Rom. 8:3), the final and the ultimate fulfilment of all Old Testament sacrifices (Heb. 9:11-10:18) the Lamb without blemish, in that He bore the law’s death penalty against sinners (Gal. 3:10-13). And so, when we trust in Christ’s sacrifice we are freed from the penalty of sin. Yes, we are saved by grace, and by faith are forgiven and justified (Rom. 3:28; Gal 3:8-9), but the fact still remains that we will reap the consequences of our sin. This is why we very much need to weigh all our actions before embarking on them. Because we cannot continue in sin and expect the grace and blessings of God to abound. Having been forgiven the penalty of sin, we also need to die to sin’s controlling power in our daily lives (Rom. 6:1-23).


Jesus has the authority to forgive sins (Mt. 1:21; Heb. 9:11-18). Forgiveness is an integral part of the gospel message (Acts 2:38, 5:31). But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unpardonable sin (Mk. 3:28-29), because such a person hard-heartedness has put himself beyond repentance and faith.


The Pharisees taught that forgiveness should be offered three times. But Jesus has not placed any limit on the number of times we must forgive. ‘But Jesus answered ‘No, not seven … but Seventy times seventy!’ In other words, no one can keep account of offences for four hundred and ninety times without getting tired. By not forgiving offences, we opens doorway of affliction to the enemy, thereby forfeiting our Salvation (v. 25; 1Corin. 5:5). This is why Jesus teaches us to grant our fellow men the gift of forgiveness.


In any relationship, there is bound to be misunderstanding and it is better to quickly resolve such misunderstanding before the enemy takes charge of the situation. If the teeth bites the tongue, is it possible to remove the teeth or decide we are not going to use it again? The truth is that if we do not gracefully cultivate the habit of forgiveness, we will never be happy in any relationship – be it marriage between husband and wife, between siblings, neighbours, business partners and associates, between employers and employees, between colleagues and friends, between groups and associations, even in the household of God. We will then find out that we cannot get along with other people. We therefore realise that throughout our life, we will be looking for, and expecting a perfect relationship and then find out that there is none. No one is perfect; only the Creator God is.

Here are instances of Jesus act of forgiveness:

  1. Jesus forgave Peter when he denied Him three times at his dark hours (Jn. 18:16-18, 25-27; 21:15-19).

  2. The thief on His right-hand side on the cross (Luke 23:39-43).

  3. The people who crucified him (Luke 23:34).

  4. Today, we continually crucify Jesus over and over again, and when we ask for forgiveness and mercy, He forgives us.

Olufunmilayo Titilola Adekusibe


Prayer:

  1. 1. Father, thank you for the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. Fill me with your love, empower and encourage me to always forgive those who have offended me, in Jesus name.

  2. 2. Father, by the power of your Holy Spirit, break every unbroken area of my life and remould me to retain your love, in Jesus name.

  3. 3. Father create in me a pure new heart, and renew a right, humble, teachable spirit within me, in Jesus name.

  4. 4. Father pull down the stronghold of ignorance of knowledge of your mightiness in your Church and revive your work in the name of Jesus.

  5. 5. Power of the Most High, overshadow all those seeking for cure and prevention for this pandemic, in Jesus name.

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