In the post on forgiveness, I cited the instructions of Jesus: when someone treats us wrongly we are to first confront (“rebuke”) them about the issue. If they apologize or acknowledge their error (“repent”), then we are to forgive them. From this, we can infer a three-step process: Which evokes several questions: Frankly, I don’t know […]
Once when teaching his disciples, Jesus addresses forgiveness. He says when someone treats us wrongly we are to first confront (“rebuke”) them about the issue. If they apologize or acknowledge their error (“repent”), then we are to forgive them. Although Jesus literally says we are to do this seven times, there is actually no limit to forgiveness. […]
The Lord’s Prayer contains a curious phrase that gives me pause. Frankly, it makes me uncomfortable every time I say it. The passage in question is “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” We mean the first part, but do we really mean the second part? When we ask this of God, are […]
Jesus’ teaching on binding and loosing is a bit perplexing and worthy of careful contemplation. A parallel passage talks about forgiving sin and is even more disconcerting. Jesus says that if we forgive someone’s sins, they will be forgiven; conversely, if we don’t forgive someone’s sins, they will not be forgiven. That is an even […]
There is an account of Jesus, when a paralyzed man seeks to be healed. In a surprise move, Jesus confounds everybody by forgiving the man’s sins! Jesus had realized that this man’s greatest need was not physical, but spiritual, so he addressed that first. Knowing that it is much easier to say “your sins are […]
Don’t Withhold Forgiveness When you pray, be careful what you pray—I’m serious, be very careful. In the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples (also called “The Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father”), one part says: “Forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.” Some translations use the word “sins” or “transgressions” in […]