Recently I had a conversation with someone who seemed obsessed with perfection. Faults were enumerated one after another and in this case there was no shortage of them. Very little positive was offered and it seemed more like a negative tirade to me.
After listening for some time I tried to gently remind them that no one was perfect or ever lived a perfect life aside from Jesus Christ. And while we all aspire to achieve the righteousness that He demonstrated through His life, one must always be cognizant that Jesus was God.
None of us can lead a life devoid of sin and as we proceed through life we will from time to time make mistakes. I tried not to excessively fault my employees in my various companies for making mistakes, because I made them too. In fact the mistakes I made were generally the most expensive due to the position that I held. I knew that I did far more things right than wrong, and as a result my companies survived and thrived in spite of them. I perceived them to be the same as me.
I teach that the first time one makes a mistake it generally can be construed as being an honest mistake; after that it becomes a stupid one, and I have less tolerance for those. And when it comes to someone consistently sinning against me, I have trouble forgiving them.
That too is a mistake on my part because Jesus said that we should just keep on forgiving. Matthew 18:21 – Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “”No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!!
The Jewish rabbis at the time taught that forgiving someone more than three times was unnecessary, citing Amos 1:3-13 where God forgave Israel’s enemies three times, then punished them. By offering forgiveness more than double that of the Old Testament example, Peter perhaps expected extra commendation from the Lord. When Jesus responded that forgiveness should be offered four hundred and ninety times, far beyond that which Peter was proposing or what might even seem conceivable, it must have dumbfounded the disciples who were listening.
Although they had been with Jesus for some time, they were still thinking in the limited terms of the law, rather than in the unlimited terms of grace. By saying we are to forgive those who sin against us seventy times seven, Jesus was not limiting forgiveness to 490 times. Christians with forgiving hearts not only do not limit the number of times they forgive; they continue to forgive with as much grace the thousandth time as they do the first time. Christians are only capable of this type of forgiving spirit because the Spirit of God lives within us, and it is He who provides the ability to offer forgiveness over and over, just as God forgives us over and over.
Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant follows directly after His “seventy times seven” speech, driving home the point that if we are forgiven the enormous debt of sin against a holy God, how much more so should we be eager to forgive others.
What Jesus meant by this expression was that we ought to forgive others without limit. Why is this? The reason, Jesus went on to say, is because we should treat others the same way God has treated us. You see, we owe God a debt that is far greater than anything we could ever repay—a debt caused by our sin. But God in His grace has forgiven us anyway—not because we deserve it, but simply because of His love and mercy.
And once we have experienced God’s forgiveness and grace in our own lives, we should treat others the same way. No, they may not deserve it, but neither did we when God forgave us. Clearly, forgiveness is not to be meted out in a limited fashion but is to be abundant, overflowing, and available to all, just as the measureless grace of God is poured out upon us.
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
June 7, 2016 – Click here to listen