Forgiveness Freely Given
Jesus paid for our forgiveness with His life, and He offers the gift of forgiveness freely to all who come to the cross and believe.
But the Lord doesn’t want us to take this free gift of forgiveness and use it upon ourselves exclusively. Instead, He wants us to take this gift and give it away as well. This is what Jesus taught in what is known as the “Lord’s Prayer.”
“And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us … If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:12, 14-15)
The question now becomes, how long or how many times does it take.
This was Peter’s question to Jesus saying, ““Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” And Jesus replied, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22)
Basically, what I see Jesus saying is that we need to continue to forgive until forgiveness for them and their offense is achieved.
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Dennis Lee is Senior Pastor at Living Waters Fellowship, Mesquite, Nevada. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master of arts in theology from Talbot School of Theology, along with a master of divinity equivalency degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. Dennis is also a prolific writer. He presently has two books, “From Here to There: A Journey to Spiritual Transformation,” and “Wells of Living Waters,” along with other books and pamphlets that he describes as “down the pike.” He also writes a religious column for a local newspaper entitled, “Rediscover the Bible for Life,” along with daily devotionals and thoughts that he posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Living Waters Fellowship’s Website.
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