WEDNESDAY JANUARY 26, 2011

Read Matthew 3

Jesus.

Did Jesus continue with the pattern of the Old Testament or did He instigate a radical new truth that leaves the Old Testament unusable to New Testament believers?

It is clear that Jesus taught about forgiveness and loving one’s enemies. These have been discussed in detail. Several other factors about Jesus’ ministry must be pointed out in regard to forgiveness.

1. Jesus proclaimed the Kngdom of God and called people to repentance (Matthew 3:2, Mark 1:15). Repentance would lead to forgiveness. Those, we assume, who do not repent are not forgiven.

Jesus denounced the cities that saw His miracles and failed to repent, showing that judgement day would be a terrible ordeal for them (Matthew 11:20-26). Those who failed to repent are judged and condemned showing that they are not forgiven.

2. When He was confronted by the hypocrisy and ungodliness of the Pharisees Jesus literally blasted them. (Matthew 23:13-29) No mention of forgiveness is made. If we are called to automatically forgive those who sin against us (Didn’t the Pharisees etc, seek to kill Jesus and thus sin against Him?), then we should imagine that the Pharisees would have been told about their forgiveness. Quite the opposite occurs! They are condemned in the strongest language.

3. There is no mention of Judas being forgiven for his sin. Jesus plainly says that he has gone to where he belongs (John 17:12). Judas was a non Christian (John 6:64) and he is clearly not forgiven by Jesus.

5. The repentant thief on the cross is offered paradise while the other thief, who was unrepentant, was not offered life eternal in paradise (Luke 23:40-43). The Greek of vs 43 can NOT be misconstrued to be talking about more than only 1 person. Only the penitent thief is offered forgiveness, not the unrepentant one!