Ensign: the forgiveness of sins
All ye inhabitants of the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 9 September 2017
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins
This is the tricky part.
Sure, I believe -- and I hope all of us reading this -- BELIEVE in having our own sins (our actions and thoughts that are out of God's will) forgiven as elucidated in the Apostles' Creed ... but how much are we willing to forgive others for theirs against us? Consider the line in Jesus' prayer He taught His disciples (colloquially "The Lord's Prayer" but it's not called that in Scripture) from Matthew 6:12, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
That is not a typo.
I know, we usually say trespasses/trespass in place of debts/debtors depending on the translation we use. But we're talking not only about what we owe others (the usual context of debts and debtors) but also what they owe us. Nothing in God's Word is ever one-sided; there are certain and many things God our Father and Jesus our Savior and Lord and the Holy Spirit expect of us, and likewise there are certain and many things we can expect of Them.
And since we're referring to the Holy Trinity, of HIM.
Is this confusing? I admit it can be -- but until we agree on what is and isn't a sin, it's hard to forgive others for them. Sure we have the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 (no other gods besides God, no graven images, thou shalt not kill, etc.) but you could stretch them to cover the other, oh, six hundred three laws of the Pentateuch, but Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5-7 takes this ... not really further, but into what we think is the most private part of our lives.
What we think.
Matthew 5 beginning with verse 21 -- but feel free to read around this verse! -- says that if we kill someone we'll be judged by God for it ("in danger of the judgment") but in verse 22 Jesus says if we're angry with someone without a good reason that's just as bad. I want to say that's because we're making that person "dead to us", but that usually doesn't offend who we're angry with, or even hurt them. But it hurts us.
Are there ANY reasons to be angry with someone that won't hurt us?
Likewise the comparison between the act of adultery and lusting for someone in verses 27 and 28; we'll be guilty of the act as if we'd done it. And welcome to a world where it's hard to tell the two apart sometimes. Nuts. I want to be able to forgive others -- that's MY choice, whether they ask it or not -- but I cannot make someone forgive me, even when I do ask. And I don't have room in my life (and neither should you) to dwell on the sin.
Even when I still deal with the consequences.
As hard as it is to believe others forgive me sometimes, it is even harder for me to believe GOD Himself forgives me when I ask it. When He knows I'll screw up again. When I will not just cut off the temptation from my life (or short of locking myself in a box, cannot) but the temptation itself isn't sin. We get to choose how we deal with them every day. He Who rewards those that diligently seek Him (para. Hebrews 11:6) will reward us when we do so
with forgiveness for OUR sins,
David
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 9 September 2017
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins
This is the tricky part.
Sure, I believe -- and I hope all of us reading this -- BELIEVE in having our own sins (our actions and thoughts that are out of God's will) forgiven as elucidated in the Apostles' Creed ... but how much are we willing to forgive others for theirs against us? Consider the line in Jesus' prayer He taught His disciples (colloquially "The Lord's Prayer" but it's not called that in Scripture) from Matthew 6:12, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
That is not a typo.
I know, we usually say trespasses/trespass in place of debts/debtors depending on the translation we use. But we're talking not only about what we owe others (the usual context of debts and debtors) but also what they owe us. Nothing in God's Word is ever one-sided; there are certain and many things God our Father and Jesus our Savior and Lord and the Holy Spirit expect of us, and likewise there are certain and many things we can expect of Them.
And since we're referring to the Holy Trinity, of HIM.
Is this confusing? I admit it can be -- but until we agree on what is and isn't a sin, it's hard to forgive others for them. Sure we have the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 (no other gods besides God, no graven images, thou shalt not kill, etc.) but you could stretch them to cover the other, oh, six hundred three laws of the Pentateuch, but Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5-7 takes this ... not really further, but into what we think is the most private part of our lives.
What we think.
Matthew 5 beginning with verse 21 -- but feel free to read around this verse! -- says that if we kill someone we'll be judged by God for it ("in danger of the judgment") but in verse 22 Jesus says if we're angry with someone without a good reason that's just as bad. I want to say that's because we're making that person "dead to us", but that usually doesn't offend who we're angry with, or even hurt them. But it hurts us.
Are there ANY reasons to be angry with someone that won't hurt us?
Likewise the comparison between the act of adultery and lusting for someone in verses 27 and 28; we'll be guilty of the act as if we'd done it. And welcome to a world where it's hard to tell the two apart sometimes. Nuts. I want to be able to forgive others -- that's MY choice, whether they ask it or not -- but I cannot make someone forgive me, even when I do ask. And I don't have room in my life (and neither should you) to dwell on the sin.
Even when I still deal with the consequences.
As hard as it is to believe others forgive me sometimes, it is even harder for me to believe GOD Himself forgives me when I ask it. When He knows I'll screw up again. When I will not just cut off the temptation from my life (or short of locking myself in a box, cannot) but the temptation itself isn't sin. We get to choose how we deal with them every day. He Who rewards those that diligently seek Him (para. Hebrews 11:6) will reward us when we do so
with forgiveness for OUR sins,
David
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