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Seventy Times Seven


Hello Family of God, 

"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, [UNTIL SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN]." (Matthew 18:21-25)

It was taught by the Rabbi's of Jesus's day that forgiveness was to be granted to those seeking forgiveness up to three times; this was taken out of Old Testament Scripture where God had forgiven the enemies of Israel only three times (Amos 1:3,6,9,11,13). Peter was attempting to impress our Lord Jesus Christ by taking it a step further with forgiving those who trespass against us up to seven times; but the Lord, even this was not up to God's standard of forgiveness. We must understand that God is Omniscient, and knows the hearts of every living being with a conscious (1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Kgs. 8:39; 1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 44:21; 139:13; Prov. 21:2; Jer. 17:9-10; 20:10; Matt. 9:4; Lk. 16:15; Jn. 2:25; Acts 1:24; 15:8; 1 Cor. 4:5; Rev. 2:23). There are certain commands and instructions which come directly from the Lord Himself that no mortal creature can do in like manner: such as shaking the dust of your feet and condemning those who will not receive the Gospel upon their first rejection of it; for there is always the possibility that the Lord will draw such people to Him when the timing is right when the Gospel is ministered to the lost (cf. Isa. 55:11; Matt. 10:11-15; Jn. 6:44; 1 Cor. 3:6-8). 

"And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, [it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, NEITHER IN THE WORLD TO COME]." (Matthew 12:32)

Does this mean that the Lord is reluctant to forgive those who know they have sinned against Him, and regardless if they beg for His mercy? Mercy and Forgiveness is granted to all who will "repent" of their sins before God, it is not granted to those who refuse to repent and continually reject the Gospel Message; for what is the point in doing so? What will this accomplish? It will only demonstrate that God is unjust for allowing sin to go unpunished, and we know that cannot be the case since God is the Most Holy and Righteous; He cannot overlook sin, so retribution must be doled out upon unrepentant sinners (cf. Prov. 28:13; Matt. 9:13; Lk. 5:32; 13:3; Acts 3:19; 17:30). God is always willing to forgive those who come to Him in Genuine Repentance and a Broken spirit, and the one who has been forgiven by God will manifest a heart of unlimited forgiveness towards those who have wronged them (Ps. 136; Matt. 6:14-15; 2 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13; Heb. 8:12; 1 Jn. 1:9)."For it is impossible for those who were once [enlightened], and have [tasted of the heavenly gift], and were made [partakers of the Holy Ghost], And have [tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come], If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6)

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"For it is impossible for those who were once [enlightened], and have [tasted of the heavenly gift], and were made [partakers of the Holy Ghost], And have [tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come], If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6)

There will come a point in every person's heart where they will NEVER repent and accept the message of the Gospel, and we see an example of this in the above passage when Jesus condemned the religious hypocrites for accusing Him of working miracles on behalf of Satan. Anyone who is willing to stoop that far shows that their heart may have been hardened; we see a parallel passage in Hebrews 6-46 and 10:26, where all available information is given to where there can be no further proof to convince such people to accept the Gospel message. The Pharisees had:

  1. Been Enlightened: (Jesus's fulfillment of the Old Testament through His preaching and teaching. cf. Lk. 4:15-21; Jn. 1:9-10; 8:24)
  2. Tasted of the heavenly gift: (Jesus tasted death for every man on the Cross; but this death does NOT continue on to this day as it was accomplished at Calvary).
  3. Been Partakers of the Holy Ghost: (The ministry of Jesus through healing, casting out demons, feeding the multitudes miraculously, etc., and then accused Jesus of being possessed by Satan and demons. cf. Matt. 12:22-32).
  4. Tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come: (Seen the undeniable miracles through the power and working of the Holy Spirit. cf. Matt. 13:3-9; Jn. 6:60-66; Acts 8:9-24).

Such men and women cannot be brought to a state of repentance leading to Salvation if all of the above is rejected; Jesus illustrated this point in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31), where even if someone were to be raised from the dead to warn the unrepentant of the dangers of Hell and the Eternal Lake of Fire, they will not be persuaded (v. 31). These unrepentant sinners will NOT be forgiven even in the age to come because nothing more can convince or persuade them to a state of genuine repentance, and therefore there remains NO more sacrifice for sins if rejected since only Christ can atone for the sins of the World (Matt. 11:21; 12:32; Heb. 6:6; 10:26).

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is [CONDEMNED ALREADY], because he hath [NOT BELIEVED] in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18)

 

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