Some one once said that if we ever realized just how much the Lord has forgiven is us, we wouldn’t hesitate a moment in forgiving others. I wonder. I think the Lord pretty much nailed us in His parable of the unmerciful servant. It’s in Matt 18:21-35. Peter began the dialogue by asking how many times we’re required to forgive a brother who sins against us, “up to seven times?”

“Not seven times but 70 times 7,” replied the Lord.  I think that means, “As often as he asks.” Then He gave them and us the parable. Here’s the Reader’s Digest version.

The Unmerciful Servant
A servant owed his master a debt he could never hope to repay.  When the day of reckoning came he appeared before the master, hat in hand.  Asking only for more time to pay, he was completely forgiven, and the debt was canceled.  Imagine his relief.

Upon leaving his master’s office he came upon a fellow servant who owed him a small sum. He demanded immediate payment but the fellow servant asked him for more time, just as he had asked the master. But he refused the request and had his debtor thrown into prison until he could pay in full.

Upon learning this, the master was enraged. “I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?” He then had the servant turned over to the jailer to be tortured until he could repay all he owes. The Lord concluded with this admonition. “This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Each subject and object in a parable is symbolic. The master represents the Lord, the servant is you and I, and the fellow servant is the one who sins against you.  The debt is our sin, the prison is whatever emotion locks up our reason, and the jailer who tortures us is Satan.

Please understand that failure to forgive each other doesn’t suspend our salvation. Salvation is not behavior driven like this parable is.  Salvation is belief driven.  What’s being suspended until the debt is repaid is the relationship. The servant doesn’t stop being a servant.  He no longer has access to the master, and the jailer now has access to him, but the implication is that once the debt is repaid he’ll be restored to the master’s good graces.

Union and Fellowship
It helps when you see that there are 2 levels of forgiveness; one that comes through belief and one that is the result of behavior.  The first is the forgiveness that the Lord purchased with His life. You received it simply by believing that He died to pay the price for your sins.  At that moment you were forgiven once and for all, and your salvation was assured. Like the servant, your debt was canceled.  At that time you were given irrevocable union with the Father (Ephe 1:13-14) and became as righteous as He is (2Cor 5:21).  This union is forever and carries eternal blessings for every believer.

If that’s the case, why did John in his letter to believers counsel us to confess and be restored every time we sin (1 John 1:9)? It’s because of the other level, what I call fellowship. Fellowship is temporal, carries earthly benefits, and is subject to interruption. God can’t relate to us while our hearts are full of anger, lust, envy, greed, or any other of the destructive human emotions that imprison us, because during those times we’re like the unmerciful servant, needing discipline. In the context of the parable, He’s still our Master and we’re still His servants, but we can’t enjoy the full benefits of the relationship. Something’s come between us that has to be resolved before we can go on. More often than not, it’s our failure to forgive someone who’s wronged us.

It’s Our Choice
Depending on the intensity of our emotions, and the determination with which we justify and cling to them, we may lose out on blessings, and experience other deprivations like the limited loss of protection from our enemy.  Justified or not, these emotions are called sin in the Bible. They make us impure, and give the enemy access to us. The Lord permits this access (Job 1:12). Being unable to tolerate the presence of sin and unwilling to interfere with our choices, He can’t do otherwise. But as soon as we ask, we’re forgiven and the sin is forgotten, the price having been paid at the cross, and we’re back in fellowship. Then the Lord turns that which Satan had intended as torment into a blessing, showing that all is forgiven (Job 42:10-17).

It’s Not a Suggestion
The Lord often commanded forgiveness in His teaching. In Matt 5:23 He said to be reconciled to our brother before offering a gift to Him. In Matt 6:9-15where He taught the Lord’s Prayer, He warned we would not be forgiven unless we forgive each other.  Once again, the Lord’s prayer is for believers who already have eternal union with God. The forgiveness it speaks of concerns our fellowship with Him in the here and now.  And in Mark 11:22-25 we learn that forgiveness adds power to our prayers.

Something this important to God better be important to us. Forget justification. He would have been justified in condemning us all to Hell forever.  Since He’s forgiven us everything, can’t we forgive each other these little things?

Repent and Be Saved.
“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4).

The Greek word translated rebuke in this passage means to admonish or censure. We should advise fellow believers when we think the way they’ve treated us is contrary to God’s word (see also Matt 18:15-17). Repent means to change one’s mind or reconsider, and has to do with the way we perceive things. In each of the 34 times the word repent is used in the New Testament, people are being admonished to change their perception of themselves and admit they’re sinners in need of a Savior. Forgive means to lay aside or leave alone.

A Tragic Misunderstanding
Somehow we’ve come to believe that repent means to stop doing something, and if we don’t stop doing it, then we haven’t repented and therefore don’t qualify for forgiveness. If that’s true and the required salvation sequence is to repent and be saved, then none of us is saved, because none of us has stopped sinning. All of us are living in deliberate and open sin because in each human life there is observable behavior that violates God’s word, and is knowingly and willfully repeated. It’s not that we discover one sin in our behavior and root it out only to be made aware of another. We deliberately repeat the same sinful behavior over and over. If we could progressively root out and eliminate the sins in our lives we could eventually stop sinning and wouldn’t need a savior.

When John the Baptist warned the people of Israel to “repent for the Kingdom is near (Matt 3:2)”, he wasn’t telling them to be on their best behavior because the King was coming. He was telling them to reconsider their need for a savior while they could.

When Peter admonished the Jews at Pentecost to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins so they could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) he wasn’t saying, “Clean up your act.” He was telling them that as soon as they changed their perception about who Jesus was and what He had done for them they could be forgiven and receive eternal life.

When the evangelist tells his audience to “repent and be saved”,  he’s not telling them to become good enough to someday be accepted by the Lord. He’s admonishing them to realize they can’t be good enough and to ask the Lord to take them right now just as they are.

So What Does That Mean?
The word repent means to change your mind, not your behavior. That’s why the Lord said, “If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” It’s also why in Matt 18:22 He corrected Peter “not 7 times, but 70 times 7.” Both passages cover repetitive commission of the same sins as well as sequential commission of different ones.

We’re not sinners because we sin, rather we sin because we’re sinners. It’s our nature. When we say the sinner’s prayer, we’re admitting that we can never meet God’s requirements and need someone to intercede for us. We ask the Lord Jesus to intercede and be our Savior. He agrees to do this, not because we promise never to sin again, but because we admit we can’t stop sinning.

When Will We Ever Learn?
In the Old Testament the emphasis was on obedience. The principle was behave or you won’t be rewarded. And even with the threat of eternal punishment people still couldn’t be good enough for God.

In the New Testament the emphasis is on faith. Now the principle is behave because you will be rewarded and people still can’t be good enough.

In the Millennium the emphasis will be on experience. The principle then will be behave because you are being rewarded. Satan will be bound, God will live among His people and rule the world, the curse will be removed, and a Utopian life will be at hand. All of man’s excuses for sinning will be gone. But at the end of that age, the people that God hasn’t supernaturally perfected will rebel against Him. The underlying message of the whole Bible is that there is no circumstance in which mankind can achieve the standard God requires. Living in sin is a state of being, not just a state of rebellion. That’s why we need a Savior.

Please Forgive Me
Just as repent doesn’t mean, “I’ll never do it again,” forgive doesn’t mean, “It’s OK to do it again.” Remember forgive means to lay aside or leave alone. Neither word is behavior driven. Both are perception driven. Jesus doesn’t condone sin, but if we’ve accepted His remedy for our sins and confess (1 John 1:9) He chooses to leave it alone. He’s done that for us because we asked Him, and now He asks us to do likewise for each other.

The Most Popular Verse in the Bible.

For as long as we can remember, the Bible’s most popular verse has been John 3:16, but lately another has come to the top of the list; quoted most often by unbelievers. I guess that’s an improvement because in the past the unbelievers’ most popular verse wasn’t even in the Bible. It was “the Lord helps those who help themselves.”

Today’s most often quoted verse is in Luke 6:37 “Do not judge and you will not be judged.” Even though it’s used primarily by unbelievers and in a way that’s judgmental toward believers (making its use self-contradictory) it’s a good one to use in concluding this article on forgiveness.

Union and Fellowship Again
Remember that there are 2 levels of forgiveness; one that involves belief and one that involves behavior.  The first is the forgiveness that the Lord purchased with His life. This union is forever and carries eternal blessings for every believer.  And the other is called fellowship. It carries temporal  earthly benefits, and is subject to interruption due to unconfessed sin.

In Luke 6:37 the clear implication is that judging or condemning another person’s behavior constitutes sin, as does the failure to forgive. The parable of the unmerciful servant in Matt 18:23-35 demonstrated that pretty clearly and Luke 6:37 concurs, with positive admonitions. To receive the forgiveness that preserves fellowship for us, we must grant forgiveness to others as well as seeking forgiveness from the Lord.

Who’s Punishing Whom?
Complicated by human standards, it’s exquisitely simple by God’s. When wronged by a brother, you suffer. By staying angry and refusing to forgive, you wrong your brother and suffer again. But when you forgive him he is convicted and he suffers. In Rom 12:17-21, Paul says it’s like heaping burning coals on his head. Meanwhile, the Lord takes the anger from your heart, restores you to fellowship with Him, and gives you peace. When you punish someone by failing to forgive them, do you realize you’re the one who suffers most?

Expel the Immoral Brother
Much is made of admonitions in the Bible to avoid believers who are sexually immoral, or who regularly eat or drink to excess, practice idolatry or greed, are swindlers, foul mouthed, gossipers, or verbally abusive (1 Cor 5:11, Ephe 4:29). In this way we help them see that such behavior is sin. But once they admit it (repent) we are to forgive them, even if it happens 7 times in the same day. We are to forgive them as many as 70 X 7 times. Why?  Because we all do these things too, and if we expect forgiveness we are to forgive.

Forgiveness is not the same as acceptance.  In 1 Cor 5:1-5 Paul took the Corinthians to task for permitting an unnatural relationship between a man in the fellowship and his father’s wife. “Hand this man over to Satan,” Paul said, “so the sin nature can be destroyed and the spirit saved.” Apparently neither the man nor the congregation saw his behavior as sin. Both needed to repent (reconsider their opinion) so Paul required them to expel the man. In this way both the congregation and the man could recognize the sin, confess and be forgiven.

In 2 Cor.2:5-11 Paul spoke of the incident again. The plan had worked. The congregation was obedient and the man humbled. “Now forgive him and comfort him so he won’t be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow,” he said. “Reaffirm your love for him so that Satan doesn’t outwit us again.” The congregation’s first sin was in not seeing the sin, but the failure to forgive is also a sin, and could allow Satan to win after all.

Who Loves You?
There’s also the issue of love. It’s best explained in a parable from Luke 7:41-43. Two men owed money to a certain money lender. One owed 2 years pay and the other owed 2 months. Neither could pay so the money lender canceled both debts. Completing the story, the Lord asked, “Which one will love the money lender most?”

Simon the Pharisee answered, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” Good answer. He who has been forgiven much, loves much. Have we been forgiven much? “As I have loved you,” the Lord said, “You must love one another” (John 13:34, 15:12 and 9 other places). He could just as easily have said, “As I have forgiven you, you must forgive one another.

The forgiveness that brought your salvation is good forever.  No one can ever change that, not even you (John 10:27-30).  The forgiveness that maintains your intimacy with the Lord in the here and now has to be renewed whenever you sin.  Like the forgiveness that saved you, it’s automatically granted to everyone who asks.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

We’ve all heard the Scottish Proverb, “Confession is good for the soul”.  Now we know why it’s true.  Forgive everyone who sins against you, confess early and often, and live a blessed life.

Revelation 17-18 shows there are three components to the one world system of the Last Days.  There’s a one world religion, a one world government, and a one world commercial system.  All have been developing for longer than most people suspect and are rapidly coming to fulfillment.  As this happens they’re becoming more and more obvious to the public.  No longer just the realm of the fanatical conspiracy theorists, today only those who refuse to see are unaware of their existence.

One World Religion

Islam is the most influential religious force in the world today and the goal is nothing less than world domination, by any means necessary. It’s also the world’s fastest growing religion, and is second only to Christianity in number of adherents. Nearly one out of every four inhabitants of the world is a follower of Islam .  After the rapture Islam will be the largest, strongest, best organized, and fastest growing religion in the world by a wide margin. No other group or combination of groups will be in a position to challenge it.  And since Islam is not an ecumenically minded religion, all others will have to join it.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Islam will no longer be a viable religious force after the Battle of Ezekiel 38 either. According to The Pew Forum report, the countries who will unite against Israel and be defeated there make up a small percentage of the total Islamic population. For example, the four largest Islamic countries by population are Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.  They won’t even be involved. In fact, two thirds of all the world’s Moslems live in 10 countries and of those only Turkey (5) and Iran (6) are named by Ezekiel. Rough estimates indicate that as little as 15% of the Islamic world will be represented by the forces aligned against Israel, and remember it’s only their soldiers who die in battle, not their total populations.

I don’t think the Islamic world will be permanently demoralized by their defeat either.  After all Israel has defeated them several times already and each time they’ve come back to try again. End times prophecy shows that Ezekiel 38 won’t be any different.

One World Government
For as long as I’ve been a believer, I’ve heard talk of the coming One World Government, but recently this has become a lot more than just talk. There’s an obvious effort underway to eliminate both national borders and to create a world governmental system that would have authority over all nations.

As just one example, a little while ago our family enrolled in something called the Trusted Traveler Program.  It consists of a special pass issued to qualifying applicants from Canada, the USA, and Mexico that allows us to pass through any of the border check points between the 3 countries with out showing a passport or going through customs. With this pass we can cross from Mexico, where we serve as missionaries, into the US in about 10-15 minutes.  Previously it took  about an hour on regular days and more on weekends and holidays. Airline passengers from Canada or Mexico can go to special kiosks in designated US airports and receive the same expedited service.  Homeland Security expects about 84 million Mexican citizens to enroll in this program.

I see this as a great convenience since we enter the US about once a week at the world’s busiest border crossing.  But as I was looking at my pass the other day I noticed on the cover a representation of North America with  no national borders and I realized this is only one step toward the goal of merging these three countries into a North American Union.

The EU already has such a program allowing residents from any EU country to cross into any other one with out  passports.  Other similar programs are underway in South East Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Mediterranean.  In my opinion the Bible says a total of 10 of these multi-national regions will someday exist, and they’ll be involved in a lot more than tourism.

And beyond that, there’s talk of a single world government that will exercise authority over these 10 regions, with a single figure at its head, the President of the World.  On that note, here’s an interesting quote I read this week:

“There’s not a single political figure today with the global reach and influence of Bill Clinton—a former U.S. President turned humanitarian and diplomat extraordinaire. No one else in today’s political arena has the ability to command the attention of world leaders and organizations everywhere quite like he does” (Chris Matthews from the MSNBC documentary, “President of the World – The Bill Clinton Phenomenon”).

I’m not saying that Bill Clinton is the anti-Christ.  But I find it very interesting that our national media is openly talking about a President of the World, and even suggesting a candidate.

Many feel there’s a need for an entity with political power that supersedes national or even regional interests.  There’s too much inequality in the world, and the rich nations will have to be forced to help the poor ones.

Energy and food are two critical areas where supply and demand are out of balance. As the various Middle Eastern producers become less stable there is growing concern that oil supplies will be less reliable.  Prices at the pump are increasing again at a time when no economy in the world can afford it.

The same is true with food.  There’s plenty of production capacity to feed everyone, but the conflicting policies of individual nations prevents this. As a result, prices are increasing and shortages are becoming obvious.  The poorest nations suffer the most and are already beginning to rise up in rebellion.

Unless someone forces the rich nations to help, there will be chaos on a scale no one has ever seen.  Global Warming (aka Climate Change) Carbon Tax, Cap and Trade are the names of wealth transfer programs designed to take money from the rich countries to help the poor countries of the world. All that’s lacking is the power to enforce them. A One World Government would have that power.

One World Commercial System
Since 2009, UN experts have been calling for a new currency, something to stabilize world financial markets and make international commerce easier, safer, and more inclusive.  They also said an organization should be created to manage exchange rates between countries to reduce market volatility caused by currency speculation.

The world is very nervous about the current version of Mutually Assured Destruction being practiced by the US and China. What it boils down to is the Chinese have to keep loaning the US money so Americans can buy the mountains of goods the Chinese have to produce to keep their economy growing.  As one example 91% of the items on Walmart’s shelves now originate in China.  A small fleet of the world’s largest container ships makes continuous round trips between China and the US to keeps those shelves stocked.  If either country stops what it’s doing, both countries’ economies will implode.

This system keeps the US dollar artificially high and the Chinese Yuan artificially low. It cannot survive long term and everyone knows it.  Something has to be done to allow other countries better access to both the buying and selling sides of the equation. Many national economies simply can’t recover from the so-called Great Recession without receiving some kind of help.   A new currency that’s impervious to both speculation and the selfish interests of individual nations is being viewed as the best solution to the problem.

What’s Coming?
Left to their own devices nations go to war over things like this.  The situation is not improving. The current cycle of public unrest in the Middle East is just beginning.  We can expect it to get worse, not better.  Western leaders and their media mouthpieces would have you believe these are popular uprisings against autocratic leaders and are motivated by the desire for democratic freedoms.  But others say that’s not the case.  Look around you, they say.  When has an Islamic population ever chosen democracy?  What’s at issue here is the demand for basic economic security like a job that pays a living wage and a steady supply of food people can afford to buy.

People will always choose repression over anarchy.  History shows that revolutionary governments always wind up being more repressive than the the ones they overthrew. They come to power by promising to meet the basic needs of their subjects.  They stay in power by suppressing individual rights.

The one world system will impose these conditions on a world wide scale.  It will come to power by promising peace and safety in a time of chaos (Daniel 8:25).  It will stay in power by suppressing freedom.  It will not tolerate religious freedom. It will not tolerate democracy.  It will not tolerate a free market economy. And for a time it will appear to have succeeded (Rev. 13:4).

But the man at the head of this one world system will have an agenda of his own, and that’s to be worshiped as God (2 Thes. 2:4). The One who is God will have none of that and will respond decisively to this challenge (Matt. 24:15-21).

Before then, there are just a few obstacles standing in the way of this one world system. The first is the United States which with all its flaws has really been the antithesis of the one world system. It was founded upon the principle of religious freedom, it’s the closest thing to a democracy the world has ever seen, and its power was built with a free market economy. It became too powerful to be defeated so it had to be destroyed from within.  For nearly a century, powers behind the scene have been working diligently to accomplish that.  Today they’re so close to success they no longer bother to hide.

The second obstacle is the Church.  But soon God will have had a belly full of this world and will take us out of harm’s way in preparation for His judgment (1 Thes. 1:10).  For a time it will look to the world as if their desired utopia  has finally arrived, but just as they’re saying peace and safety destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thes. 5:3).

The one world system’s final obstacle will be Israel, the people of the God they’re so desperate to be free of. Thinking to prevent the Lord’s return by destroying His people, the world will unite in their common goal to wipe Israeloff the map (Zech 12:3).

But the Lord has never left His people, always remaining close enough to hear their cry for help (Hosea 5:15). As soon as they ask He’ll come to their rescue, destroying the one world system and capturing its leaders (Rev. 19:19-21). He’ll return to Earth to set up the kingdom He promised them, one that will never be destroyed or given to another (Daniel 2:44).  Finally, the world will have peace (Isaiah 9:7).