By Your favor do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Psalm 51:18 NASB Do good – What is this verse doing in this poem? For the last seventeen verses, David has been dealing with personal confession and the agony of his own sin. Suddenly, without warning, the text shifts to a statement about…
“For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Luke 7:47 NASB Much – All or just a lot? That’s the question with the Greek adjective polli. Is the use of this word in the gospel inclusive…
“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25 NASB Your – “Centuries of Christian usage have accustomed readers of the New Testament to think of ‘forgiveness’ as primarily a gift to the individual person, which can be made at any…
But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. Matthew 5:39 NASB Resist – “The command ‘do not resist evil’ (5:39) is not to be taken simply to refer to personal hostilities or village-level animosity. The word ‘resist’ is…
Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Matthew 18:21 NASB Seven times – So how many? Don’t be so quick to answer with the mistaken “seventy times seven” or the spiritualized “forever.” Taken out of context, such quick…
“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.” Matthew 18:35 NASB What is the difference between earning your salvation and demonstrating your worthiness? Yeshua’s parable of the servant who owed a great debt challenges our thinking about the concepts of forgiveness and…
“so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,” the Lord God declares. Ezekiel 16:63 NASB Be ashamed – How is shame connected to community? If we imagine the word reflects our cultural understanding, then…
Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me.” Isaiah 1:2 NASB Revolted – God speaks to Israel and Judah, but His words have the same condemning impact on us. “They have revolted” is the Hebrew pashoo. The truth is…
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17 NASB Sacrifices – “T’was the night before Christmas” and most of us struggled with our guilt. The pagan world went off to party. The Christian world went to church. But none found relief…
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 NASB He/his – In recent dialogue these verses were used to prove that Yeshua’s death on the cross was for the atonement of our sins. …
