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To Forgive or Not Forgive, that is the Question?
It’s a trick that politicians have long exploited: repeat a false statement often enough, and people will start believing that it’s true.
Psychologists have named this phenomenon the “illusory truth effect”.
Or what we have come to know as “fake news”.
We find it easier to process information we’ve heard over and over and become sceptical of new information that contradicts what we’ve come to believe.
Napolean was Short - He was actually around 5’6 so he was average height for a Frenchman of his day
Salt Makes Water Boil Faster - False
Dogs Sweat by Panting - False Dogs Sweat through their paws.
Panting helps circulate air through their body and cools them down.
Don’t Touch Baby Birds - Parents will abandon.
Not True.
We only use 10% of our Brain - Not True.
Well at least for most of us :)
Don’t drink milk if you have a cold it increases mucus.
Nope.
Bats are Blind - Nope
What Color do Bulls hate?
Red?
No - Bulls are colored blind
Christians are not immune to The Illusory Truth Effect
God’s name is Jehovah.
False - Jehovah does not exist in the Hebrew Bible, God’s name is Yahwey.
Three Wise Men came to visit Jesus in the Manger.
- False.
They came to the house he was in about two years after he was born.
Jesus Forgave his abusers on the Cross.
- False, Jesus did not forgive them, but only prayed that they would be forgiven.
Adam and Eve ate an apple - False
A Whale Swalled Jonah
Money is the Root of All Evil
Mary Magladane was a Prostitute
Satan was the Worship Leader in Heaven ()
Paul was knocked off of his horse.
- False
And now we come to the most famous Illusory Truth that happens to be the most detrimental.
We are called to forgive unconditionally.
Eating carrots improves your eyesight.
Vitamin C cures the common cold.
Crime in the United States is at an all-time high.
None of those things are true.
But the facts don't actually matter: People repeat them so often that you believe them.
Welcome to the “illusory truth effect,” a glitch in the human psyche that equates repetition with truth.
Marketers and politicians are masters of manipulating this particular cognitive bias—which perhaps you have become more familiar with lately.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Peter asks Jesus a question about the extent of forgiveness.
Peter was actually very generous and suggested a limit of 7 times.
That exceeded the Rabbinical number by 4. Jewish Rabbis taught that strike three your out.
But Jesus ups the ante to 70 x 7.
In other words, there is no limit .
This is a reversal of lamech’s statement of 7 times.
Jesus’ answer regarding forgiveness (v.
22).
Peter exceeded the Rabbinical rule by upping the ante to seven.
Peter goes way beyond the required amount but Jesus raises the stakes by responding to Peter with, ““I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
(
). Jesus far exceeds both the Rabbinical rule and Peter’s excessiveness.
Where the Rabbi’s and Peter put a limit on forgiveness, Jesus swings open the floodgates of forgiveness and mercy without limits.
Seventy times seven might be a play on words referring back
Jesus far exceeds both the Rabbinical rule and Peter’s excessiveness.
Where the Rabbi’s and Peter put a limit on forgiveness, Jesus swings open the floodgates of forgiveness and mercy without limits.
Seventy times seven might be a play on words referring back
and Lamech who said, “If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”
John Nolland commenting on Jesus’ response to Peter states, “The LXX of
uses ἑβδομηκαντάκις ἑπτά (lit.
‘seventy-fold seven’) of Lamech’s vengeful spirit.
Almost certainly a contrast is intended.
Davies and Allison aptly quote Manson: ‘Just as in those old days there was no limit to hatred and vengeance, so among Christians there is to be no limit to mercy and forgiveness.”
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
, .
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
Jesus makes to very sobering statements.
He gives a warning to those who are unwilling to forgive their debtors.
If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven.
How should we understand this?
Yet in other passages, Jesus clearly commands us to withhold forgiveness.
Does the Bible contradict itself?
That is what many unbelievers claim.
But we know that the Bible is God’s Word and does not contradict itself.
So what are we to do? Well first we must take a closer look at the words of Jesus to understand what he is saying.
We must look a little deeper.
Jesus commands us to forgive.
Jesus warns us that if we don’t forgive we will not be forgiven.
Jesus commands us to withhold forgiveness.
What are we to make of this?
Are we to forgive, or not forgive?
I will answer that question, but not yet.
We first have to define what forgiveness is Biblically.
But before we do that, I want to provide a brief outline of where we are going this morning.
What is Biblical Forgiveness - Defining our Terms.
Who should we model forgiveness after?
Pop Psychology or God?
Does Jesus Command us to Forgive Other Believers?
- If So, how many times?
Does Jesus Command us to Withhold Forgiveness from Other Believers?
If So, what does that look like?
What About Our Enemies?
Are we ever commanded to forgive our enemies?
Jesus forgave his enemies on the Cross right?
There are many concepts today about what forgiveness is.
List some erroneous views of forgiveness.
Introduction and Context
In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus addresses two questions presented to him by his disciples.
Jesus answers the first question asked by his disciples, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” () by presenting them with an object lesson on humility in the form of a little child.
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