The Grace of God Is Reversible

 This is a long study based on Matthew 18:21-35.  Here's the text, maintaining each verse label from e-Sword:

Mat 18:21  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 

Mat 18:22  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 

Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 

Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 

Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 

Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 

Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 

Mat 18:28  But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 

Mat 18:29  And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 

Mat 18:30  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 

Mat 18:31  So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 

Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 

Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 

Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 

Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. 

First of all, what do I mean by "grace"?  What is "grace"?

For those with student loans, you're probably familiar with the term "grace period".  This is a period of time in which the lender didn't require you to make any payments.  The usual grace period for student loans was six months.  However, once the six months were up, the "grace" was gone, and payment was due.

This was just an illustration of the definition of "grace", not an illustration of God's grace.  Nowhere in Scripture does it say the grace of God expires after a certain time.

So, let's go through this passage.  v. 21-22:

Mat 18:21  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 

Mat 18:22  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 

Given the context of the passage, Jesus wasn't teaching Peter to stop forgiving someone upon the 491st offense, and you'll see why those who stop forgiving upon the 491st offense go to Hell.

The point was that Jesus is teaching us to continue to forgive those who sin against you, no matter how many times it takes.

v. 23-27:

Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 

Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 

Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 

Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 

Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 

To give an illustration on what 10,000 talents is, many sources cite the talent as weighing 75 pounds, or 1093.75 troy ounces.

1,200 ounces of silver, just silver, costs around $28,000, presuming $25 per ounce of silver.

And that's just ONE talent!

The debt was for TEN THOUSAND talents!  Now you're talking about a dollar equivalent of $280 million!  It would take you over 4,000 years on a median family income in the U.S. (presumed to be $60,000) to pay it off, presuming you used up all of your money to do so, about over 50 lifetimes worth, from cradle to the grave!

The servant begged the king to forgive him of the huge debt, and grace was granted to him.

So far so good.  Then...

v. 28-30:

Mat 18:28  But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 

Mat 18:29  And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 

Mat 18:30  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 

The King James Version uses "pence" to illustrate the small size of the fellowservant's debt.  The Greek word is "denarion", meaning that the fellowservant owed 100 denarii.

According to the Wikipedia article, a denarius was a silver coin weighing 3.9 grams (this was the accepted measurement in Jesus' time).  At $25 per ounce of silver, a denarius being 0.1125276 troy ounces, was worth about $2.81.  100 of these was worth about $281.32

In this era of inflation, nearly $280 is still a trifling sum.  Yet, the one who was forgiven the huge debt CHOKED the fellowservant over essentially a PlayStation.  The fellowservant received no grace from him who received much grace.

Read what happens next, v. 31-35:

Mat 18:31  So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 

Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 

Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 

Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 

Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. 

The king reversed the grace (v. 34) because of the unforgiveness of the man.  The man owed the 10,000 talents again.  And get this:  v. 34 says that the man was delivered to the tormentors, and would continue to be tormented until the debt was paid in full.  Now, remember what v. 25 said?  "forasmuch as he had not to pay", meaning, he couldn't pay it off!  The man was bankrupt!  Yet, the man is to be tormented until the debt that the man can't pay is paid in full.  That's forever!  The man is to be tortured FOREVER!

It is similar to what happens to someone who is sentenced to a kind of debtor's prison in the Sermon on the Mount:

Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

(Mat 5:25-26)

Such a man is in that prison FOREVER, because you can't pay off debt in prison!  

Now look at v. 35.  Jesus says the Father will treat such unforgiving people the same.  Thus, grace is reversible. 

In other words, you must forgive others when they sin against you, or you're going to Hell:

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

(Mat 6:14-15)

Wikipedia contributors. "Denarius." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Feb. 2024. Web. 15 Mar. 2024.

Jesus Preached Hellfire and Brimstone Messages

I was watching a video that talked about the false megapreacher Kenneth Copeland.  The speaker was saying that he wanted more preachers that preached subtle truths in the forefront of Christianity, to better represent the faith.

One problem:  Jesus wasn't subtle.

So, to prove my point, I cited all the times where Jesus mentioned either Hell, not going to Heaven, not being forgiven of one's sins, etc. in the Sermon on the Mount.  Then it hit me, "This is a hellfire and brimstone message!", which is a good thing:

Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 

Anyway, I just wanted to share some passages in the Sermon on the Mount which would be considered extreme today.

1. Exceeding the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

(Mat 5:19-20)

2. On Anger and "Thou Fool":

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

(Mat 5:21-22)

3. On How To Prevent Lust (And Other Sins):

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

(Mat 5:29-30)

4. On Forgiveness

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

(Mat 6:14-15)

5. The Way To Hell is Broad, The Way To Heaven Is Narrow

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

(Mat 7:13-14)

6. "I Never Knew You"

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

(Mat 7:21-23)

Once again, this is the motivation behind hellfire and brimstone messages; they warn you against a terrible fate.  And again, without bias, this can be easily seen, which explains why a devout atheist like Penn Jilette can see it.  The fate of Hell is like the semi-truck and you are on the road where the semi-truck is about to hit you.  The hellfire and brimstone preachers warn you to get out of the way, those most effective will tackle you.  Believe me, it is very effective imagery when you consider how much Penn Jilette once weighed.

As Mr. Jilette said, I say to you:

"How much do you have to hate someone to not proselytize?"

Jesus certainly proselytized.  His very name means "The Lord SAVES".  There is a reason why it's called "SALVATION".