Limitless Forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-22)

Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! - Matthew 18:21-22

Jesus teaches that forgiveness has no cap. Peter wanted a rule. Jesus wanted a heart. Forgive without keeping score.

Why it matters

• True forgiveness reflects God’s character (Matthew 18:35).

• God forgave us at infinite cost, so we forgive freely (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13).

• Unforgiveness traps us emotionally. It becomes a prison.

• A forgiven heart releases grudges and restores peace (Romans 5:1).

What Jesus meant

• “Seventy times seven” is not a math problem. It is a mindset.

• Forgiveness is an attitude before it is an action.

• When your heart is surrendered, you can forgive the eighth time as easily as the first.

• Nothing justifies clinging to an unforgiving spirit.

Broader Biblical reinforcement

• God forgives lavishly and repeatedly (Psalm 103:8–12).

• Love “keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5).

• We are called to restore gently, not retaliate (Galatians 6:1).

• Mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13).

• Bear with each other and forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13).

• If we do not forgive others, we block our own freedom (Matthew 6:14–15).

Spirit of the teaching
Forgiveness restores wholeness. It repairs relationships. It mirrors the grace God pours into us. A heart ready to forgive is a heart aligned with the Kingdom.

Reflection prompt
Who needs forgiveness from you today? What freedom would it create in your soul if you released the record of wrongs?

Closing quote
“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.” —George Herbert

This was a repost from here: Jesus prescribes limitless readiness to forgive from the heart (Matthew 18:21-22), 

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Soli Deo Gloria! To God alone be the glory - Johann Sebastian Bach

Enjoying Johann Sebastian Bach: The Fifth Evangelist | Music Documentary (Bachfest Leipzig 2013)

Bach read the Bible daily, taught it to his children, and treated composition as a theological vocation. On many manuscripts he wrote Soli Deo Gloria and Jesu Juva. That was not pious decoration. It was intent. Music was an offering. Craft was obedience.

“To God alone be the glory” This phrase comes directly from Scripture’s logic, especially Romans 11:36 and Psalm 115:1. It declares that the final purpose of the work is not the composer, the performer, or the audience, but God.

For Bach, SDG meant:

• Excellence was an act of worship, not self-expression.
• Beauty was not self-justifying. It pointed beyond itself.
• Success did not belong to the artist. It was returned.

That is why his music can be technically astonishing without sounding vain. The glory is offered upward, not claimed inward.

“Jesus, help” or “Jesus, assist” This was typically written at the beginning of a manuscript. It is a prayer before the first note exists.

For Bach, JJ meant:

• Dependence before confidence.
• Invocation before execution.
• Grace before effort.

He did not assume inspiration. He asked for help.

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Together: A theology of work

Jesu Juva at the beginning.
Soli Deo Gloria at the end.

That sequence matters.

It says:

• I cannot do this without You.
• If anything good comes from it, it is Yours.

This is why Bach’s music feels grounded rather than performative. The work begins in humility and ends in surrender. Everything in between is faithful craftsmanship.

The Bible shaped his imagination, not just his texts.
Even when there are no sung words, Bach thinks biblically. His music moves like Scripture moves. Creation to order. Order to tension. Tension to suffering. Suffering to resolution. Not shallow happiness, but earned joy. That arc is everywhere.

Why loss sounds like BWV 106.
Acts 2 and Ecclesiastes sit behind it. “God’s time is the best time.” Death is real. Grief is not rushed. Yet eternity presses in quietly. That is biblical lament. Honest sorrow held inside trust.

Why joy sounds like BWV 1006.
Think Psalm 98. Skill offered with gladness. Joy that is structured, not chaotic. Discipline does not crush delight. It gives it shape. That is a deeply biblical idea.

Why his music feels human.
The Bible never denies pain to reach truth. Neither does Bach. Sin, mortality, longing, hope, love, fear. They are all allowed to speak. Then they are gathered into something ordered and meaningful. That is why his music does not sentimentalize emotion. It redeems it.

Why your life fits inside his music.
Because Scripture fits inside real life. Weddings. Loss. Memory. Growth. Love across generations. Bach gives sound to what the Bible gives language to. That is why his music can carry a father, a son, a marriage, and grief without breaking.

1. BWV 546

Title: Präludium und Fuge in c-Moll
English: Prelude and Fugue in C minor
Instrumentation: Organ
Date: c. 1723–1730
Notes: Monumental in scale and architecture. Often associated with gravity, resolve, and moral weight.

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2. BWV 846

Title: Präludium und Fuge Nr. 1 in C-Dur
English: Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major
Collection: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Teil I
English: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Instrumentation: Keyboard
Date: 1722
Notes: Foundational work in Western music. Frequently used in weddings due to its clarity and ordered joy.

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3. BWV 54

Title: Widerstehe doch der Sünde
English: “Stand firm against sin”
Type: Church Cantata for solo alto
Instrumentation: Alto voice, strings, continuo
Liturgical Use: Oculi Sunday (Lent)
Date: c. 1714
Biblical Basis: Romans 6
Notes: Introspective, morally weighty, and deeply personal. Often experienced as inward struggle made musical.

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4. BWV 1043

Title: Konzert für zwei Violinen in d-Moll
English: Concerto for Two Violins in D minor
Instrumentation: Two violins, strings, continuo
Date: c. 1717–1723
Movement Referenced: Second movement (Largo ma non tanto)
Notes: One of Bach’s most intimate slow movements. Often chosen for its sense of dialogue, unity, and tenderness.

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5. BWV 106

Title: Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit
English: “God’s time is the very best time”
Nickname: Actus Tragicus
Type: Early funeral cantata
Instrumentation: Voices, recorders, violas da gamba, continuo
Date: c. 1707
Biblical Sources: Acts 2, Isaiah 38, Psalms, Luke 23
Notes: One of Bach’s most direct musical meditations on death, time, and eternity.

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6. BWV 1006

Title: Partita Nr. 3 in E-Dur für Violine solo
English: Partita No. 3 in E major for Solo Violin
Movement Referenced: Prelude
Date: c. 1720
Notes: Radiant, athletic, and expansive. Often described as pure musical joy shaped by discipline.

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Closing insight

Taken together, these works span organ, keyboard, violin, concerto, and sacred vocal music, as well as joy, grief, discipline, and love. That range is not accidental. It mirrors a biblical view of life as ordered, honest, and redeemable.

You really can tell a life story through Bach because Bach believed life itself belonged to God and therefore deserved to be told truthfully and beautifully.

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False religious security of wicked, obstinate people leads to doom (Jer 6:22-8:3)

 Jer 6:22-8:3

Key verse

"This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’ But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward...Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips." Jer 7:23-24,28

A) Jeremiah warns against false religious security of wicked people (Jer 6:22-7:15)

B) Don't be sorry, obey God and Be His People (Jer 7:16-23)

C) Obstinate people, will be destroyed by God (Jer 7:24-8:3)

AIM: Warning obstinate people never works, their hearts are senseless

A) Jeremiah warns against false religious security of wicked people (Jer 6:22-7:15)

22-26) LORD, "great army, planning your destruction, no escape, mourn, loss of only son

26-30) Jeremiah tester of metals, quality of people - rebel, slander, hard as iron leading others into corruption, furnace doesn't purifies them, wickedness remains, "rejected silver"

• The sun that melts wax, hardens clay

7:1-7) Another message to worshipers at temple, quit your evil ways, thoughts, deeds - start loving neighbors, justice, orphans, widows 

• True worshipers in Spirit and Truth, not a temple made by human hands. 

8-11) Don't be fooled, Temple bearing my name doesn't shield law breakers, den of thieves, evil going on

12-15) Like Shiloh, Tabernacle bore my name - wickedness of people, refused to listen, destroyed, exiled

Application: Is my heart hard as metal, refusing to listen, repent and put the cast on my shoulders. Am I my own problem - suffering and dying because of a "stiff neck." Woe to me, stop walking in sin, listen to the Lord and be healed. 

B) Don't be sorry, obey God and Be His People (Jer 7:16-23)

16-19) don't weep or pray, wicked people, dough, cakes, Queen of Heaven, hurt God, themselves, shame

• Wowza! clear "wrong turn" of the Catholic Church, not that Protestant churches haven't made many wrong turns as well.

20-23) Fury, consumed by unquenchable fire, not offerings and sacrifices, obedience to God, we will be his people. 

C) Obstinate people, will be destroyed by God (Jer 7:24-8:3)

24-26) didn't listen, stubborn desires, evil hearts, backward, not forward, not listening or trying to hear, worse than ancestors. 

27-29) Speak, they won't listen, national disobedience, refusal to be taught, rejected and forsaken by LORD

• Eyes that see, ears that hear and heart that understands

30-34) People sinned in LORD's sight, abominable idols Temple bearing name, killing offspring

• We are the LORD's temple, Christian bearing Jesus name in a land of abortion

8:1-3) Day of the LORD, our legacy, from greatest to least will be erased, idolatrous survivors wish for death.

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Jesus, willing to sacrifice commands us to do the same

 Vince Miller's 9 Attributes of a man, says our apathy is defeated by Jesus's actions

Matthew 20:28 - Jesus came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

John 15:13 - Greater love - lay down your life for your friends.

"A man is willing to make hard sacrifices. While it is natural to be a taker, God's man is a giver. He understands that God is a generous giver who gave the ultimate sacrifice for all men. He believes that Christ’s sacrifice is the means of his salvation, but sacrifice is also the method of his sanctification. This attribute requires self-evaluation, radical priority, renewed positioning, an attitude that is willing, and a mindset that loses everything to win that of real value." - Vince Miller

Luke 14:25-35 Loving God more than our highest priorities: life, family, work, and rule. Enables us to give more to these priorities from the position of Jesus' disciple. 

• Coming to Jesus, we must see how badly we've done with our lives (Luke 14:26) and understand that sin's penalty is death (Luke 14:27). We must surrender our lives. When Jesus says "hate" it's "to love less than." Our lives include our heritage, ancestors, and their past achievements (father and mother). Our lives include our descendants, our future, our close family relationships, our wife and children.
• We need to see the cost is beyond the foundational conversion, but the finish line. The finish line requires effort and investment. Evaluate our commitment, more than zeal. 
• Jesus is king and we make peace with him while we can. We surrender everything to him. Lose to win, knowing God is set to win at the end of time. Lose in this lifetime or loss in eternity
• Salt is good. People are good. Salery is derived from Salt. Soldier is a derived from Salt. Salt that loses it's "saltiness" is good for nothing and thrown out. 

Don't waste your life. Give your life to Jesus and get involved in finding out God's good plan for your life.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you - Romans 12:1-3

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Understanding God's will begins with surrender, continues in obedience guided by God's word

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

We need one another to be successful in our understanding of God's will

Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. (Col 4:12)

We need to decide to follow the Lord's way against falsehood

From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
I have sworn [an oath] and have confirmed it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances (Psalm 119:104-106)

Loving Wiersbe

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The Christian doesn't commit their life to God, they surrender

‘When you make a commitment, you are still in control, no matter how noble the thing you commit to. One can commit to pray, to study the Bible, to give his money, or to commit to automobile payments, or to lose weight. Whatever he chooses to do, he commits to. But surrender is different. If someone holds a gun and asks you to lift your hands in the air as a token of surrender, you don’t tell that person what you are committed to. You simply surrender and do as you are told. . . . Americans love commitment because they are still in control. But the key word is surrender. We are to be slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Why I’m Not a Committed Christian (And Why That’s a Good Thing)[1] By Bob Butler

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

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