Forgiveness and reconciliation are two different things. Forgiveness can happen in a moment. Reconciliation is often a process. Forgiveness releases someone else from your “right” to retaliate. Reconciliation is restoring the relationship to the intimacy that was once present. There is no way to reconcile a relationship without genuine humility and repentance. Jesus clarifies this in the Sermon on the Mount as He addresses contemptuous anger.
Matthew 5:21-22
August 18, 2024 • Dominic Dinger
Sin starts in the heart before it ever becomes an outward act. We are just as culpable, accountable, and guilty when sin starts within us as if we actually went forward with the outward act. If we are to continue to be Jesus’ disciples, we must understand the necessity of the Holy Spirit in transforming us deep within so that sin doesn’t even have a chance to begin.
Matthew 5:21-48
July 28, 2024 • Dominic Dinger
Most people think the way to attain eternal life is by being good. This line of thinking evaluates righteousness as a point system, concluding that someone will get into heaven if their good works outnumber their bad deeds. Jesus confronts this current understanding repeatedly in the Sermon on the Mount with this simple statement: “You have heard that it was said to those of old…but I say to you…”