November 27, 2016
Notes Not Edited
Insulting God
Insulting God
Mark 2:1-12, esp. v7
SIS: Empty
religion is an insult to God.
Truth matters, or
nothing matters at all. Truth has become
a casualty in our modern times. The idea
of “relativity,” first introduced into physics by Albert Einstein, has worked
its way into every aspect of modern life.
Truth, as an absolute foundation for human understanding, has become a
casualty of modern thought.
Truth matters. It matters absolutely. Take the word “stop” for example. Either it means something absolutely or it means nothing. If it means one thing for one persona and something else for another person, then one can readily see the chaos such nonsense would cause at a four-way stop. It would lead to destruction and even death.
Truth not only matters absolutely but it matters eternally. Take the matter of “forgiveness.” It is through the forgiveness of God freely bestowed on all who will receive it by grace based upon the life and work of Jesus Christ that a person receives eternal life. The truth about “forgiveness” has eternal consequences.
Truth is exclusive. Two opposite truth claims cannot both be true. They can both be false, but not both be true at the same time and the same way. Aristotle codified this in his philosophy as the “Law of Non-contradiction.” Truth is exclusive and only one claim among two or more contradictory claims can be true.
All religions of the world can be false, but not all religions can be true. The statement, “all paths lead to heaven,” is logically equivalent to the statement, “no paths lead to heaven.”
It is at this point of Aristotle’s Second Law of Logic, the Law of Non-contradiction, that I take issue with a recent pronouncement of Pope Francis. Just this week Pope Francis announced that he was bestowing upon parish priests the “power to forgive the sin of abortion.”
This is a bold statement that met with wide acceptance among both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. It is part of the Pope’s declared Year of Mercy.
This is not a mere exercise in semantics. The Pope speaks for God in the Catholic Church. Forgiveness in the Catholic Church is vested in the duties and rights of the priests, bishops, and other hierarchy of the Church. The technical term for the idea of forgiveness requiring the intervention of a special class of priests is called, “sacerdotalism.”
Truth matters. It matters absolutely. Take the word “stop” for example. Either it means something absolutely or it means nothing. If it means one thing for one persona and something else for another person, then one can readily see the chaos such nonsense would cause at a four-way stop. It would lead to destruction and even death.
Truth not only matters absolutely but it matters eternally. Take the matter of “forgiveness.” It is through the forgiveness of God freely bestowed on all who will receive it by grace based upon the life and work of Jesus Christ that a person receives eternal life. The truth about “forgiveness” has eternal consequences.
Truth is exclusive. Two opposite truth claims cannot both be true. They can both be false, but not both be true at the same time and the same way. Aristotle codified this in his philosophy as the “Law of Non-contradiction.” Truth is exclusive and only one claim among two or more contradictory claims can be true.
All religions of the world can be false, but not all religions can be true. The statement, “all paths lead to heaven,” is logically equivalent to the statement, “no paths lead to heaven.”
It is at this point of Aristotle’s Second Law of Logic, the Law of Non-contradiction, that I take issue with a recent pronouncement of Pope Francis. Just this week Pope Francis announced that he was bestowing upon parish priests the “power to forgive the sin of abortion.”
This is a bold statement that met with wide acceptance among both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. It is part of the Pope’s declared Year of Mercy.
This is not a mere exercise in semantics. The Pope speaks for God in the Catholic Church. Forgiveness in the Catholic Church is vested in the duties and rights of the priests, bishops, and other hierarchy of the Church. The technical term for the idea of forgiveness requiring the intervention of a special class of priests is called, “sacerdotalism.”
Rather than get
bogged down in technical discussions let us just take the Pope’s statement at
face value and put it alongside what the Bible says at face value. Let’s grant that the matter of the Pope’s
statement aligns with the basic teachings of the Catholic Church that there is
“no salvation outside of the Church.”
That is, Roman Catholic dogma teaches “sacerdotalism.”
The Pope in his
statement declared, “All priests now have the power to forgive a woman for the
sin of abortion (including all involved who are now truly repentant).
The Bible says, “Only God can forgive sins.”
These two statements are contradictory. They cannot both be true. No amount of wrestling with the statements or performing theological gymnastics can reconcile the contradiction. In the Pope’s view, there must be an intermediary in addition to Christ through which God’s forgiveness flows. In the Bible, “There is one Mediator, Christ the Lord” (1Timothy 2:5).
Why is this important? As we said in beginning this message, “truth matters and it matters eternally.” If the Pope’s statement is contradictory to the Bible’s teaching—and an analysis of forgiveness and salvation in Roman Catholic dogma shows it is—then the consequence for following a false path to forgiveness is to receive no forgiveness at all and be consigned to an eternal hell.
I don’t say that out of hate or meanness or to be judgmental. I say that out of a love for every man and woman and a desire that “none would perish but all would have eternal life” (2Peter 3:9). I do not offer this message to point out that the Pope is evil, but only that his view of forgiveness is defective, and therefore leads to grave consequences for all who would follow his path.
To be quite frank, what the Pope said is “insulting to God.” It is saying that man knows more about God’s plan of redemption than God does. It is insulting because it suggests that something must be added to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to make Christ’s sacrifice effective. The Pope’s false view of forgiveness suggests that God needs man’s help, instead of the other way around.
Let’s examine what the Bible says about forgiveness in an encounter Jesus had with a paralyzed man and a crowd of religious zealots. This story is recorded in all three synoptic gospels. We will read from Mark. [READ MARK 2:1-12]
There are four aspects of forgiveness mentioned in this text that establish the biblical principle of true forgiveness. The first aspect is in regard to the
1. NEED for forgiveness (v3)
In verse 3 we are introduced to one of the main characters in this story, a paralyzed man: 3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men.
Healing is an extremely important aspect of the earthly ministry of Jesus. Early in Mark’s record of the life of Jesus Christ, he sets forth the broad outline of Jesus’ earthly ministry—an overview, we might say. Look at chapter 1:32-34:
32 When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all those who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 The whole town was assembled at the door, 34 and He healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons.
The Bible says, “Only God can forgive sins.”
These two statements are contradictory. They cannot both be true. No amount of wrestling with the statements or performing theological gymnastics can reconcile the contradiction. In the Pope’s view, there must be an intermediary in addition to Christ through which God’s forgiveness flows. In the Bible, “There is one Mediator, Christ the Lord” (1Timothy 2:5).
Why is this important? As we said in beginning this message, “truth matters and it matters eternally.” If the Pope’s statement is contradictory to the Bible’s teaching—and an analysis of forgiveness and salvation in Roman Catholic dogma shows it is—then the consequence for following a false path to forgiveness is to receive no forgiveness at all and be consigned to an eternal hell.
I don’t say that out of hate or meanness or to be judgmental. I say that out of a love for every man and woman and a desire that “none would perish but all would have eternal life” (2Peter 3:9). I do not offer this message to point out that the Pope is evil, but only that his view of forgiveness is defective, and therefore leads to grave consequences for all who would follow his path.
To be quite frank, what the Pope said is “insulting to God.” It is saying that man knows more about God’s plan of redemption than God does. It is insulting because it suggests that something must be added to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to make Christ’s sacrifice effective. The Pope’s false view of forgiveness suggests that God needs man’s help, instead of the other way around.
Let’s examine what the Bible says about forgiveness in an encounter Jesus had with a paralyzed man and a crowd of religious zealots. This story is recorded in all three synoptic gospels. We will read from Mark. [READ MARK 2:1-12]
There are four aspects of forgiveness mentioned in this text that establish the biblical principle of true forgiveness. The first aspect is in regard to the
1. NEED for forgiveness (v3)
In verse 3 we are introduced to one of the main characters in this story, a paralyzed man: 3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men.
Healing is an extremely important aspect of the earthly ministry of Jesus. Early in Mark’s record of the life of Jesus Christ, he sets forth the broad outline of Jesus’ earthly ministry—an overview, we might say. Look at chapter 1:32-34:
32 When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all those who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 The whole town was assembled at the door, 34 and He healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons.
Most people
completely misunderstand the place that “healing and miracles” had in the life
of Jesus. Most people mistakenly believe
that healing was primarily about making a person’s life better—that is, healing
was about health. Miracles, however,
were about much more than a person’s well-being, but were more about the
identity of Jesus Christ. I’ll say more
about that later on.
This matter of healing the paralytic man challenged the basic understanding of the religious leaders of the day in regard to sin and sickness. For the Jewish leaders of that day, and for the ancients since the dawn of time, sickness was a spiritual matter—in pagan cultures a matter of falling under the disfavor of the gods. Even for Jewish people of Jesus’ day, sickness equaled sin. John makes this clear in his gospel in regard to a blind man. John 9:1-2:
This matter of healing the paralytic man challenged the basic understanding of the religious leaders of the day in regard to sin and sickness. For the Jewish leaders of that day, and for the ancients since the dawn of time, sickness was a spiritual matter—in pagan cultures a matter of falling under the disfavor of the gods. Even for Jewish people of Jesus’ day, sickness equaled sin. John makes this clear in his gospel in regard to a blind man. John 9:1-2:
As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Throughout
the Bible we see times when God did directly intervene to bring sickness, and
even death, as a consequence of sin and rebellion. It would be incorrect, however, to believe
this is the case every time, or even most of the time. There is not direct cause and effect
relationship between sin and sickness, though as we know, sinful living has
consequences in this life, including health consequences. I’ll leave that issue for another day.
This passage is about “healing and forgiveness.” In fact, if you look in many Bibles you will notice that the heading of this section is often like that of the Holman Christian Standard Bible: “The Son of Man Heals and Forgives.” Healing and forgiveness are linked in this passage because sickness and sin were linked in the minds of the people.
In regard to healing and forgiveness being linked, we can conclude that we all need forgiveness because we are all sick with sin. Now, we may not look like we are obviously sick, as with the paralyzed man. Some sicknesses are not outwardly visible, but are equally deadly. For example, nobody could look at me and conclude that I am a diabetic. Yet, diabetes is an insidious enemy hiding out of sight in my body. Diabetes is just as much an illness as paralysis, but just not as obvious.
Sin is not always obvious to most people. Most people think they are pretty good people—they certainly are not as bad as some others. On the surface, that might actually appear to be true. Most people are kind, most of the time. Most people have not committed major crimes. Yet, all people are as sick and disabled with sin as the paralytic man’s body was disabled with disease. The Bible says,
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23).
This passage is about “healing and forgiveness.” In fact, if you look in many Bibles you will notice that the heading of this section is often like that of the Holman Christian Standard Bible: “The Son of Man Heals and Forgives.” Healing and forgiveness are linked in this passage because sickness and sin were linked in the minds of the people.
In regard to healing and forgiveness being linked, we can conclude that we all need forgiveness because we are all sick with sin. Now, we may not look like we are obviously sick, as with the paralyzed man. Some sicknesses are not outwardly visible, but are equally deadly. For example, nobody could look at me and conclude that I am a diabetic. Yet, diabetes is an insidious enemy hiding out of sight in my body. Diabetes is just as much an illness as paralysis, but just not as obvious.
Sin is not always obvious to most people. Most people think they are pretty good people—they certainly are not as bad as some others. On the surface, that might actually appear to be true. Most people are kind, most of the time. Most people have not committed major crimes. Yet, all people are as sick and disabled with sin as the paralytic man’s body was disabled with disease. The Bible says,
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23).
Earlier
in this same passage Paul put together some passages from the Old Testament
that demonstrate the universal nature of human sin:
There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become useless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. (Rom. 3:10-12)
The first aspect we need to comprehend in regard to forgiveness is: everybody needs it.
2. The Act of Forgiveness (2-5)
There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become useless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. (Rom. 3:10-12)
The first aspect we need to comprehend in regard to forgiveness is: everybody needs it.
2. The Act of Forgiveness (2-5)
Let’s
reread verse 5: Jesus
told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are
forgiven.”
Just like that, as quick
as the words were spoken, that paralytic man was forgiven and made right with
God! In this one moment of crisis the
man’s life was divided in two between, the time before he was right with God,
and the time after he was right with God.
This is true of every person who gets saved. There must be a “crisis” moment, a definable
event, in which someone turns from their sins—we call it repentance—and accepts
the free gift of forgiveness from God—this receiving fo a free gift we call,
grace. Nobody is truly saved that cannot
point to a conscious moment in which they willingly repented of their sins and
freely received God’s grace.
One cannot be saved because they grew up in a Christian home in a Christian country. Salvation is not hereditary. One cannot be saved because they have done good works. Salvation is not a matter of performance or merit. One can only be saved when in a moment of crisis one willingly repents and openly receives the free gift offered by God.
With that established, let’s read a bit more of the text to see what happened before.
When He entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that He was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message to them. 3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
One cannot be saved because they grew up in a Christian home in a Christian country. Salvation is not hereditary. One cannot be saved because they have done good works. Salvation is not a matter of performance or merit. One can only be saved when in a moment of crisis one willingly repents and openly receives the free gift offered by God.
With that established, let’s read a bit more of the text to see what happened before.
When He entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that He was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message to them. 3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Did you notice how much took place
before the man received forgiveness?
First, someone had to invite the Lord to a particular place at a
particular time. Second, someone had to
preach the message of the gospel (which was Jesus, Himself in this case). Third, four men had to be concerned about the
condition of their friend. Remember,
they did not separate his physical condition from his spiritual condition. They were concerned for his soul as well as
his body. And, even if we cannot know
that for sure, we know that it is a proper application of this text for us
today. Fourth, they had to take a great
risk and make a great sacrifice. Tearing
off someone’s roof is an extreme measure!
All this took place and then Jesus said, after seeing their faith, “Son,
your sins are forgiven.”
Another aspect of forgiveness is somewhat contradictory. Salvation is an event within a process. Salvation happens at a particular time and place, but it was always a part of God’s plan. We call this the doctrine of “election.” Paul explains the process of salvation:
29 For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified. (Rom. 8:29-30)
Another aspect of forgiveness is somewhat contradictory. Salvation is an event within a process. Salvation happens at a particular time and place, but it was always a part of God’s plan. We call this the doctrine of “election.” Paul explains the process of salvation:
29 For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified. (Rom. 8:29-30)
One very important, and often neglected, aspect of salvation
is that, though it is wholly a work of God “by
grace through faith,” it has a human element. Paul describes this human participation in
the winning of souls:
13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 14 But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?
God in His sovereign economy has ordained that those who are saved would be the vehicles by which His saving message of grace is delivered. This means, we can participate, as the four men in our story did, in the healing and forgiveness of others. What a glorious opportunity this is. How sad, so few of us take advantage of the opportunity of evangelism.
13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 14 But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?
God in His sovereign economy has ordained that those who are saved would be the vehicles by which His saving message of grace is delivered. This means, we can participate, as the four men in our story did, in the healing and forgiveness of others. What a glorious opportunity this is. How sad, so few of us take advantage of the opportunity of evangelism.
Everyone needs
forgiveness. Forgiveness is an event
within a process. And,
3. The
Agent of Forgiveness is God, Himself, Through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
The religious leaders, Scribes in this case, objected to Jesus “forgiving” the man. They, themselves, were misinformed about Who Jesus was, but they were correct about Who, alone, had the power to heal. The “teachers of the Law” declared,
7 “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
The religious leaders, Scribes in this case, objected to Jesus “forgiving” the man. They, themselves, were misinformed about Who Jesus was, but they were correct about Who, alone, had the power to heal. The “teachers of the Law” declared,
7 “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
God, and only God can forgive sins. This is absolutely correct. And, to prove that He had indeed “forgiven” the man, Jesus then “healed” the man. Look at verses 10-11:
10 But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He told the paralytic, 11 “I tell you: get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”
The issue in this story, and the next four “conflict stories” to follow was not the healing of the man but the identity of Jesus Christ. He is God. Jesus declared by His action of forgiving the man, “I am God.” This caused the Scribes to rise up in anger accusing Jesus of blasphemy.
The issues with
miracles is never primarily the miracles themselves. Miracles are always about the “message” of
Who God is, not about making life trouble free for humanity. This is the great error of prosperity
preachers like Joel Olsteen, Kenneth Copeland and a host of others. The issue is about “exousia,” or authority, not comfort. Miracles are not about health as much as
about holiness. Otherwise, a Good God
would simply heal everybody, or not allow sickness in the first place. Miracles are about a message, not about
medicine.
The basic theme of the life of Jesus Christ in the gospel is not about the things He did, but it is about Who He was. He was the Messiah—meaning, God-Man—Who would offer His perfect life as the perfect sacrifice on the cross. Had Jesus been only a man, His death would have been insufficient to secure the opportunity for anyone to be saved. He would just have been a good, but dead man.
There is no forgiveness through a pope, a priest, a bishop, a guru, or even a pastor. The only agent of forgiveness is God, Himself, Who bestows His grace freely on any and all who would receive.
The basic theme of the life of Jesus Christ in the gospel is not about the things He did, but it is about Who He was. He was the Messiah—meaning, God-Man—Who would offer His perfect life as the perfect sacrifice on the cross. Had Jesus been only a man, His death would have been insufficient to secure the opportunity for anyone to be saved. He would just have been a good, but dead man.
There is no forgiveness through a pope, a priest, a bishop, a guru, or even a pastor. The only agent of forgiveness is God, Himself, Who bestows His grace freely on any and all who would receive.
This brings me to an
important conclusion in regard to forgiveness and in a biblical analysis of the
Pope’s pronouncement that he was giving priests the power to forgive the sin of
abortion. An important aspect of
forgiveness demonstrated in our text is this:
4. The
Enemy of Forgiveness is “Religious Ritual.” (v6)
Look at verse six
carefully, “But
some of the scribes were sitting there,
thinking to themselves.”
For full disclosure
let me say, all my academic training has been geared toward understanding
religion and theology. My graduate work
focused primarily on the philosophical aspects of theology. I love to think. I love to read great thinkers. I believe God highly values the human mind
because, after all, He created it. That
being said, I cannot escape the problem of the Scribes and religious leaders
who opposed Jesus. Clearly, their
problem was, as verse 6 points out, “they were thinking.”
The problem isn’t “thinking” itself, but how they were thinking. The word translated “thinking to themselves” could also be translated, as the English Standard Version does, “questioning.”
The problem isn’t “thinking” itself, but how they were thinking. The word translated “thinking to themselves” could also be translated, as the English Standard Version does, “questioning.”
Thinking, reasoning,
or contemplating are great tools to gaining understanding and deepening one’s
faith. However, when we stop reasoning
about what God has said, and Who God is, and we start questioning, then we
enter some very dangerous waters.
Remember that Satan introduced sin, not with a proclamation but with a question: “Did God really say?” Just that little bit of doubt led to the first and most grievous sin of man.
The Scribes and Religious Leaders put more trust and faith in their religious rituals than they did the truth of God’s Word. This is why they actually rebelled against the Messiah instead of embracing Him. Jesus challenged their religion and they stood fast in defense of tradition rather than embrace what God was doing in their midst.
Religion blinded them to the opportunity of a relationship with Jesus Christ. There are no stronger shackles than those forged with the iron of religion.
Religion is “insulting to God.” Religion takes credit for accomplishing what only forgiveness through Christ can do. It is insulting for us to treat the sacrifice of Jesus as “insufficient” by trying to prop up God’s plan with our works. Religion causes us to put our trust in our religious performance rather than the free grace of God. Religion puts ritual in the exalted place reserved only for the Son of God. Religious ritual says that the death of Christ is insufficient to save. Religion says we must add to the death of Christ a host of activities from confessing to a priest, reciting a rosary, making the sign of the cross, and hundreds of other doctrinal additions. At some point, when something is watered down to such an heavy extent, it ceases to have the effect and power it once had. Like, watering down alcohol, as many unscrupulous bartenders are known to do. Sure, the drinks still have some “alcohol” in it, but they no longer have the potency. This is what happens with adding religious rituals to Christianity.
As I mentioned earlier, this story is the beginning of a section of Mark that runs from 2:1-3:6. this section outlines “five conflicts” that Jesus had with religious leaders in regard to “what is true and what is false.” Jesus confronted the error of the religious leaders. We need to confront that error everywhere we encounter it, also.
I don’t hate the Pope. I hate the religion that has bound him to a false hope that the practice of religion can make a person better, much less bring him or her salvation
The Pope is wrong. Eternally wrong. Priests cannot offer forgiveness. “Only God can forgive.” Our text is plain. Flee religion. Escape from the false belief that you can merit God’s forgiveness through your religious performance.
Don’t be caught dead without Jesus.
Remember that Satan introduced sin, not with a proclamation but with a question: “Did God really say?” Just that little bit of doubt led to the first and most grievous sin of man.
The Scribes and Religious Leaders put more trust and faith in their religious rituals than they did the truth of God’s Word. This is why they actually rebelled against the Messiah instead of embracing Him. Jesus challenged their religion and they stood fast in defense of tradition rather than embrace what God was doing in their midst.
Religion blinded them to the opportunity of a relationship with Jesus Christ. There are no stronger shackles than those forged with the iron of religion.
Religion is “insulting to God.” Religion takes credit for accomplishing what only forgiveness through Christ can do. It is insulting for us to treat the sacrifice of Jesus as “insufficient” by trying to prop up God’s plan with our works. Religion causes us to put our trust in our religious performance rather than the free grace of God. Religion puts ritual in the exalted place reserved only for the Son of God. Religious ritual says that the death of Christ is insufficient to save. Religion says we must add to the death of Christ a host of activities from confessing to a priest, reciting a rosary, making the sign of the cross, and hundreds of other doctrinal additions. At some point, when something is watered down to such an heavy extent, it ceases to have the effect and power it once had. Like, watering down alcohol, as many unscrupulous bartenders are known to do. Sure, the drinks still have some “alcohol” in it, but they no longer have the potency. This is what happens with adding religious rituals to Christianity.
As I mentioned earlier, this story is the beginning of a section of Mark that runs from 2:1-3:6. this section outlines “five conflicts” that Jesus had with religious leaders in regard to “what is true and what is false.” Jesus confronted the error of the religious leaders. We need to confront that error everywhere we encounter it, also.
I don’t hate the Pope. I hate the religion that has bound him to a false hope that the practice of religion can make a person better, much less bring him or her salvation
The Pope is wrong. Eternally wrong. Priests cannot offer forgiveness. “Only God can forgive.” Our text is plain. Flee religion. Escape from the false belief that you can merit God’s forgiveness through your religious performance.
Don’t be caught dead without Jesus.
