My last  article addressed divisions in the House of God. Jesus taught that a divided house cannot stand. If religious leaders do not reset to allow the Church to be more effective, then individual converts should compare their religious traditions with Jesus’ teachings and discount traditions that are not aligned.

All converts have a responsibility to teach others what Jesus taught. Paul summarised this role by writing: “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)

We are reconciled to God when the debts we owe Him are paid. The good news is that those debts can be paid immediately and in full.

WHAT DEBT?

We are not perfect. My poor decisions and good things I failed to do have certainly harmed many, and it is impossible for me to know the spaghetti of consequences of my actions and non-actions. If someone harmed my infant son, the repentant offender would need to apologise to me, his father. Since I have harmed God’s creation, whether intentionally, ignorantly or inadvertently, I must ask God’s forgiveness.

Jesus’ willing sacrificial death paid the debts of every person on Earth, which is why He is the Messiah of all people. We can have our debt-account settled by asking God to forgive all we owe. It really is that simple. All our debts will be cancelled on the singular condition that we then forgive others in the same manner. Hear Jesus’ warning.

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14, 15)

Jesus explained that after God forgives us, if we then do not forgive others, our forgiven debts will be unforgiven and we will no longer be reconciled. Hear Jesus again.

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

“When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:23-35)

JESUS’ COMMANDMENTS.

This is a critical teaching. We must forgive in the same way we want God to forgive us, which should be: (i) from our hearts, (ii) entirely, (iii) multiple times and (iv) as if it never happened. Once forgiven, we should practice Jesus’ commandments to train us to be better, which are included in what is commonly called ‘the sermon on the mount’. It is like a school where this is the curriculum.

1. Expect to face challenging situations, so count the cost before making a commitment to follow Jesus. (Matthew 5:3-12)

2. Be visible and effective in your obedience to God. (Matthew 5:13-16)

3. Do the right thing, especially when there is no expectation of a reward. (Matthew 5:17-20)

4. Maintain good relationships with others and reconcile quickly with your adversaries. (Matthew 5:21-26)

5. Do not sin in thoughts, words or deeds. (Matthew 5:27-30)

6. Be faithful to your spouse. (Matthew 5:31-32)

7. Tell the truth always, regardless of the consequences. (Matthew 5:33-37)

8. Submit to everyone and trust God. (Matthew 5:38-42)

9. Love your enemies. (Matthew 5:43-48)

10. Do charitable deeds in secret. (Matthew 6:1-4)

11. Cultivate a relationship with God, your heavenly Father, and genuinely forgive everyone who hurts you. (Matthew 6:5-15)

12. When fasting, do not make it obvious to others. (Matthew 6:16-18)

13. Let your principal security be in heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21)

14. Do not be distracted with things that can cause you to lose your way. (Matthew 6:22-23)

15. Trust God for your security, rather than trusting in your wealth or your ability to generate wealth. (Matthew 6:24)

16. Do not worry about anything, but first seek God’s kingdom and righteousness. (Matthew 6:25-34)

17. Do not attempt to correct others while you are struggling with the same challenges. (Matthew 7:1-5)

18. Wisely share information with those who lack understanding. (Matthew 7:6)

19. Treat others the way that you want to be treated. (Matthew 7:7-12)

20. Stay on the responsible path, even when you have little company. (Matthew 7:13-14)

21. Beware of counterfeit leaders – you will recognize them by their irresponsible behavior. (Matthew 7:15-20)

22. It is not only acknowledging Jesus as Lord that will allow you to enter the Kingdom, but by practicing these commandments. (Matthew 7:21-23)

23. If you obey these sayings, then you will be stable, otherwise, you will be unstable during challenging times. (Matthew 7:24-27)

THE ONLY TWO PATHS.

Jesus explained that we only have two paths to travel in this life, but the path we choose is entirely ours.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13, 14)

We get to choose an eternal partnership with God to manage the universe (at the last count there were about 2 trillion galaxies), or eternal unemployment where there will be weeping at the lost opportunities and anger at those who encouraged us to pursue a life of selfish pleasure.

Fortunately, we can switch from the road leading to destruction to the road leading to life at any time. Tragically, we can also make the opposite switch. My best advice is to be reconciled to God – and then stay on that narrow and difficult path of training to be better.