Jesus described this new kingdom as one where man would be forgiven by God and then he, in turn, would be able to share that same power of mercy and forgiveness to his brethren. Peter, still with an Old Covenant mindset, wondered how many times one would be required to forgive his brethren under this new paradigm, and Jesus answered 70 times 7, which was the exact number of years in Daniel's prophecy that God would deal with His people (490 years) before everlasting righteousness was ushered in. This was a spiritual clue that the end times of that old world/temple system were upon them; forgiveness in this new kingdom would be ongoing, never ending, eternal.
Forgiveness is a blessing that is available to us as new creations in Christ Jesus. With the Holy Spirit living inside us, we now have the power and authority to do that which most of us could never do in our own flesh -- forgive those who have hurt us deeply. But in this new kingdom, with the Spirit of God living in us, we now have the privilege and joy of releasing OURSELVES from the bondage of anger, bitterness, and hatred toward others. We now become truly free, which is exactly what God did with us. While we were His enemies, He obtained forgiveness for us so that there is now NOTHING separating us from His love. He holds no record of wrong against us, He does not count our sins against us, He does not want us to be even conscious of sins but to be conscious of our righteousness IN Christ. This is one of the wonderful beauties of the Gospel! Such good news!
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