Jesus tries to reason with their fallen mentality because he knew that mankind with out Godly influence deals with a judgmental mentality of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Man without the Holy Ghost's influence has no time to be willing to be peaceable and reason with Him; which is God's way of reasoning.

He couldn't say to them; "because you say you are truly Godly in what you believe; will you forgive me for what ever you think I did." Those words would have been foreign to them because; they had no Godly wisdom at work in their lives and they were only being used by the Pharisees as a judging tribunal trying to put Jesus to death on the cross for what they believed was a threat against them wanting to have control over the people. This is nothing new; we have religious spirit's running ramped within and with out the born again churches of today. Let's remind our self again that; with out God's forgiving grace and love at work with in us; we are operating in our mentality with the Pharisees attitude and have become as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.

From the Greek Concordance this is defined as a person making a loud confused noise and spouting a knowledge of the hundreds of teachings from those who profess to know God and are building their life on rumors of what they have been brought up into believing rather then having a minute by minute living relationship with the Holy Ghost and their wisdom is not hot off the press. In reality; they are puffed up with their own achievements and void and an empty vessel as to the anointed power they possess due to their ignorance of the true holding power of God's unconditional love that He wants us to receive and become active in living in it. Let me give one example again of the ignorance of mankind in understand God's forgiving grace.

Just last night in watching some Christian programming we had two well known preachers again with in the Evangelical community talking about God's forgiving nature. I hope you realize that if we are true God seekers we will know that; all things will work together for good if our mind and heart is stayed on Him. The Holy Ghost's intensions are to equip us to rightly divide the word of God and we must stay teachable at all times in how God trains His children through loving persuasions. Therefore; we must stay alert and not become judgmental. I am always looking for fellowship and wanting to gather in Christ name and therefore at times I surf the Christian programming wanting to get a word of encouragement and; my wife and I have at one time supported some of these ministries when we were led to by the Lord.

The scripture that one of these ministers was teaching on is found in Mathew 6:14-15 where Jesus said, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

He was trying to make a point that; God's forgiving grace had conditions put on it and it was our responsibility to stay forgiving or God would not look at us who are His children as a forgiving Father. This is indeed sad as God has used this man over the years to lead many to Christ Jesus. To me it was disappointing but also bewildering of how this man has been led away by his own importance and has a spirit of putting legal judgments on God's children. This spirit of judgment has been running rampart unchecked with in the body of Christ for years.

Let's think about this for a moment; Jesus was trying to communicate to the people who were following Him daily as they sat and listened to Him in His dissertations of explaining to them how to pray to God the Father with Holy Ghost discernment.

Prior to verse 14 Jesus prefaced these two verses when He said. "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." And then he goes on to talk about forgiveness.

First let us truly recognize that forgiveness is a Holy Ghost characteristic describing God the Father's personality of who he is. If the God we seek is a tree, or a cloud or a man's idea of obligated service giving the connotation that God love and forgiveness is conditional; or when we worship any thing that is not God Himself; that represents evil and a man's nature will always be a pawn in the devil's hand.

Having a forgiving Spirit can only come and be motivated by Christ who lives in us as we are being matured by the Holy Ghost who woes us into seeing our self as God our Father sees us. Get this for ever settled in your heart and mind. Christ Jesus is the beginning, the umbilical cord of all holy spiritual life and the end if, there is such a thing as an end because; we are eternity people. Life begins and ends with God's will being done with His influences and power to back up what He promises. Our maturity is in us dying to self and letting Christ live again in us.

This principle of dying to self is against man's carnal thinking because; mankind with out Christ or God's kids with out understanding God's forgiving spirit of love and Him being the author of it; is why Jesus was teaching them to pray and he was telling them to acknowledge there misgivings of God's forgiving grace and ask for help by coming to Him as a helpless child trusting the God who wanted to be a loving Father to them.

Man with out God's wisdom and personal experiences with Him working in our intimate understandings in our maturing; go through seasons of mistrust and have to go through a persuasion process that; God does not lie and you can trust what he says. Our maturity is hinged on us knowing that; we can confess our confusion at some of the tragedies that we encounter and the pain and destruction that we observe in the world and in other people's lives which should be teaching us how vulnerable we are and the need we have to lay down and rest in God's arms of comfort. Simply put there is the temptation when we don't understand some of the tragedy going on in our life to have a tendency to think; God is behind the scene orchestrating some of it and the one leading us into temptation.

When ever we hear teachings that put conditions on people with the connotation that they have to do something in their own strength and will power; we have evil at work. If there is any real maturity to take place; it starts with us admitting that; we have ought against God and asking God to forgive us and us forgiving our self because; maturing can have no denial and hidden agendas between us and God our Father. Let me say this again. Any thing that is not being motivated by God's forgiving spirit of love has evil at work of demonic activity to put hurt on God's creation.

The reason God can't forgive us when we don't forgive our self or others is because; our attitude is a spirit of mistrust do to the lack of our experiencing and tasting God's forgiving Spirit that has no strings of obligation attached to it. I pray you are hearing me loud and clear. When we go through these mistrusting seasons; Christ's faith can not have its own way. A born again blood washed child of God could spend their whole life in this condition; they will still be going to heaven however; they never walk in their freedom as God's child while living in their mortal body. I have seen it happen over and over again.

This happens because; they do not know God very well and it is caused by being ignorant of the true meaning of God's word and those who are supposed to be maturing and totally accepting the children who God has put under their care; have been led away by their own importance and traditional views that has kept the body of Christ as children following every wind and doctrine as sheep being led to be slaughtered.

How are people going to trust in a God who forgives and does not judge if they are sitting in pews where they are spouting judgmental and foolish doctrines. What chance do God's kids have when they sit under these so called loving leaders that are a slave to their own laws that they live in and therefore lay on the ones they are teaching? It keeps the body of Christ in a computer loop of always learning and never coming to the truth of how God sees them as being His child. We must stay alert and recognizes the spirit behind some of these man made doctrines that have been contrived and influenced by Satan himself and has led many to apostasies from the true meaning and loving nature of the God we hunger after.

We are to have no obligation or judgment against any one but to love as God's loves and it is not my intension to name names and expose my brother or sisters nakedness but to pray for them who have departed or never knew the gospel of the good news of Christ Jesus which has great liberty and all around forgiveness.

Some of the in fighting going on in T.V. of brother against brother is a disgrace and nothing but sibling rivalry and should not even be named as a characteristic of Christian living. All we have here are people being led away by their own importance and they have become a reproach and been carried away by their so called deeds that they have done over these many years. Who are we lifting up and worshiping self or Christ Jesus?

Let's now continue into what Paul said next in the verses as we define. "I [solemnly] charge you to keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Unless God's forgiving spirit of grace is the motivating force in our life; there will be no way for us to keep this commandment with out spot and unrebukeable until Jesus returns. Paul emphatically reinforces this by using the word solemnly which means a person should be totally focused and having a grave sincerity with inspiring wonder or reverence. The Holy Ghost is the one who motivates us to walk in obedience with wonder and reverence and also the one who gives us the power to walk in obedience. Let's get this FOREVER SETTLED; all life that comes from God is made by Him, sustained by Him and protected by Him. We must totally rest in His Spirit of love, forgiveness and that must be the security of our life.

Now; what commandment are we to be following? Are we to follow the Ten Commandments? Are we to follow all the different commandments that all the different denominations are teaching? Are we to follow some good ideas that mankind makes up to be good? Or is there the possibility that; a person can have a living relationship with a living God that they can have a constant dialogue with and be sustained in all their emotions and longings of their heart and be experiencing a spirit to Spirit relationship with the God who created the universe and is the meaning of all life. Just a reminder so we can stay focused. God is not a dead letter word written in the bible of rules to be followed. You either know or do not know if; you are walking with God. There is and can not be any guess work here.

The traditions that men make up have no business to be attached to our righteous position in Christ Jesus. I was raised a Catholic and for the first twenty five years of my life; I was a practicing Catholic; an alter boy for four tears; I attended a parochial school; my aunt was a nun and my cousin was a priest and my whole family were practicing Catholics. We were told that all the Catholic traditions passed down from all the Popes had to be followed and then if I didn't died with what they call a mortal sin on my soul I would go to heaven. If I died with a venial sin I would only have to burn in purgatory for a while to pay for them. However; it I died with a sacrilege sin; there was no forgiveness for that and I went straight to hell.

I have nothing against Catholics or any other denominational teachings that have watered down the gospel with man made doctrine which is utter nonsense totally crippling God's creation. Our fight is not against flesh and blood but against ungod like thinking caused by spiritual demonic influences from Satan coming to divide and conquer and being taught by men who are totally ignorant of God's true forgiving grace and love.

These teachings and there are millions believing this demonic stuff being taught for years keeping people in bondage in serving in their mind a vindictive god who constantly warns people of impending danger with no mercy. Thank God at the age of twenty five God sent a man into my life and gave me the true gospel that taught me that while I was a sinner lost living under the curse that I was born with; Christ died for me and His forgiving grace cleansed and enlightened me to walk in His goodness and grace which allowed Him to be a loving Father to me; in spite of my short comings and foolish childish behavior as I have been learning to trust His guiding hand.

This gospel of God's grace and forgiveness has been maligned and distorted by all denominations because of man's failure to stay stead fast and focused on God's course of thought and actions. I have said this before; the devil comes as an angel of light to deceive man kind and in many places the outward appearance of some of these so called worshipping of God looks good however; man is behind its motivation and the Holy Ghost never shows up with power to give His personal intervention. In part 4; we will answer some of these questions that I have asked and how it will keep us with out spot and unrebukeable in God's sight and our own.

Cont. in p. 4