The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and His adversaries
- Chapter 66 -
Forgiveness of sins.
Soon the Roman Agricola came to Me with a very serious face and said: "O Lord and Master, is it possible that among the Jews there are such miserable creatures who secretly can plot such a thing against You? You, great God, do You not have any devouring fire left? Surely, every one of such miserable creatures deserves a thousandfold to be crucified. Really, I have heard already a lot of bad things about the hostile attitude of the temple servants regarding You, but this I have never heard."
2
I said: "Friend, do not be too surprised about that, for there will soon be a time when you will hear quite different things of this bad kind about Me. Because this kind of people will not rest before I myself will allow them - as I have indicated to you earlier - to make full the measure of their abomination to Myself. Then however, will come the great judgment over them about which the prophet Daniel predicted when he stood in the holy place and which I also have predicted to you earlier."
3
Agricola said: "O Lord and Master, it is very good that You have revealed this now to me, because by this, we Romans we will know very clearly what we have to do later."
4
I said: "You will act when you will be called for that. But now we will leave this to rest. Soon something else will come up."
5
When the scribe heard all that, he began to think in himself and after a while he said: "Lord and Master, now I see that You are more than the son of Joseph the carpenter who 3 years ago has blessed the temporary . For if you know what goes on in the heart of a person, then You must be a God. And look, because You could say this to us, clearly and completely according to the truth in our face, what a mortal human being could never do, I begin now to believe that You most certainly are the Messiah. Lord and Master, strengthen my faith."
6
I said; "Faith alone will not make you blessed, but the deed according to the light of faith, so that faith may become alive. But repair also as much as possible the injustice that you often have committed to your fellowmen. Then your sins will be forgiven, for as long as someone has not repaid the last unjust penny to his fellowman, he will not enter God's Kingdom."
7
The scribe said: "Lord and Master, then, only few will enter God's Kingdom. For how often does it not happen that even with the best of will, one cannot completely repair the injustice that he has knowingly caused to someone, and there are a lot of such cases wherein this is prevented. What must one do then to receive forgiveness of sins?"
8
I said: "When a person who realizes and regrets his injustice and cannot make up anymore to his fellowman what he has done wrong to him, then he should remorsefully and sincerely confess his injustice in his heart before God and ask Him for forgiveness, and he should ask if He - for who all things are possible - would repair the inflicted damage to the one who was harmed. Then God will certainly always hear such a sincere prayer and forgive the sins of the one who has asked seriously and full of good will and remorse to forgive his sin, more in particular when someone really tries through his works of love to make up again to others what he had to make up for those who are no more there.
9
But whoever even cannot do that anymore, will be helped by God when he is really sorry and his will is truly good. But as long as there is still an opportunity to repair yourself the injustice that you have caused to your fellowmen, only good will, repentance and praying will help little or nothing, but only the deed. And only after the deed you also should ask God to forgive your sins, then they also will be forgiven by God if you really and truly have taken the serious resolution to commit no more sin and when you also keep to that resolution with all the strength of your life that is under the power of your free will.
10
However, if you will fall back into your old sins, then also all your already committed sins are taken into your account. For once you have made up to your fellowman for an injustice so that you have become friends, but soon after that you commit against the same friend or against someone else another new injustice, then also the injustice that was already made up for comes before judgment as an aggravating proof charged to your again committed sin, and by the judgment you will receive also double punishment as you would have received for the first offense. But if already the worldly judges are passing judgment this way, and rightly, then God will not be milder towards a hardened sinner who sometimes indeed improves his life and makes up for his injustice, but soon begins to sin again.
11
Thus, man can only receive the real and complete forgiveness of his sins by firstly realizing that his sins are an injustice towards his fellowmen, feeling sorry about them and trying to repair them as much as possible, and secondly, after that, also by asking God for forgiveness with the serious resolution not to commit the sins no more and also to remain true to the good resolution which he made. If you decide this faithfully and truthfully in your heart, and furthermore will also act according to that resolution, then I say to you here already now: your sins are forgiven by Me."
12
The scribe said: "Lord and Master, Your teaching is sharp, but true, and I will try when possible to follow it up with the deed. But You said that You are forgiving our sins in advance if we will follow Your teaching. Do You then also have the right and the power in the place of God to forgive men their sins?"
13
I said: "It is difficult to speak with you blind ones about the beauty of the colors. Did I not tell you before that all power and authority in Heaven and Earth belong to Me?"