"Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him." (Luke 17:3-4)

"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." (Matt. 18:21-22)

It seems to me that Jesus threw the number "seven" out there because it seemed like overkill. I mean, who would trespass against his brother seven times in one day, and then repent seven times? Peter seemed to take the number quite literally; so he asked the Lord, "Even seven times? That's the magic number?" And Jesus told him, Not seven times, but 490. Again, I don't think the number is literal; he's trying to make a point.

Would you really trespass against someone 490 times in a day? I certainly hope not. If you love your brother, and sin against him once, I'd hope you would repent once and not do it again. But this is not a lesson about repentance; it is a lesson about forgiveness. Remember, the doctrine of Jesus Christ is focused on teaching people to understand and follow in God's ways in order to become his children (Matt. 5:45).

Jesus is not giving you permission to sin against him 490 times per day. That's not what he's saying here. What he's saying is that he is so desirous of genuine repentance and reconciliation that he is willing to give another chance, and another, and another, so long as that repentance is sincere. And he wants us to do the same toward others.

You may wonder, If you repent 489 times in a day, and still sin again a 490th time, is that repentance even sincere? Maybe not; but maybe it could be. This scripture is written for a reason. And if it is to show the scope of God's forgiveness - which he wants us to partake in, also - then there must be quite a great expanse of sin that he is willing and able to forgive.

But if his love is so great toward us that he is willing to forgive so much... then why sin against him at all? Someone who truly loves God, in reciprocation to the great love wherewith he first loved us, is not going to be focused on how many times he can sin and still be forgiven. His focus will be on permanent and final repentance, and a lasting desire to keep sin from getting between him and his God.