outcomes. It lifts every trace of blame or reproach from the one who lawfully takes his right from the person who wronged him, clearly declaring that he incurs no sin and faces no censure when he seeks redress after suffering injustice.

Can any revealed law conceivably impose liability upon the one who vindicates himself in justice while letting the oppressor go free despite his wrongdoing?

It therefore becomes evident that when the Messiah enjoined forgiveness, he did not mean that whoever does not forgive deserves condemnation and punishment; rather, he meant that such a person is simply deprived of the reward and recompense granted to the forgiving benefactor. This is a true principle that in no way conflicts with the law of the Torah. Hence the legislation of the Gospel does not contradict the legislation of the Torah; it is an offshoot of it and a completion of it. Their claim that God instituted the Gospel’s law but not the Torah’s law is thus the statement of some of the most ignorant and misguided people. It stems from their doctrine of “union,” their assertion that the Messiah is God Himself.

That very delusion is what led them to advance this impossible claim.