We would be wrong, however, to conclude that the covenant about which Jesus speaks in Matthew is reducible to the forgiveness of sins in some narrow (i.e., “vertical” only) sense. Rather, receiving God’s forgiveness is part of existence as a community of salt and light (5:13–16) that is called and empowered to practice forgiveness (5:21–24; 18:15–20) and its associated virtues, such as deeds of mercy and compassion (9:13 and 12:7, citing Hos 6:692) like those of their Master (9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 18:33; 20:34). These practices result in part from the reality that the covenant established by
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