In the "How it Works" section of Alcoholics Anonymous, recent converts to the program are instructed to engage in a "fearless moral inventory" of their lives, going every wrong thought, word, and deed which they have committed in the past, which may induce guilt or shame or other resentment and cause a person to drink again.
Even Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren's "Celebrate Recovery" program champions this "necessary" step in order for believers to overcome their "hurts, habits, and hangups." To justify this approach, Warren's program references a verse from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount:
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
"Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. "(Matthew 5: 23-24)
The rest of the passage in Jesus' celebrated will shed light on what Jesus was really communicating to His listeners:
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
"Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
"Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
"Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." (Matthew 5: 21-26)
First, we must point out that Jesus gave this sermon while still under law:
"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
"To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4: 4)
Jesus made a point of bringing the law back to its pristine, divine, and unmanageable height:
"For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5: 20)
The Pharisees had a nasty history of watering down the law:
"He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
"Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Mark 4: 6-7)
On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus brought the law back to its original intent: to hold man accountable for his inward state, and to bring him to the end of himself:
"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." (Matthew 5: 22)
and
"But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5: 28)
and
"But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." (Matthew 5: 32)
To three points Jesus made here, it is certain that no one had kept any of these laws perfectly.
Now, let us return to Matthew 5: 21 - 26.
Verse 23 states:
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee."
In this passage, "ought" renders the Greek word "τις, τι", and indefinite pronoun which means "any one, some one, a certain one or thing." The verse could just as well read "anything." So, someone is angry with you about not waving "Hello" to him in the morning. Or perhaps someone is burned up because you did not join his book club or come to his son or daughter's recital, any of these perceived slights would count as "ought."
Next, the writer of Hebrews declares that that at the altar, an offerer cannot avoid remembering sins:
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
"For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins." (Hebrews 10: 2)
At the altar of sacrifice, there is no end to the recriminating remembrance of wrongdoing.
Moreover, the fact that an altar is mentioned already points out that Jesus is speaking about Old Covenant practices, none of which pertains the believer under the New Covenant:
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
"And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
Under the New Covenant, in which Christ Jesus has become the finally, fulfilling, and eternal sacrifice, there is no further remembrance of sins!
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