Children of God should love all men, even their enemies, and
when they repent, forgive them. Occasionally, I am asked if it is our duty to
forgive those who sin against us when they neither ask for nor desire
forgiveness. It is not only not our duty to do so, were we so disposed, but it
is an utter impossibility.
The question recurs because many people persist in
disregarding what the Scriptures teach is involved in genuine repentance and by
substituting their concept of what they feel forgiveness should include. Those
who do this imply, whether they intend to or not, that forgiveness is simply
the cancellation of all bitter, revengeful, and uncharitable feelings toward
those who sin against us, and the substitution of a disposition of kindness,
love, and warm regard for the offending one or ones—a disposition, they urge,
which should always be characteristic of faithful Christians.
But many devoted
and dedicated disciples of the Lord never experience bitter, revengeful, and
uncharitable feelings toward those who sin against them, however cruel and
heartless such actions may have been. This attitude of a kind disposition is
not forgiveness, anyway. God never entertains “bitter, revengeful, and
uncharitable” feelings toward even the most vile of sinners, but He forgives
only those who repent.
Our Lord, in the shadows of Gethsemane, prayed for those
who hated Him so much they sought and obtained His execution, but He did not
forgive them until they repented. Amid the agonies of the cross, He said to His
Father, “forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), a petition
not unconditional in nature, since by His own words first uttered in the Great Commission
(Mark 16:15-16) and later applied by Peter it was intent that pardon be
bestowed only on the basis of repentance and obedience to the commandments He
gave (Acts 2:36-38).
The words remission and forgiveness often translate to the
same Greek word aphesis, the meaning of which is “release,” and “sending of
sins away” and the consequent restoration of the peaceful, cordial, and
friendly relationship formerly existing. Unless the offender wants this “peaceful,
cordial, friendly” relationship, it is impossible for the offended to affect
it, however much he may desire and seek it.
It is this point people often say,
“Yes, but we must be ready to forgive always,” as indeed we ought, but it
should be recognized that such readiness is not forgiveness. Our Lord made
crystal clear our obligation in all such cases when He said, “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 … turn again to thee,
saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4). Thus, the divine edict
is, if one sins against us, we are to rebuke him; and when he repents, we are
to forgive him.
It is the duty of all children of God to love all men, even
their enemies, actively to seek their good, and pray for their well-being; and,
when they repent, to forgive them. It should ever be borne in mind that
reconciliation is an integral and essential element of the relationship
resulting from penitence on the part of the offender and forgiveness on the
offended, and that is occasioned by an adjustment and settlement of all
differences that led to the alienation. We must be sure that no action or
attitude of ours deters the proper response of others to us because our
fellowship here on Earth and our salvation in Heaven are matters intimately
involved.
Guy N. Woods