Crosspoint,
Some months back, we preached through a series from 2
Chronicles 6 called “A House Dedicated”. In that series we addressed
forgiveness. Within the last few weeks I have had a handful of questions on the
issue, and thought it might be helpful to send out a little follow-up.
Most of the questions that I have heard are in regard to the
Biblical concept of forgiving the repentant. A paradigm that many of us have
grown up with is that you forgive unconditionally. So limiting the granting of
forgiveness to those who are repentant, makes Biblical forgiveness CONDITIONAL,
not unconditional. Herein lies some of the confusion...
Our text was 2 Chronicles 6:36-39. In short, the text says,
“If they sin against you... and you are angry with them... if they repent with all
of their mind and with all of their heart... then hear from heaven your
dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and
forgive your people who have sinned against you...”
Colossians 3:13 says to forgive as the Lord has forgiven. So
when I forgive I want to make sure that I am bearing the image of God, and not
misrepresenting Him.
So, the logical conclusion is that if we forgive the way
that God forgives, we must be careful not to grant forgiveness to an
unrepentant person, and just as careful not to withhold forgiveness from a
truly repentant person.
Following are a few thoughts that I have put together based
on some questions that I have heard from some within the body...
1.) Withholding forgiveness is NOT withholding love. Love is
unconditional. Forgiveness is conditional. Luke 6:35-36 says, “But love your
enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward
will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the
ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
2.) Withholding forgiveness is NOT holding a grudge.
Christians aren’t allowed to hold grudges, EVER! Hebrews says that bitterness
is a root that runs deep. And when it springs up it defiles MANY. Bitterness is
the inevitable product of holding a grudge. The opposite of holding a grudge is
being poised, ready, and even eager to forgive. Some might refer to this as
having a "spirit of forgiveness". James 3 calls it being "full
of mercy". We should be ready to lavish that person and broken
relationship with what has been so amply offered to us in Christ.
3.) Withholding forgiveness is NOT a means of exercising
personal vengeance. Romans makes it clear to us that vengeance belongs to the
Lord, not to us. Again, when someone is truly repentant, Scripture says that
you MUST forgive them!
4.) Granting forgiveness when there is no repentance is not
necessarily a sin. I address this because the concept of EVER withholding
forgiveness is foreign to many of us. So in our thinking, previously, if it was
a sin to ever withhold forgiveness, now, am I a sinner because I didn't
withhold??? One illustration to consider is infant baptism... It is not nothing
(double negative used for emphasis)...
but from our perspective (of confessional baptists), it is not what is
best. We would NOT say that those who were baptized as infants were sinning in
their baptism. We would however say that it is more obedient to the Word to put
your baptism on the right side of your confession; to proclaim before the
church your faith in Christ, and to be immersed/ dunked/ baptized in
accordance. So... if you look back on your journey of faith, and you remember
granting forgiveness to the unrepentant, you have not automatically committed
sins that need repenting of. But in light of the text, we would say that it is
more obedient to put your forgiveness on the right side of repentance. However,
granting forgiveness when there is no repentance is DEFINITELY a sin if you are
doing so because you value your relationship with the person, more than you
value that person’s relationship with God.
5.) If one individual sins against another individual, their
sin is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS first a sin against God. And if it isn’t a sin
against God, it may merely be a difference of opinion between the two people...
maybe even different beliefs within the same faith (see Romans 14). At that
point you are called to reason together and persevere with one another
steadfastly, making sure not to break the bond of peace over negotiable issues.
How wonderfully remarkable it is that in Christ, we have
forgiveness from God, and the power and privilege to forgive one another as we
have been forgiven!
J. Scott Sutton
