Do we not forgive the unrepentant?
Question:
Does Luke 17:3 imply that we are not to forgive a brother or sister until they have repented? I know God will not forgive until we have repented and asked him for forgiveness.
Answer:
"Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him" (Luke 17:3).
Jesus states that we are required to forgive people when they repent. Jesus did not specify what to do when someone refuses to repent. What is often overlooked is that Jesus said we are also to "rebuke" the offender. We ought to care enough about people to scold them when they wrong so that they might change and start doing what is right.
Too often, people make "forgiveness" an empty word. They claim to forgive (release a person from any debt owed to them) while continuing to hold them accountable for their sin. True forgiveness is owed when a person changes his ways (Matthew 6:14-15). Sometimes people offer "forgiveness" to avoid the responsibility of trying to get the person to change. I should love my fellow man so much that I am willing to go through the discomfort of rebuking him so that I can forgive him. You could say that since I've already made up my mind to forgive a person when he changes, that I've already forgiven him.
Technically, there cannot be forgiveness without repentance. You can't release someone from a debt he refuses to acknowledge and plans to continue committing. Forgiveness is a gift, and you can't give a gift that the receiver refuses to accept.
There are cases when people have asked God to forgive their enemies (Luke 23:34; Acts 7:60). The implication is that they won't hold the sin against their enemies, but whether a person is actually forgiven is up to God. We are not in a position to tell God what He must do.
See also:
