{"id":31913,"date":"2021-02-11T16:05:07","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T22:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=31913"},"modified":"2021-02-11T16:11:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T22:11:37","slug":"automatic-forgiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/automatic-forgiveness\/","title":{"rendered":"Automatic Forgiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Robert M Hartian
\nSentry Magazine<\/em>, June 2002\n

Schoolmates hung a sign on a high school in West Paducah, Kentucky that read “we forgive you Mike!” Mike Carmeal, 14, the day before, had killed three of his classmates. Dennis Prager, a Jew, covered this story in the Wall Street Journal<\/em> (December 15, 1997). This immediate and automatic forgiveness prompted an article he entitled, “When forgiveness is a sin.” He noted how that Christians have adopted the idea that anyone who commits a horrible act should be forgiven, whether the evildoer repents or not. He lamented how a preacher (Reverend John Miller) at a Martha’s Vineyard Church service attended by then-President Clinton called on all Christians to forgive Timothy Mcveigh as he had done.<\/p>\n

Sadly, this automatic forgiveness doctrine is now taught in churches of Christ. I find it exceptional too since Jesus’ words in Luke 17:3-4 are simply said, “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.<\/em>” The IF<\/strong> shows the contingency of forgiveness on repentance and reconciliation for someone to regain their brother (Matthew 18:15).<\/p>\n

This automatic forgiveness doctrine has become very popular. The mental health community says it’s “psychologically healthy,” it brings “closure.” In other words, “I forgive you so I can feel better.” The religious world quotes Jesus on the cross asking the Father to forgive those who crucified him but overlooking two facts.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Jesus did not ask his Father to forgive those who did something wrong to someone other than himself and<\/li>\n
  2. The Father’s forgiveness, as Peter made very clear, was not automatic, but required repentance. In fact, the Holy Spirit convicted and rebuked the sinning party who killed Jesus through Peter on Pentecost (Acts 2:36).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In Luke 17:3-4, the action-response flow is like this: Sin-rebuke-and if repentance-forgiveness. We are shown in Matthew 18:16 that one who refuses to repent must be treated as an outsider. Paul wrote that the unrepentant fornicator in Corinth should be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. This is not to be vindictive, but “so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord<\/em>.” (I Corinthians 5:5).<\/p>\n

    People who sin and are immediately forgiven are not convicted or rebuked and therefore not motivated to repent of their sin. These people then are left feeling complacent in their sins. To the worldly mind, God is mean, they say “what kind of God would send someone to hell forever?” And this automatic forgiveness is just another way to “out-good” God. That is, we modern folks can be nicer than the God of the Bible. But the spiritual person sees God’s way as the only way. A way that cannot be improved.<\/p>\n

    Read for yourself what the church in Corinth did and what Peter said on Pentecost and to Simon in Acts 8:22-23, and what the Savior himself taught. This is, in fact, real love that produces reconciliation between men and most importantly between God and sinners.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Robert M Hartian Sentry Magazine, June 2002 Schoolmates hung a sign on a high school in West Paducah, Kentucky that read “we forgive you Mike!” Mike Carmeal, 14, the day before, had killed three of his classmates. Dennis Prager, a Jew, covered this story in the Wall Street Journal (December 15, 1997). This immediate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1571],"class_list":["post-31913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-forgiveness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69153,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/love-does-not-mean-automatic-acceptance\/","url_meta":{"origin":31913,"position":0},"title":"Love Does Not Mean Automatic Acceptance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton God loved us at our worst, but that never meant He accepted us all without repentance and change (Romans 5:8; Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38). So, God's love motivates us to change so that He can accept us into fellowship. Love does not mean automatic acceptance into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90727,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/forgiveness-of-debts-owed\/","url_meta":{"origin":31913,"position":1},"title":"Forgiveness of Debts Owed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer It seems that in the \"forgiveness debate\" (that sounds odd), people can easily talk past each other. The discussion really hinges on what is meant by \"forgiveness.\" To further clarify the nature and nuances of forgiveness, please note the phrase used by Jesus in His model prayer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94933,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-not-forgive-the-unrepentant\/","url_meta":{"origin":31913,"position":2},"title":"Do we not forgive the unrepentant?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16007,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/forgiveness\/","url_meta":{"origin":31913,"position":3},"title":"Forgiveness (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We must each face death \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But most of us have already experienced death. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Death is a separation. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Physical death is a separation of the spirit from the body. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When our sins separate us from God, this is spiritual death - Isa.\u00a059:1-3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Spiritual death is not permanent.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60560,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unforgiven\/","url_meta":{"origin":31913,"position":4},"title":"Unforgiven","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bryan Matthew Dockens I sincerely desire the forgiveness of those who've done me wrong. Like Stephen (Acts 7:60), and Christ before him (Luke 23:34), I pray that God will forgive those who have harmed me. I do not forgive them, though, unless and until they repent. This does not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36180,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/forgiveness-is-unfair\/","url_meta":{"origin":31913,"position":5},"title":"Forgiveness Is Unfair","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Green \"Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, \"' do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times' \" (Matthew 18:21-22, ESV). Before we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}