Brother Jeff,<\/p>\n
I would appreciate your input on this question. We understand from Luke 17:3 and Ephesians 4:32 that forgiveness is conditioned upon repentance. But is this only applicable in situations where the offender is a Christian (brother in Christ) like yourself? In other words, is forgiveness conditional only when the person who offends you is your brother in Christ, or is it unconditional (forgive without repentance) if the person is an unbeliever? Is there a different pattern for forgiving a brother in Christ and a different pattern for forgiving others who are not members of the church?<\/p>\n\t
I’m struggling to think of a passage that indicates that unbelievers and believers are treated differently. The fairness of God is that all are treated alike and held to the same rules. “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord GOD. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. <\/em>Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live<\/em>” (Ezekiel 18:25-33). The wicked and the righteous are held to the same requirement of repenting of sins to receive forgiveness.<\/p>\n When Jonah announced to wicked Nineveh that they would soon be destroyed, God relented because the city repented from the king to the commoner (Jonah 3). Jonah was scolded in Jonah 4 for not pitying them and retaining his anger.<\/p>\n “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon<\/em>” (Isaiah 55:7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u00a0am not aware of any passage that teaches\u00a0unconditional<\/strong> forgiveness. Christians must always be willing to forgive others, and as a result, they work to encourage a change in the person so that they can forgive. “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him<\/em>” (Luke 17:3-4). “Brother” is mentioned in this verse because the wicked are not likely to listen to rebukes. The problem with the wicked is more fundamental and requires building faith in the Lord. But even when the wicked do convert, repentance is a part of the change (Acts 2:38). See “Forgiveness<\/a>” and “Unconditional Love<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Unconditional forgiveness implies acceptance of a person while he remains in sin. The acceptance of sin is a sin (Romans 1:32; Leviticus 19:17). The problem the Corinthians had was their acceptance of a man who was in sin. They erred by allowing the man to worship with them while remaining in his sins. “You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst<\/em>” (I Corinthians 5:2).<\/p>\n “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secre<\/em>t” (Ephesians 5:11-12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The reality of the situation is that those who blindly offer forgiveness to a sinner while the sinner remains in his sins are showing hatred for the person. They are allowing him to head down a destructive path without the mildest scolding and are allowing him to remain on that path while being told he is forgiven. That isn’t love.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Brother Jeff, I would appreciate your input on this question. We understand from Luke 17:3 and Ephesians 4:32 that forgiveness is conditioned upon repentance. But is this only applicable in situations where the offender is a Christian (brother in Christ) like yourself? In other words, is forgiveness conditional only when the person who offends…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1571,50],"class_list":["post-87679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-forgiveness","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60416,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/three-quotes-on-forgiving-a-brother\/","url_meta":{"origin":87679,"position":0},"title":"Three Quotes on Forgiving a Brother","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"From Questions Answered, Lipscomb and Sewell, Kurfees, pg. 260 Question: If a brother in the church offends us, is it right for us to forgive him whether he comes and asks us to or not, or must we hold it against him until he comes and asks our pardon? Would\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":56286,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/forgiveness-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":87679,"position":1},"title":"Forgiveness (North)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Phillip North via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 8, Aug. 2008. Much has been preached and written on how mankind, especially Christians, should and must practice forgiveness. No doubt it is a command, not a mere option. Jesus said, \"But if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will\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":60560,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unforgiven\/","url_meta":{"origin":87679,"position":2},"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":24051,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-person-have-to-repent-before-you-can-forgive-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":87679,"position":3},"title":"Does a person have to repent before you can forgive him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Luke 17:3 we are told to forgive\u00a0if\u00a0repentance takes place and in Ephesians 4:32 \"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you,\" but in Mark 11:25 Christ says \"Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70001,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/forgiveness-without-repentance\/","url_meta":{"origin":87679,"position":4},"title":"Forgiveness Without Repentance?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson via Seeking Things Above The Bible emphasizes the importance of forgiving those who sin against us. In fact, failing to do so is very frightening because, in Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus taught, \"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if\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":31913,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/automatic-forgiveness\/","url_meta":{"origin":87679,"position":5},"title":"Automatic Forgiveness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"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. 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