Forgiven...Forgiving

Peter asked, “How often shall I forgive my brother?” Jesus replied with an immeasurable value of 70 times 7 times which calculates to 490 times. Jesus also taught his disciples that if a brother “sins against you seven times in a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

These are difficult teachings. No one imagines having to forgive someone seven times in one day or a total of 490 times. In short, Jesus taught that forgiveness has no boundaries.

We (humans) tend to make forgiveness rules. Perhaps it is because we really do understand the demand of forgiveness. The one who forgives bears the insult or shoulders the pain of the injustice that has been done. The one forgiven is released from his debt. Forgiveness is unfair!

Jesus dealt with forgiveness at the person-to-person level. He taught that forgiveness makes no restrictions; there is no limit to the number of times that you should forgive your brother/sister. If, with regard to his wrong, he says, “I repent,” accept him at his word and forgive him.

Yes, but...

Some folks have difficulty accepting the words of Jesus and then explain what they think He really meant. They suggest certain limitations. Some have tried to define every possible ‘sin situation’ in order to write rules for repentance. Then they use their rules to justify occasions to withhold forgiveness. In the end they create a system for judging whether a person is worthy of forgiveness or whether their repentance is authentic. In doing so they attempt to justify an unforgiving spirit.

It is true that Jesus acknowledged that we will know a person by their fruit. However, that is not some sort of forgiveness loophole in which forgiveness is withheld until the fruit is obvious or judged acceptable. Jesus taught that we are to take a person at their word. It might be the words, “I repent,” or “Would you forgive me,” or “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” or simply, “I’m sorry.”

Anyone who assumes the task of evaluating repentance in another individual has presumed to sit in the judgment seat of God.

Repentance is a change in one’s thinking. We must have patience with fellow Christians as they mature. A changed heart is may be sorrowful but desires to walk in the path of righteousness. However, old habits often linger, and the renewing of the mind takes time. We would do well to reflect on our own past, perhaps not so distant in time, when we stumbled and sinned...yet again. Did God forgive you each time you asked?

What if I am wrong?

What if I am unsure about someone’s repentance? I do not want to forgive where I should not forgive. Yet, neither do I want to withhold forgiveness where I should forgive.

Two facts are evident:

• I am not God, and
• Jesus did not give me magical insight into the hearts of others to know their intentions and their sincerity.

In reality, we may make a mistake where forgiveness is concerned. We never want to encourage sin. Yet, Jesus taught that we will not be forgiven unless we forgive our brother from the heart. When faced with a dilemma in which you are unsure about someone’s repentance, wouldn’t you rather err on the side of forgiveness?

After all, God will judge righteously. In addition, it is wise to remember the warning that Jesus gave his disciples: “If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

May each of us resolve in our heart to have a forgiving spirit toward our fellow Christians. And then, may we truly forgive from the heart.

Mark Stinnett

September 8, 2024