According to Luke 17:3-4, should we only forgive those who have repented of their ways?What are your thoughts?

Question

Someone explained that the following scripture is saying, we are not obligated to forgive someone who refuses to repent:

Luke 17:3-4 says: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

However, the Book of Ephesians tells us we are to forgive just as Christ forgave us. Christ died for many people who have yet to repent.....

Ephesians 4:31-32 says: Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

What are your thoughts on this?

I personally believe one should forgive, whether the other person repents or not.

Answer 1

First, For anyone who thinks this is a contradiction is scripture, it is not.

1 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. 3 So watch yourselves!
“If another believer* sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”

Sure we must forgive those who see there wrong and repent or ask for your forgiveness. This should be an automatic response.

Yes we should forgive just as God in Christ has forgiven us, but it is the same way. We repent of our sinfullnes and put our faith in Christ and it is at that point that we are forgiven or justified before God.

Christians are called to forgive period as well, we as chrisitians should always be in a forgiving mindset and never one to condemn. Condemnation is for God to exercise.

Joseph did not need his brothers to repent before he forgave them even though he was upset with them. Forgiveness is a part of the Christian moral fabric and if you are not one to forgive then I would question your Chrisitianity...

Matt

Answer 2

Forgiveness is for your benefit--not the one who wronged you. If you do NOT forgive then you risk harboring the anger, bitterness etc and taking on negativity. I think that is why God said to forgive. We need to move on. True, this does NOT mean that we are obligated to put ourselves (or spouse, children etc) under the influence or control on one who has harmed them either intentionally or unintentionally regardless of how 'sorry' they are. Be wise in your dealing with a person who is constantly needing forgiveness. And saying 'sorry' is not repentance. To repent would be to acknowledge what they did was wrong and state that they are trying to not repeat it. We all repent and fail--because we are not perfect. That is why we need to be humble and remember that we also are in constant need of forgiveness by a gracious yet righteous God.
The verses you quoted say if they repent and ask you are to forgive them. It does NOT say that if they do NOT ask then you are NOT to forgive them. If they do not ask I don't think you should voluntarily offer forgiveness as it might make little of their error but you might want to just look at this as a positive statement instead of inferring (or allowing others to infer) that the converse is also true.
If I have offended you, please forgive me.
Have a great day.

Answer 3

Luke sounds very much like a Jew. The sinner cannot ask God's forgiveness until he has asked forgiveness from his victim and has demonstrated that he will not sin again. The sinner owns the problem, not the victim. The victim will have plenty of his own problems to deal with!

However, if the sinner does ask for forgiveness, the victim must forgive no matter how difficult that may be. If he doesn't grant forgiveness after being asked three times, he will also have to face God's judgment.
.

Answer 4

Jesus forgave me everything including the kitchen sink. Many things Jesus died for are things I still don't know is sin. So in turn I forgive anyone and anything all I can forgive. It's the least I can do. If there is judgment needed then GOD can handle that.
Your Friend is right. It does say "if he repents". I just like to be as much like Jesus as I can be.

Answer 5

True, Christ died for people to have yet to repent. Those people, therefore, have yet to be forgiven. Christ died for the sins of the whole world, but the whole world is not forgiven. Because of Christ's sacrifice, forgiveness is AVAILABLE to all, but only those who repent and trust in Him are forgiven.
Jesus said " except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Answer 6

For a long time I struggled with having to forgive those who trespass against us, especially since I made every conscious effort not to trespass against others. As an adult, I can say I have found a very good reason for forgiving.

To put it as simply as possible, when we forgive others, we are doing something FOR others. We are letting them know that we don't harbour any hard feeling towards those who trespass against us. But more importantly, we are doing something for ourselves. By forgiving we are allowing ourselves to not be overwhelmed by our own emotions, our own capacity to feel hatred, or feelings of revenge. As a person gets older, they realize how much damage their own emotions can cause themselves. Ulcers and destructive actions all because someone else caused us to worry or feel defensive because of their actions.

It's just not worth it. I believe God wants us to be happy, joyful and healthy. So by forgiving we free ourselves of the negative emotions, and destructive thoughts that we feel when we encounter those who trespass. Forgiving others, it seems, is an action we do as much or more for ouselves than for others.

Now, when we forgive, that should not free the offender from punishment. How can we survive if there are those that go around destroying other peoples lives? Somehow we think that if we forgive we also allow trespassers to continue to trespass. Isn't that just as wrong? Being able to forgive and feel forgiveness should not take away from one's ability to defend oneself. Hopefully and eventually, forgiveness also allows us to progress to kindness and compassion towards each other.

and those are my thougthts, thanks :)

Answer 7

We are to LOVE all our neighbors, but not forgive EVERYONE. There is no way to forgive someone who does not ask for forgiveness (which, if they truly want forgiveness, includes repenting).

Christ is forgiving all of us who love him and who repent our sins. Yes, he died for those who have yet to repent, but time is no matter to God. Humans cannot predict whether someone will repent.

Answer 8

You fail to understand that this repentence must be sincere and the one who will trespass against you seven times in a day is the one who mocks you and who is prepared to mock the scriptures.

You seem to be able to read the Bible but you need to be able to see and to understand whats in the Bible.

According to John 17:3 mankind should worship only "The Only True God", One God, and that is Allah, since Christ spoke and prayed in Aramaic.

Those who worship or think they worship a 3nitty, 3 Gods in 1, are astray and dashing headlong into HellFire.

Read "The Age Of Reason" (www.Xlibris.com) to see whats in the Bible and to learn the secrets and the tricks of the Bible.

Answer 9

read Matt 6 begining with v 9 (The Apostles prayer)... we are to forgive all who trespass against us if we want God to forgive us. That is God's instruction to all of The True Christian Faith... If we are to love as Christ loves.

Answer 10

I heard a good message once about how if the other person doesn't repent it's impossible to have true reconciliation, although you can do your part by forgiveness ect., it's just the relationship will be different.