“He who covers his sins will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy.”
Proverbs 26:13
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1John 1:9
“If your brother sins against you, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him.”
Jesus, in Matthew 18:15
To have a tender heart and to be willing and ready to forgive is the way Jesus taught us to live, but to be willing to forgive it is different from actually forgiving. No one should be hard-hearted toward those who have done wrong because God was not hard-hearted toward any of us, but true forgiveness only exists as a response to true repentance. True, healing forgiveness is never extended or experienced until the ingredient of repentance is added to the transgression.
To forgive a killer who does not sincerely regret his crime is no more than an invitation for him to kill again. The same can be said of thieves, adulterers, and so forth. The betrayed wife who “forgives” her adulterous husband without him confessing and forsaking his sinful ways cannot be said to be showing him true forgiveness him at all. Rather, through ignorance of how to forgive in a godly manner, she is rewarding him with undeserved pardon and, therefore, encouraging him, if not granting him a license, to continue with his infidelity. She is not showing him either the love or the mercy of God because God isn’t like that. He will not forgive those who do not repent.
To offer forgiveness before the guilty party repents may be "the Christian thing to do", but it is not the godly thing to do. God, who is so full of mercy that His throne is called “the mercy seat”, has never forgiven any sinner who refused His call to repentance. Christians, on the other hand, regularly demand that we forgive unconditionally, which is utter foolishness in the guise of mercy.
Good afternoon bro. John.
ReplyDeleteI just got home from class and read the Pastor Johns House Blog on "True Forgiveness". My heart goes out to God's people who do not know when someone is not telling the truth. I remember, John, when I received the Holy Ghost, I was told that we are supposed to forgive everyone, no matter what they do to you. Or, if they say, "I am sorry". And that was supposed to make everything well and fine with them. But what they had done left some person just broken in pieces. Where was the making things right?
I remember the first time I found out R***** was doing me wrong. It seemed like my heart was broken. The church I was going to, that preacher, he had the Holy Ghost, and told me that if my husband was "pleased to dwell" with me then I was supposed to forgive him. Looking back now, John, I was a very ignorant -- all because I was being taught by a man that did not have the truth, and (worst of all) I found out later, he had secret sins in his own life. That makes me wonder about the men who teach that "unconditional love" stuff, whether the reason they do it is because they have secret sins of their own, and they want to be forgiven without having to stop the sin.
Oh bro. John, if only God's people could have a man of God like you teaching them, how many families could be safe from all of the lies they are being told. So many wives in christian places are believing they have to put up with abuse, and many other bad things. I think about all of our children, how much they are cared for, and how much we are cared for my you being where God has put you. Bro John I am so thankful that Jesus rescued me and put me here with my real family.
These are some thoughts I was having reading the Blog.
See you soon. Love you all.
Kathy