“Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

  - Luke 17.3, 4

What does it mean to cause a fault to be forgiven then unless, when you receive the sinner, by warning, exhortation, teaching, and instruction, you lead him to penance, correcting him from error, improving him from his vices, and making him such a person that God becomes favorable to him after his conversion, you are then said to cause his faults to be forgiven?

  - Cummaine Fato, The Penitential of Cummean, Irish, 7th century[1]

Confusion exists among some Christians concerning the practice of forgiveness. Whom are we supposed to forgive, and under what conditions? To what ends? And what exactly does it mean to forgive?

Some insist that we should forgive everyone who sins against us, whether they ask for forgiveness or not. It’s just what Christians do. In this view, the Christian must be ready to forgive anyone and everyone, no matter how heinous or egregious their transgression, or whether they seek forgiveness. Forgiveness is how we show that we love even the one who has sinned against us.

But this is not what God does. God does not issue a blanket forgiveness to every sinner who offends against Him. If we were to project this view of forgiveness back to God, then no one would fail of His forgiveness, all would go to heaven, and all Jesus’ and the rest of Scripture’s teaching about condemnation and hell would be untrue.

God does not forgive unconditionally. His Word is clear about what must be present in us if we may expect our sins to be cleansed, forgiven, and forgotten.

First, we must acknowledge our sin, then confess and repent of it. We must agree with God’s Word concerning the nature of our transgression, and change our minds regarding the practice of it. In the New Testament, the word for confess (homologeo) means to agree, while the word for repent (metanoeo) means to have a change of mind.

But turning away from sin is only part of what God requires. We must turn to Him, and to His righteous way (Ps. 119.59, 60), amending our ways as proof of our regret for our former behavior and love for the One Who forgives us. We must overcome our evil inclinations and behaviors with attitudes and practices that reflect the holy and righteous and good character of God and His Law (Rom. 12.21; 7.12).

God forgives when these conditions are met. This does not mean that we are earning God’s favor by such confessing, repenting, and amending of our ways. Rather, these are the means by which we demonstrate faith in God’s promises, and gain entrance to His favor, means which are graciously provided for us by God, Who owes us nothing, and to Whom we owe all.

We have no right to go beyond the Lord in the way we practice forgiveness. Certainly, we must love those who sin against us, whether or not they repent. That reflects the Lord’s practice, too. But love and forgiveness are not coterminous. We must love those who sin against us, even doing good to them as we may, but we must not forgive them unless they seek it. Forgiveness is a special act of grace, bestowed as part of a process whereby sins are confessed and repented of, harm is amended, damage is restored, love and trust are repaired, and the sinner embarks upon a new path in life.

Forgiveness has done its work when all these conditions are met and the sinner and sinned-against are reconciled with one another and with God.

Our forgiveness will only ever be incomplete in this life, since we who are called to forgive are sinners as much as those we are to forgive. But we must struggle against any tendency to harbor grudges, dwell on past iniquities, or think ourselves somehow superior to the penitents who look to us for grace. Once forgiveness is granted, the conditions for it being reasonably met, then we must live in that forgiveness, looking to the Lord for grace to help in our time of need.

Let us make forgiveness our aim when others transgress against us, but only on the terms the Lord Jesus Himself taught and practices, giving thanks to God for His forgiveness of us.

Psalm 51.1-3, 10-13 (Passion Chorale: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded)
Be gracious to me, Savior, according to Your love!
According to Your mercy, my sins, my sins remove!
O wash me, precious Savior, and cleanse me from all sin;
Look on me with Your favor, and cause my grief to end.

Create in me a clean heart, renew me from within!
Take not Your Spirit from me because of all my sin.
Salvation’s joy restore, Lord, and keep me in Your hand;
Thus shall I tell Your strong Word to sinners in the land.

Thank You, Lord, for forgiving me; help me always to live in the light of that forgiveness so that I might be pleasing to You.

Finding Forgiveness
Watch my conversation with Dr. Stan Gale, a Member of the Board of Overseers of The Fellowship of Ailbe, then order a copy of his book, Finding Forgiveness, and discover the power of forgiveness for bringing more grace into your life and congregation (click here).

Sing to the Lord!
Have you ordered your copy of The Ailbe Psalter yet? In each issue of Crosfigell, we provide a sample from the psalms you’ll find there – all 150 of them, set to familiar hymn tunes (or, if they’re not familiar, you can find them all on YouTube). God commands us to sing to Him, and He has provided us powerful, glorious songs to use when we do. Order your copy of The Ailbe Psalter by clicking here, and let your voice ring with joy to the Lord every day.

Your prayers and support
The Lord supports our work through the prayers and generous gifts of those who share our vision and are served by our ministry. As you seek Him in prayer, inquire whether He might be pleased to use you in this way. You can use the Contribute button at the website to give with a credit card or through PayPal, or you can send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction VT 05452. Thank you for prayerfully considering being part of this effort.

T. M. Moore
Principal
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All psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.