Forgive only when asked for forgiveness?
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."
If you pay attention to the first part of the verse, you will notice that it is a conditional, that is, and if, then statement.
So if a believer sins and you rebuke him, then either he repents or does not repent. Jesus said if he repents, then we are to forgive him, but also the opposite is true to, if he does not ask for forgiveness, then we should not forgive the believer.
This goes against my intuition that we are to forgive people no matter what! Maybe some Greek training can help us out here, but I am a little shocked about this. Nevertheless I do think we need to have a forgiving heart in case of any episode in our life where we are wronged.
"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."
If you pay attention to the first part of the verse, you will notice that it is a conditional, that is, and if, then statement.
So if a believer sins and you rebuke him, then either he repents or does not repent. Jesus said if he repents, then we are to forgive him, but also the opposite is true to, if he does not ask for forgiveness, then we should not forgive the believer.
This goes against my intuition that we are to forgive people no matter what! Maybe some Greek training can help us out here, but I am a little shocked about this. Nevertheless I do think we need to have a forgiving heart in case of any episode in our life where we are wronged.
