Forgiveness (framed) against justice and righteousness

Preamble: My long-distance pastor friend, Ps Prentis, recently wrote a blog entry entitled, “What ever happened to forgiveness”; in it he touched on the tension between forgiveness and justice and righteousness.  He touched on tolerance, and selective tolerance. I commented on that entry; from that comment, with some additional points, I put up this entry, here, below.

Does it mean, to be just and righteous is to mean we cannot be forgiving?  Or is it we MUST still be forgiving, even as we are to be just and righteous.  Are we to tolerate injustice and unrighteousness? Or do we tolerate some but NOT others, like we tolerate when we are NOT directly hit by it (or NOT yet!), the injustice or unrighteousness? And, tolerate means we can numb our conscience? Such issues cannot be easily addressed in an article of a few pages; what I write below is just touching the surface only, so to speak.

Indeed we should be a people of justice.  The Word has it (in Ps 89:14) that the foundation of God’s throne (and therefore, rule) is the twin pillars of justice and righteousness.  And it added love and faithfulness (mercy and loving-kindness) [be allowed] to come before Him.  And so, rightly, we should be indignant with all these horrendous crimes/sins we hear and seen on the news (TVs, etc) all over the world.  We should NOT numb our conscience to all of these, and could just regard all these as “it is like that-one-lah”.  We read that Jesus was indignant before; He was indignant when He saw the Temple was used as a “den of robbers”. 

Should we be tolerant of such wrongful acts or sins (like those we hear and seen on the news)? I think a simple yes or no, is NOT the way to answer such issue, for different people have different idea of what tolerance is to include and mean.  Then, is there or is there NOT an issue of we need to forgive the people who did those wrongful acts or sins that we are NOT directly being impacted by it at the moment?

The perspective from the Word I believe includes this:

Sins we do NOT tolerate, meaning we should NOT just let these offences just continue on, unrestrained.  It means we cannot apply caveat emptor into this and say, “Each is to beware; you just watch out yourself; it is like that, ‘a dog-eat-dog world’; if you get mugged, too bad for you-lo.”  No, that is the animal world; we are NOT animals.  We are Man, NOT animals (No, I don’t believe we are/from monkeys!)  Sin is to be hated, and NOT to be taken lightly.  We don’t condone sins, or just ignore them, or excuse them.

Even if the wrongs or sins are NOT done to us, directly (but on other people, like we hear or see them on the news), still wrongs/sins are wrongs/sins; they should NOT be tolerated, and so, when we are in position of influence, we should influence accordingly.  For example, if bullying is happening in the school where you are a teacher, even though the wrong is NOT done to you, you are in a position of influence and you should try to influence, so that such a wrong (bullying) will cease.  The attitude of “Nowadays, it is rampant in schools, I will just teach my subject (like Mathematics), that’s all”, is NOT right.  There are channels which we can use to influence (so that the wrong/sin will cease), and we should use them.

We still love the sinner!  Does the Word prescribe that?  I believe so.

(But if you are asking if the phrase of “love the sinner but hate the sin” is from the Bible, DIRECTLY, it is NOT.  Its origin is believed to be from St. Augustine’s Letter 211 (c. 424) [Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum - translates roughly to "With love for mankind and hatred of sins."] Some say that Jude 1:23 pointed to it; “Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.” {NLT version – other versions read differently}  Others said that the story of the adulterous woman who was NOT stoned pointed to it.). The phrase is NOT directly from the Bible, but the way is.

How does it work; hate the sin but NOT the sinner?  It cannot make sense until you and I identify with God.  I repeat you can be hating sin and loving the sinner only when you are identified with God.  In this respect, identification with God, means “That is what God, in His holiness and love, would like to see happening, and we agree to it, subscribe to it, and give effect to it, we having been a recipient of it.” 

Justice and righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne; we can see it said in Ps 89:14 (as mentioned above), and we can also see it repeated in Ps 97:2.  This means God actually have all the right to “do sinners in” immediately, so to speak.  He has [however] allowed love and faithfulness [mercy and lovingkindness] to come before Him. 

What does the second part of Ps 89:14 about love and faithfulness to go before Him, mean?  It means in His administration of His rule with justice and righteousness as the pillars, He allows love and faithfulnesss [mercy and lovingkindness] a voice – to speak for the offender or mediate, so to speak.   And so, God, in His mercy has often refrained from punishing immediate (letting out His wrath) (But note that still, it does NOT mean He has given up His right to punish or chastise, immediate. It also does NOT mean the foundation of God’s rule is love and faithfulness; that would be wrong.  The foundation is still justice and righteousness). 

The overall counsel of the Word tells us that God in His love, wants to give people opportunities to turn from the wrongs or sins, or to repent.  God is a holy God, and accordingly, justice and righteousness is foundation of His rule and Kingdom. It is NOT His desire that we be destroyed from His holiness (holiness’ demand); rather it is His desire that we be forgiven, so much so that, He gave His own Son, Jesus, to be the atonement for our sins. We have been a recipient of such love and faithfulness of God, haven’t we?  Yes, we have; otherwise, we would have been “dead-meat” a long time ago!

How do we go from here?  I perceive this:  “We do NOT administer justice ourselves”.  What do I mean by that?  One, we are NOT to administer justice according to our own righteousness and justice.  The justice and righteousness are those of God, NOT our own.  Two, we do NOT administer justice ourselves in that we do NOT administer justice for our own case. 

Then, there is no justice?  No, God deals with the justice on our behalf; and it is we have to let God deals with the justice as He wishes.   But why?  Because He is your master! We turn to the metaphor of a slave-master relationship or we can look at a child-father relationship, in our attempt to understand this proposition.  I will try to be brief and use the child-father relationship. 

Now, suppose a child of yours [A] (and so, you are the father) bullied another child of yours [B], who incidentally, has previously bullied his younger sister(!); how should this be handled? Is B to administer his own justice, in that B is going to take matters into his own hand?  The answer is no.  Is B to administer his own justice, in that, according to his own sense of justice and righteousness, he would do A in, so to speak, like maybe get a friend to push A off a tall building!  It is a no, too.  B is NOT to take things into his own hands, and he also cannot apply his own justice. [Sound familiar? Cain and Abel story?!]

What would you, the father, say to B?  What is the thing that B is to do?  B has to tell himself this: “I will tell daddy (you, the father), and let daddy deal with A, that A have bullied me”.  B has to remind himself that he, too, previously has done wrong (he did bully his younger sister or did other wrongs to his siblings). 

Now, you, the father, do you tell B this, “You should hate your brother, A; he has done you injustice!”? Or do you tell B NOT to hate or bear grudge or harbour resentment and bitterness against A? 

You, the father may say this to B, “My son, remember, the last time you bullied your sister, I forgave you, should you NOT also forgive your brother, A?  Son, you should just forgive him, A; and let me deal with him.”  A word to sum this, is “deference” (Believers are slaves to Christ Jesus, the Master; slaves don’t administer their own justice [when injustice is done to them]; they defer it to their master, and it is up to their master to deal as the master deems fit – same idea). 

We can see, it is NOT bullying is NOT wrong, but it is that B is to forgive A; it is that B has no longer the right to matter of forgiveness, he (B) is to forgive; the right to forgive or NOT to forgive, lies with the father.

We have wronged God and wronged other people, but God has forgiven us, by grace.  We, as a believer, no longer has the right to “NOT forgive”; we are to forgive, and defer justice for wrongs done to us, to God for Him to deal with, as He knows fit.  Scripture said vengeance belongs to God (and so, NOT to us [no longer, to us]). 

Why all over the world (thank God, it is still so!), do we find, we do NOT take the law into our own hands?  When wrong is done to us, we don’t take the law into our own hands; someone, the authority (police, judge, etc), administers justice for the case.  And these “magistrates”, they are under-magistrates to the Great Magistrate (God).  “Under-“ means there are matters which we may have to defer to the one above (this idea, also applies to under-shepherds; we [pastors, spiritual leaders] are under-shepherds; the Lord is the Great Shepherd).  We can understand, the man-magistrate, he does NOT deal with the (personal) forgiveness matter; and rightly, it is so, for the forgiveness matter is a matter between the offender and the victim.  And so, our forgiveness for another who offended us, is independent of legal proceedings of a court or any out-of-court settlement.  Forgiveness is NOT “if or when I get the damages/compensation [the court is going to award to me], I will forgive him-lo!” If it is merited by the offender [compensate you back], it is no forgiveness!  Forgiveness is to be BEFORE THAT, independent of any recompense.

In this sense, a court does NOT damn a criminal to Hell, directly; the only case of it is “helping” one (though NOT culpable) to Hell is when there is immediate capital punishment, where unrepentant offender is summarily executed, leaving the death-convict little or no time to repent.  As a side, so my view on capital punishment is that it should be reserved for extremely bad cases, if at all, we do NOT want to do away with it; and when there is capital punishment, actual execution should NOT be soon, to give time and opportunity for the death-convict to come to the Lord, and/or repent (I know it still costs money to keep a death-row convict in prison; but I still say, “So what!”).

Bro Anthony, are you saying, when we are wronged, we cannot ask for compensation of sort?  No, I am NOT saying that; but you must forgive first (in your heart; our [believers’] forgiveness is rendered [out of] “unto the Lord”), and it is independent of any recompense.  You can ask for recompense, but whether you get or get NOT the recompense, you must in no way to double-back on your forgiveness (which you have done so, in your heart).  If NOT getting a recompense would put you in hardship, you can tell God about it, and trust that God will make a way for you.  Also, do bear in mind the overtone in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matt 18:23-35). Matt 18:35 (KJV) reads, “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” [The lord of the unmerciful servant delivered the servant to the tormentors].

Ps Prentis is right (in this blog entry) to say “We should be [a] people of justice. Forgiveness is putting ultimate justice in God's hands. Forgiveness refuses to seek revenge and hopes for repentance.”

I just want to explain a little more on the “forgiveness hopes for repentance”, although I have said above that forgiveness is independent of recompense.  We are to forgive, by grace, for Col 3:13 said that we are to forgive as God forgave us, meaning forgiving in the same way God forgave us, meaning, we, too have to forgive by grace.  By grace, means the offender does NOT need to provide any merit; and so, I was NOT wrong to say we no longer have the right to “NOT forgive” another.  We are to forgive, rightaway.

What if the offender is NOT repentant at all, even still deviant?!  We are still to forgive, rightaway, in our heart!  A distinction needs to made between forgiving (in our heart, we forgive or have forgiven) and releasing forgiveness. 

To forgive, we have to, rightaway.  You forgive first, and then you hope for repentance on the part of the offender, and so, it is forgiveness hopes for repentance.  If you have forgiven NOT, there is no forgiveness, and so, there is NOT the “forgiveness hopes for repentance”.  It is NOT the other way round, as far as what you (the one who has been wronged) are required to do; you don’t wait until the offender has repented before you forgive!  If it were the case, it wouldn’t be “forgiveness hopes for repentance”. 

It is only in the releasing of the forgiveness, already wrought in our heart, to the person (offender), we look for prima facie repentance.  When there is no prima facie evidence of repentance, you hold back the releasing of forgiveness to the person (BUT NOT the forgiveness of the person in your heart).  Why we do it this way, the RELEASING of forgiveness, is due to the doctrine of, we are our brother’s keeper, which much emphasizes that we must NOT mislead a brother.  If you release forgiveness to the offender, before any (prima facie) evidence of repentance, you could be signalling to him (and it is wrong) that it is alright for him to have done what he/she had done (the wrong or sin). 

Now, a test of you have NOT already forgiven another (in your heart) [which you must do], is when the person shows repentance, even just prima facie evidence (like he/she says, “I am sorry”), and is before you waiting for the releasing of forgiveness by you, to him/her, you will NOT give it.  So, do NOT deceive yourself; ask yourself, this question, “If the person is before me, now, and ask for my forgiveness, will I be able to release the forgiveness?”  If you cannot, you have NOT forgiven the person in and from your heart, which you must do.

You don’t want to forgive!  Then how are you going to deal with Matt 6:14-15, Ps Prentis has given, as his opening scripture text for his blog entry? 

Matt 6:14-15 – 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Or are you going to say, “My overly grace preacher/leader tells us that we don’t need to ask God for forgiveness anymore, once we have become a believer; and so, I can ignore that text!”  Listen to me, we have to continue to ask God for forgiveness, because we do sin.  Stop kidding yourself! By being unforgiving, you hinder your blessing from God (including, at times, the receipt of healing from the Lord for pains/sickness in our body).

Finally, before I end, I will touch on whether or NOT there is the issue of forgiveness from us for those wrongs or sins done NOT on us, directly, like those we hear or see on the news.  For the “victims”, they have to forgive; it is personal to them, and in their personal way, they have to forgive the offender(s).  For us, the “general people”, we too, forgive. 

For many, these wrongs/sins do NOT “haunt” them, in so personal sort of way, and they do NOT find it too difficult to “NOT hold resentment and hatred” towards the offender(s).  The test is still the same (the one suggested above), if the offender(s) is/are before you, and he/they ask you for forgiveness (which is unlikely the case, that the offender will ask you [who are NOT directly wronged]), will you release it?!   So, unless it “haunts” you, you only need to have the right understanding and resolved in your heart that you forgive all such non-personal offences (done to other fellow men); you don’t necessarily have to come before the Lord, over every wrong/sin in the world, to say that you forgive the offender(s), for each case, specifically; it is in your heart you forgive them all (you can and should intercede against wrongs/sins, though); and the test above applies.

For some, such non-personal offences/wrongs/sins “haunt” them in a personal sort of way, nonetheless!  For example, when a bullying incident has a racist overtone, some people let the offence hit them in a personal kind of way, and bear resentment against the race (race of the offender(s)).  When the wrong/sin hits that way, you have to specifically forgive the offender(s) in your heart, as if the wrong/sin was done to you.  The point is that as believers, we have to forgive, and cannot bear any grudge, resentment or bitterness.

Bro Anthony, are you saying the law should NOT go after the offenders?  The presence of the law (of the country) or legal system does NOT contradict the ways of God.  From Scripture, we can see a society judicial system was developed in the time of Moses, with his father-in-law’s suggestion.  It is what is in the law or how it is being administered that can offend the ways of God.  

Laws is necessary for law and order, so that there will NOT be chaos, so that there will be restraints on the part of men, so that the wrath of God does NOT get incurred so very often and to the extent that God has to mete out His wrath.  I have already said a little of my personal view on capital punishment; generally, the laws (country laws) serve to chastise, and that generally speaking, is NOT against the ways of God.  I believe, to God, He is the only one to decide on the Heaven or Hell issue (punishment in finality); and meanwhile, chastisements (punishment in chastisement) are expected and generally speaking, is part of His ways.  Some people said the saying, “You reap what you sow” is NOT from Scripture.  No, it is in Scripture, in Gal 6:7 – “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”  Generally speaking, that a person has to pay for his crimes/wrongdoings is NOT out of line with Scripture.

Anthony Chia, high.expressions

PS: I know I am far from arrived.  And so, even as I know, I still have a long way to go, in living out the truths and ways of God.

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Do I have to forgive (another man)? PART I

Preamble: Before I talked more, I want to say that some of the points here are NOT in agreement with the understanding of the “overly grace” believers who hold onto the theology that they are forgiven AT their born-again, of all their sins, past, current and FUTURE.

In this part I, we will cover a few key points in this very important subject of the need for us, a believer, to forgive another. I feel it is easier to give understanding on this topic, through point by point form; the layout of this article is in this manner.

Point No 1 – We have to forgive because we have unmerited forgiveness from God (unmerited, meaning, out of grace).

Point No 2 – We have to forgive as God forgave us.

The support for these 2 points come from Col 3:13 and Eph 4:32:

Col 3:13 – “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Eph 4:32 – “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

1) because we have received forgiveness from God, we are to forgive. When we received God’s forgiveness, we received it, out of grace (we did NOT merit it), as such, in gratefulness, subsequently we should be forgiving towards others; and

2) in the manner we received, we give, or freely we received, freely we give (Matt 10:8b). In other words, we are to release forgiveness also out of grace, without the counterparty meriting it.

3) It is clear, the 2 verses are talking about the manner in which we are to forgive, and NOT timing; the use of “as” for timing, would be like “AS I pass out” these song sheets to you; you “pass them on”, but in this case, it wasn't used this way.

Point No 3 – forgiving is practising love

Prov 17:9 – NIV84 - “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” NLT2007 – “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” God’s Word Translation – 1995 – “Whoever forgives an offense seeks love, but whoever keeps bringing up the issue separates the closest of friends.”

I like the interpretation of “covers over” as “forgive”, as in the NLT & GWT.

When God forgave us, God was promoting love. Likewise, when we forgive, we are promoting love or practising love. Love prospers when forgiveness is rendered. As a Christian, do we have to put love into practise? Yes, we must; and forgiving is a very important way.

Is it NOT true, if we kept on, the bringing up of a wrong, it will separate the closest of friends? Yes; and so, when we forgive another over a matter, don’t keep bringing it up with the person, to put the person down.

Before I go on to point No 4, let me repeat the 1st 3 points:

1) We have to forgive because we have received unmerited forgiveness from God.

2) We have to forgive as God forgave us, or we have to forgive in similar fashion/manner as God forgave us.

3) We have to forgive because to forgive is to practise/promote love.

The next point is one that is very important, and is where “overly grace” preachers would definitely NOT agree with us.

Point No 4 – forgive, for we need on-going forgiveness from God

I will express here, the “overly grace” preachers do NOT believe a believer needs to get on-going forgiveness from God; their theology is that a believer needs only be forgiven once, i.e. AT his born-again, for all his sins, past, current, AND FUTURE. According to them, a Christian should NEVER ask for forgiveness from God again!

If you are like me, unlike the “overly grace” believers, we are to believe in our need for on-going forgiveness from God; and we forgive, for we need on-going forgiveness from God.

The supporting texts are these: Matt 6:14-15, Mark 11:25 and Luke 6:37

Matt 6:14-15 – “14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” {Note the future tense used, “will not”}


Mark 11:25 – “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”


Luke 6:37 – ““Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

It is obvious that believers are being referred to, here. Don’t you agree!

If, as the “overly grace” preachers have taught, believers need only to be forgiven once, for all his sins, including future ones, AT his born-again, these verses are WRONG to suggest God will be forgiving believers subsequent to their entry into salvation.

If you are like me, believe the verses are NOT WRONG, but the “overly grace” preachers erred, and that we need to receive forgiveness of God from time to time, even as a believer, because we do sin (from time to time), we need to forgive others; for if we don’t, God will also NOT forgive us.

My purpose here is NOT to refute the claims of the “overly grace” believers, but I must state an important point on this subject of forgiving another, and that is, I repeat, “we forgive, FOR we need on-going forgiveness from God.”

Point No 5 – we are to forgive, forgive, and forgive.

Scripture texts:

Matt 18:21-22 – “21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (NIV84)


Luke 17:4-5 – 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” “

Do these verses support the notion that if one (ok, a brother) sins against you 7 times a day, for 11 days {7x11=77 times}, and on the 12th day, you don’t need to forgive him?

The answer is “No”, I believe such were a manner of speaking in that time and culture, meant to say there is no limit to the number of times. 7 was thought to be already the perfect threshold, and Jesus was saying one had to go beyond that, “go perfect, perfect” or “7,7” NOT just “7”.

It was how superlatives were expressed, like when, “Verily”, was used twice as “Verily, verily” or in the extreme superlative, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty” (“Holy”, repeated 3 times, to express extreme superlative).

Or alternatively, if you read verse 22 of Matt 18, as, “70 x 7” times (as in the NIV footnote), similarly, “1 x 7” is already considered “perfect”, there is the “7 x 7” (or 49 – the Hebrew’s jubilee), and “70 x 7” (or 490, the grand jubilee); essentially, what was intentioned, was to indicate to go, to the maximum no. of times imaginable.

What are we supposed to do? Forgive, forgive and forgive.

Point No 6 – we forgive, regardless

This is an extremely important point, and supports come from these sets of verses: Col 3:13, Mark 11:25 & Luke 17:4-5

Col 3:13 said, “Whatever grievances”, forgive. Mark 11:25 said, if you hold anything, anything at all, against anyone, forgive him. This includes all cases where you have grounds to be “unforgiving”; you have to forgive, regardless, so that God may forgive you your sins.

Luke 17:4-5 is saying the same: Just imagine, a brother wrongs you, one time, and says, “I am sorry”, and you forgive him; he repeats that, and you forgive him, and then he repeats it again, and again, for another 5 times, all in the same day, and on the 7th time, you are still to forgive him when he has said, “I am sorry” or “I repent”.

If you ask me, if a brother has wronged me 3 times in a day, I will be quite dull, to NOT realize, that brother is lacking sincerity. What this tells me is that, Jesus was deliberate in saying what He had said, which was in substance, this: “If the offender comes claiming he knows he was wrong, and now seeks forgiveness, even at face value, you just accept it, and release your forgiveness to the person.”

The exclamation of the disciples (“Increase our faith!”) was recorded to emphasise the need for us to forgive, regardless; despite we have NOT seen better or higher gauge of repentance than a mere claim, “I repent”.

Let me now take the time to explain the concept of forgiving and releasing forgiveness. Firstly, there is our forgiveness in the heart for the offender, and then there is the releasing of forgiveness to the offender. We must first forgive the offender in our heart, regardless; then we release our forgiveness to the person. In other words, before we could release forgiveness to the offender, we must have forgiven the person in our heart first. That forgiveness from the heart, in the heart, is to done, regardless, without condition attached – forgive, regardless. So, despite the Luke passage was more on releasing our forgiveness to the offender, it implicitly included forgiving.

Point No 7 – in forgiveness, we are to be our brother’s keeper

The Scripture text is this:

Luke 17:3-5 – “3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” “

If our brother sins, we are to rebuke him. We are to stress to him what he did is wrong; and this is line with our responsibility for our brother (we are our brother’s keeper!). In other words, the Luke’s account was also incorporating the teaching of how to function as a brother’s keeper in rendering forgiveness.

In living out our Christian lives, we are always to be aware, we are our brother’s keeper, and a key aspect of that role is to avoid stumbling, confusing or misrepresenting to our brother. So, even in matter of rendering forgiveness, we are here being taught, how NOT to stumble a brother. Only when he claims repentance and seeks forgiveness, which is PRIMA FACIE that he understands he has done wrong and wants to turn from it, do we RELEASE forgiveness to him.

Please NOTE that I have said, “Release forgiveness to him, and NOT forgive him”. We have to forgive the offender in our heart, regardless, and then in discharging our brother’s keeper’s role, we release our forgiveness on prima facie repentance. Prima facie simply means “as it seems, without investigation”.

By verse 3 of Luke 17, I believe Jesus was intentioned to stress 2 things:

1) we have a certain responsibility towards our brother, so that “his blood is NOT on us”; and

2) we are to forgive the brother for the wrong he had done to us.

The “repent” bit was only to indicate when to release your forgiveness to the person, NOT so much as to be a condition for forgiveness; that was why Jesus had to follow it with verse 4, to explain what He meant by “repent” that He had just mentioned.

As a timing or sequence of events, it is this: a brother sins, we tell him, that is wrong (we rebuke, in other words), and then at his claiming of repentance and seeking of forgiveness (“I repent” was to indicate this), we are to release our forgiveness to him. This was what Jesus meant when He said, if that brother sins against you 7 times in a day(!) and comes back to you, every time (!!), saying, “I repent”, you are to forgive him!!!

The text should NOT be interpreted as requiring “truly repented” as a condition for forgiveness. As I have said before, just imagine, a brother wrongs you, one time, and says, “I am sorry” (and you forgive him); he repeats that, and you forgive him, and then he repeats it again, and again, for another 5 times, and on the 7th time, you are still to forgive him when he has said, “I am sorry” or “I repent”.

As I have said earlier, Jesus was believed to be saying, “If the offender comes claiming he knows he was wrong, and now seeks forgiveness, even at face value (prima facie), you just accept it, and release your forgiveness to him.”

Jesus was intentioned more, to explain how you are to discharge your responsibility towards a “failed” brother rather than on stating there is a proviso, for forgiveness. If we remove the “repent” (its more exact meaning, as explained in verse 4) from verse 3, it would then appeared that Jesus would be instructing us to rebuke the person who has done wrong and then, on finishing the rebuke, tell the person he is forgiven – what kind of message would that be, would it NOT, be confusing to the person who sinned? Yes, it would, to say the least; it might even suggest to him as being quite alright to commit the wrong/sin in question!

Point No 8 – If there is prima facie repentance, and forgiveness is sought, you are to release it

We are still looking at the same Scripture text of Luke 17:3-5.

It is because the way Jesus explained the “repent” of verse 3, in verse 4, that made the disciples said, “Increase our faith!” Why?

Because first, Jesus required us to be our brother’s keeper, to tell the person he is wrong, then even when there is no repentance according to our “stricter gauge standard”, we are to release our forgiveness to the person as long as there is prima facie repentance (the person claims repentance, and seeks forgiveness, that will do). Isn’t that hard, and that was what the exclamation was about!

Had Jesus said, for example, “When he truly repented, you forgive him”, the disciples would NOT have said, “Increase our faith!” as an indication of it being a hard thing, Jesus was asking them to do. You see, the minimum test of “truly repented” would be the “test of time”. Given reasonable time, if the brother does NOT repeat his error, we may at least, have a degree of comfort that he has indeed repented, but that was NOT what Jesus indicated (Jesus deliberately used “7 times in a DAY”; there is no test of time).

Neither did Jesus suggest some other form of actions, like restitution (in situation where it is possible), or paid the “damages” to you, or paid the fines, or surrendered to the police. If one of those was suggested, perhaps, it would have been easier for the disciples to “stomach” it; but Jesus did NOT. Jesus said you just take it, when the person says he repents, which is basically means “he claims he repents”; and he wants your forgiveness, you are to give it!

Jesus was NOT intentioned, in these verses, to lay down a proviso we are to demand, before we forgive. Don’t quote this verse, Luke 17:3, to support our own purported understanding of requiring a “failed” brother to have “truly repented” before we forgive. We forgive …….what? Regardless. We release forgiveness on … what? Prima facie repentance.

Point No 9 – Despite we are to forgive regardless {point no 6}”, and “to release forgiveness on prima facie repentance (NOT to insist on “truly repented”) {point no 8}”, we are to repent in asking for forgiveness.

I felt it is necessary to insert this point, in case, people go away with wrong idea that we do NOT need to repent when asking for forgiveness from God, or from each other.

Despite the above exposition, on Luke 17:3-5, the text does NOT suggest, the “failed” brother need NOT truly repent of his sins. The text is addressed to the one offended, how he was to forgive and to perform his role as his brother’s keeper.

There is a very valid guide for receiving in of truths from the Word, and it is called, “Please read your own email, and NOT that addressed to another”. Here, God tells you, the offended one, what you are to do; you don’t ignore that; instead, go read the email to the offender, in which God tells him what he must do.

I repeat: “The verses do NOT suggest, the “failed” brother needs NOT truly repent of his sins”. Let me explain:

Be the first one to throw a stone at me, if you honestly was NEVER, as a believer, ever, intentioned to repent before the Lord, and then went on to commit sin again.

Do you think God did NOT forgive you on those occasions? Or that God waited until you truly repented before He forgave you? When you purportedly said that you would NOT sin again, when can God truly be sure that you would NEVER sin again? Can you tell me, for sure, when? Most of us, can’t, right!

At the same time, it is NOT God is saying you are NOT to truly repent of your sins; in fact we are, to truly repent of our sins. And so, it all comes back to the same thing said earlier, concerning Col 3:13: “we forgive in the same manner God forgives”. God forgives us at our expression of repentance, and so must we forgive another, that way; although in both cases, it is NOT that we are NOT required to truly repent. Let me explain further:

Forgiveness is expression of love, and practising forgiveness is practising love, we have seen that, above (Prov 17:9 / point No 3). Yet, because ultimately, God can only love us unto righteousness (‘ahab love), God does desire that we repent from our sinful ways.

In the same way, we love with the love of God, our brothers; and we, therefore, must love our brothers, unto righteousness, desiring him to repent; but just as God forgives out of grace, we, too, are to forgive out of grace. Just as God would release His forgiveness to us at our expression of repentance, so must we do the same – release forgiveness to another at his expression of repentance (“I repent”).

When it is out of grace, it means the person receiving it, has NOT merited it. So, really, you cannot be attaching conditions to your forgiving another, like he must truly repented first, done this and done that, or suffered this first, and that, too, before you forgive. If your mindset is that way, when the offender does NOT satisfy any of the conditions, you will be reluctant to forgive, and that goes against the wish of God, which is that we forgive, regardless.

Because God’s love for us, ultimately is love unto righteousness; we must repent; and we love our fellow brother with the love of God, we too, love him unto righteousness, and so rightly, we desire his repentance, and he should repent. So, you see, in our asking for forgiveness we are to repent.

God’s email to the offender would have read along the lines that I have just given (he should repent), yet you, the offended one, still should just go to the instruction God has given you, “Release forgiveness to the offender on prima facie repentance, just as He (God) also does, when you ask for forgiveness”.

So, please do NOT go round quoting me saying that, in asking for forgiveness, we do NOT need to repent; you have to (repent).

Many misinterpret Luke 17:3-5
Because many misinterpret Luke 17:3-5, so before I end, I repeat: It is NOT right to interpret the Luke passage to say, the Word of God said, we are to forgive another, only when that person has truly repented, excusing ourselves to harbor unforgiveness against that person. The correct rendering is, we are to forgive (from our heart, and in our heart), regardless; it is that we may hold back the release of our forgiveness, in our proper discharge of our role as our brother’s keeper. But when there is prima facie repentance, you are to release your forgiveness to him; any reluctance on your part goes only to show you have NOT forgiven the person, in your heart, in the first place; and that is NOT right.

If you ask: Can I release forgiveness to the offender without him asking for forgiveness? Yes, so long as you are still properly discharging your “brother’s keeper’s role”. Sometimes, our relation with some people is such that we know, there is already prima facie repentance on the part of the person, even without him claiming it and seeking forgiveness; in such a case, it is NOT wrong to release the forgiveness to the person (legalism is to be avoided).   To proceed to Part II, click here <Part II>


Anthony Chia, high.expressions

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