Thirsty4Truth

"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matthew 6:14-15

The above verses are used to teach that we are to forgive others before they ask for forgiveness, or even acknowledge that they have done something wrong. They say that if we do not forgive, then we cannot have peace with God, because then God will not forgive us when we ask for Him forgiveness. This however, is a false doctrine, which doesn't even make sense when compared to the rest of the Bible. If someone sins against you, and does not ask for forgiveness, then you are under no obligation to forgive them.

It is also preached that we make it harder on ourselves emotionally if we do not forgive, and that unforgiveness could eventually make us sick. The reason this is preached, is because of Ephesians 4:26, where it speaks about not letting the sun go down on our anger. But what most do not realize is that anger and unforgiveness are two entirely different things. As a result the two get mixed up in false doctrines, and people like you and me fall for them.

When you look at all the Bible verses around forgiveness, you will see that Jesus could not have meant to forgive everyone around you without them acknowledging their trespass. If he did mean that, then there are some serious contradictions in the Bible. Let's take a closer look...

When Does God Forgive?

The Bible makes it clear that we are to forgive as God forgives. Thus in order for us to be able to forgive correctly, we must know when God forgives us so that we can do the same for others. So let's take a closer look at when God forgives us. Does He forgive us before we ask Him for forgiveness, or does He forgive us after we repent?

I tell you if He forgave us before we repented, then ALL would enter into heaven, because He would forgive ALL unrepentant sinners, BEFORE they could ask for forgiveness. But the Bible makes it very clear that no unrepented sin will enter into heaven.

In Matthew 18:23-35 Jesus told a parable about a king and his debtor. This parable is also often used to support this false teaching. However, what most do not realize is that only part of the parable is preached. They do this because it makes it easy for them to twist the scripture, and lead us to believe that we need to forgive everyone. But we need to look at all scriptures in order to understand what they mean.

In the parable, a king forgave his servant a debt of 10 thousand talents. But this same servant who was forgiven the 10 thousand talents threw his debtor, who owed him very little, into prison until he could make the payment. When the king found out about it he said:

"'O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:

Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

And his Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." Matthew 18:32-35.

At first when you read that passage, it almost seems to imply that we should forgive everyone around us, no matter what. But let's take a closer look.

Notice in the parable that both servants asked for forgiveness, and the Lord who forgave the 10 thousand talents said to his servant who would not forgive: "O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:" The emphasis from the pulpits is put on verse 35, but very little attention is given to verse 32, when the Lord says "Because thou desiredst me."

Notice the king only forgave the debt because the servant asked to be forgiven. The king did not forgive because it was the right thing to do, nor because he had compassion. But he forgave because he was asked to forgive. Verses 24 and 25 make this very clear, that the king was not planning on forgiving the servant:

"And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment be made." Matthew 18:24-25.

The king was planning on selling his servant and his family so that the debt could be paid. He had no plans on forgiving the servant until the servant asked to be forgiven. But conveniently this is left out of the sermons, because it does not fit with the rest of their false doctrines.

How Are We To Forgive?

The Lord's Prayer is another classic example that is used to back up the false doctrine of having to forgive everyone. Jesus taught His disciples to pray "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors". Matthew 6:12. The claim is that if we do not forgive then God will not forgive us either, and if we forgive everyone around us, then God is obligated to forgive us as well. But this could not be further from the truth.

But when we pray "to forgive us as we forgive", and we forgive others before they ask for forgiveness, then we are not praying in God's will, and are asking God to do something that He can not and will not do. God will not forgive unless we repent, and neither does He require us to do so. For doing so is an abomination unto God.

The following verse is also used to back up the claim that we should forgive everyone. But notice how it says that we are to forgive as Christ forgave us.

"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." Col. 3:13

It is almost like a paradox, Christ will forgive us as we forgive others, and we are to forgive others as Christ forgives us. This might raise a lot of confusion among some, but 1 John 1:9 makes it very simple as to how God forgives.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.

Notice that we have to come to God and repent first before He will forgive us. Thus when others are sorry for their sins against us, we need to forgive them, but if they do not repent, then we are under no obligation to forgive them.

"Take heed to yourselves: 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." Luke 17:3-4

Notice how Jesus said "if he repent", and "if he return and ask for forgiveness", then, you shall forgive. So then, if a person does not acknowledge their wrong and repent, then we are under no obligation to forgive them.

One of the main reasons why this forgiveness without repentance is preached is because Jesus instructed us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to love our enemies. And according to their interpretation of what love is, you cannot love someone without forgiving them first. But the Bible has a totally different definition of what love is.