Thirsty4Truth

When you ask Christians what forgiveness means, the majority of them will tell you that it means to let go of the situation, and to overcome the anger associated with it. To back this up, they use Ephesians 4:26:

"Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:" Ephesians 4:26.

However, this verse makes no mention of forgiveness. And most people do not understand that anger and unforgiveness are two entirely different things. You should always let go of your anger, but you do not have to forgive if you are not asked to do so.

Because of the misunderstanding of this verse, people believe that we can forgive, but that we do not have to continue in a close relationship with those who do not acknowledge their wrong. Ask any Christian, and they will tell you that you do not have to continue in a close relationship, but that you have to forgive if you want to be saved. The reason that we do not have to continue in a close relationship with them is because they know, and we all know that it is impossible to have a relationship with someone who will not admit their wrong doing towards us.

According to Christianity, if we want to be forgiven by God, then we must forgive everyone around us, even if they do not ask us for forgiveness. The Bible, however, does not teach that we have to forgive others unless they repent of their wrongdoing towards us. As a matter of fact it condemns that kind of behaviour. (see Proverbs 17:15 and Matthew 18:17)

The reason for this misunderstanding is that most people do not know what Biblical forgiveness means.

What Does Biblical Forgiveness Mean, and How Does God Forgive

The Bible makes it very clear that we need to repent before God can forgive us. If we do not repent, then God cannot have fellowship with us, because we are too wicked. We are also instructed to forgive as God forgives us, which basically means that we can overcome the anger, but we should not forgive until repentance has been made.

In addition, I find that when God forgives us our sins, then our relationship with Him is restored. Once we have repented and He has forgiven us, then we are justified, which means that we have been declared free from the blame of guilt. The line of communication is restored, and we can once again come to God with confidence, knowing that we are saved.

So then, when we truly forgive as God forgives us, then our relationship with the person who wronged us will be restored as well. It will be restored in the same way that our relationship is restored with God when He forgives us. We will once again get together with that person at social events, and continue with all other activities that we engaged in previously.

But if we say that we have forgiven, yet refuse to continue in a relationship, then we have not forgiven. But rather, we have merely overcome the anger. This is what Ephesians 4:26 is talking about, to not let the sun go down on our anger.