The sensitive brother or sister will recognize that we are often forgiven
without specific forsaking of sin- and therefore this must
feature in our reaction to the sins of others. The following are proofs
of this:
- David prayed for cleansing from " secret faults" (Ps. 19:12)-
things which we do not specifically repent of, and yet which are still
sinful in God's sight. All sin is sin- sin is not definable according
to our awareness of it (as witness the Mosaic trespass offerings). If
we disagree that we are forgiven for sins which we do not specifically
repent of and forsake, then we must conclude that we actually know
every one of our sins; and that just one sin, unrepented of, will keep
us from salvation. None of us has the self knowledge, nor the appreciation
of God's righteousness, to be confident that we do know each of
our sins. It is only the self-righteous who claim that they have confessed
every one of their sins. So we are driven to rely on salvation by grace-
believing that we will be forgiven for sins we commit, which we do not
recognize. If we hope for any amount of forgiveness without specific
repentance, then we ought not to make it a principle that we will never
forgive our brother unless he outwardly shows his repentance. For we
all somehow hope for forgiveness without repentance.
- Many sins for which we are forgiven cannot be forsaken. If a brother
murders another brother, that cannot be undone. He cannot promise never
to murder brother X again- that sin cannot be forsaken. David's sin
with Bathsheba was forgiven on account of his confession of
sin- there is never a word from either God or himself about not doing
it again (Ps. 32:5; 2 Sam. 12:13). Why not, if forsaking is
so vital? Because we are saved in prospect by being in covenant with
God, this emphasis on confession is understandable. We confess
that we have marred God's glory, that we have acted out of character
with the Christ-man that dwells in us. God does not then send forgiveness
down to us as if it is a parcel that drops out of the sky. He gladly
recognizes that His grace towards us in Christ, granted at baptism,
was not in vain, because we recognize our sinfulness and God's
righteousness.
- The Father offered forgiveness without repentance to the prodigal
son before there was any direct evidence of repentance- just a sign
of general regret. Indeed, it would see that the very fact the son wanted
to return to the Father’s house was quite enough to warrant his
acceptance there- and the killing of the fatted calf.
- We must bless / forgive those who persecute us (Rom. 12:14; blessing
and forgiveness are closely linked in Scripture). This is clearly to
be done without waiting for the persecutor to stop or repent. Forgiveness
without repentance has to be offered.
- The Lord saw a connection between the way the sinful woman kissed
Him much, and the way she “loved much” (Lk. 7:45,47 RVmg.). He then
told a parable about her and Simon the Pharisee. His point was that
they both owed Him money and He had forgiven the debt, but He was looking
for an appropriate response from them. Yet there is no evidence that
Simon had repented before receiving that forgiveness.
- We are to forgive the person who ‘repents’ 490 times / day for the
same sin. Clearly enough, their repentance wasn’t sincere. Yet we are
still to show forgiveness without waiting for repentance. The parable of Mt. 18:28-30 implies that forgiveness involves us not requiring
of our brother that which we could legitimately demand of him. That surely is
saying that we are to forgive our brother without demanding full repentance
in terms of 'putting things right'. We are to follow God's example of frankly
writing off the debt.
- Marriage out of the faith is a terrible sin- a child of God joining
themselves in covenant with a worldling who is alienated from God. The
sin is not just committed as the couple stand before the Registrar and
have their names inscribed on the marriage certificate. The sin was
going on all through their courtship; a saint of God was loving an enemy
of God. And after the wedding, the sin continues. There is no proof
that after the believer repents, the marriage is then recognized by
God on the same basis as that of believing partners. God does not automatically
join the repentant believer with their worldling partner- as shown by
God's command to those who married out of the Faith in Ezra's time to
separate from their partners (Ezra 10:17-44). But when a believer repents
of their marriage out of the Faith, we accept that God will tolerate
their sinful situation, which does violence to His principles of separation
from the world. But we do not insist on the erring believer forsaking
the wrong relationship. Any who insist that repentance and forgiveness
requires a public forsaking of the action ought logically to insist
that those who marry out of the Faith must separate if they
repent.
- Christ prayed that the soldiers would be forgiven [without repentance]
because " they know not what they do" . The fact He asked
for their forgiveness shows that they were guilty of sin, although they
were ignorant of it- and had therefore not repented. How could they
repent of crucifying Christ while they were actually doing it? They
may well have regretted doing what they were forced to do by reason
of the circumstances in which they found themselves. Thus Christ knew
that forgiveness was possible without specific repentance and forsaking.
The reply 'But that only applies to sins of ignorance!' is irrelevant-
Christ's attitude still disproves the hypothesis that forgiveness can
only be granted if there is a forsaking of sin.
- God forgives men on the basis of their faith in the blood
of Christ, and association with it by baptism; " not by
works of righteousness, which we have done" (Tit. 3:4-8). God's
basis of salvation is not works. We must be careful not to
insist on 'forsaking' sins in physical terms to the extent that we too
preach justification by works. Just one sin deserves death. No amount
of forsaking that sin can change that sentence. God's way of escape
is for us to be in Christ, so that He looks upon us as if we
are Christ, imputing Christ's perfect character to us. Therefore forsaking
sin is not in itself the basis of salvation; rather is it faith in Christ.
Of course, true faith shows itself in works. But none of us has the
degree of faith which we ought to have, and therefore none of us does
the amount or type of works which we should. To insist that someone
shows their faith by specific works, e.g. certain changes in their marital
status, is to insist that there is a direct, definable relationship
between faith and the precise type of works which that faith leads to.
Yet we are not so strict with ourselves. The faith and works of each
of us are far from complete. Surely one of the greatest expressions
of faith in the work of Christ is to desire to break bread. Yet this
is what has been refused to those who profess themselves to have a struggling
faith in their redeemer.
- The man of Mt. 18:26 was forgiven his debt due to his desire
to repay it, even though in fact he couldn't repay it. Sin can, in a
sense, never be put right, it can only be covered over. And the man
was expected to reflect his experience of forgiveness in how he dealt
with his brother.
- " Sin is the transgression of the law" . Each of us, therefore,
lives in sin to a certain extent, looking for forgiveness without repentance.
A brother may smoke; he may feel that each smoke is a sin, because his
conscience condemns him. But this does not affect whether we overlook
his weakness, and tolerate him in fellowship. Again, it is inconsistent
to tolerate a brother who admits he is living a way of life which is
in one aspect 'sinful', and yet not to tolerate a brother with an ongoing
spiritual problem in another area. Can we prove that we are
supposed to recognize degrees of sin in each other? And how can we prove
that e.g. loss of temper is better or worse than any other area of failure?
From the above points it should be evident that the equation 'Forgiveness=
repentance + forsaking' is just incorrect as it stands. It is not true
across the board. Even if this is true of God's forgiveness of us, does
it hold true for our forgiveness of others? And where is the proof that
we must withhold our fellowship from someone whom we cannot forgive?
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