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Can You Forgive Someone Who Won't Repent?
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
It Won't Work
What Is Forgiveness?
Ephesians 4:32
Authorized (King James) Version
32 and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Forgiving Them is Based on Their Repentance
What to Do
Confront and Seek Reconciliation
Matthew 18:15-20
Authorized (King James) Version
15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee,
go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone:
if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he will not hear thee,
then take with thee one or two more,
that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them,
tell it unto the church:
but if he neglect to hear the church,
let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
18 Verily I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:
and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say unto you,
That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask,
it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.
The Goal in Forgiving is to Please God
(scriptures on pleasing God)
A lot of people that we got problems with aren't going to reconcile as easily as you will. This is what Jesus is saying in Mt. 18:16, 17. Be willing to forgive and reconcile in order to please God, because pleasing God is what your goal is, not your rights, dreams and self-esteems. We've got to dent ourselves to please God. Please God not self.
forgive others because God has forgiven you (). God will not forgive others who do not forgive others (Mt. 6:14, 15). But forgiveness doesn't work on the unrepentant. Those who won't stop fighting you.
Forgiving someone that doesn't want to reconcile with you won't work cos they're going to keep fighting you. To forgive others as Christ did means that you forgive after they repent. God tells us to repent first and then we'll be forgiven. If people won't repent of fighting you, how can you forgive them for the trespass is still being committed against you ... you understand that you need first to repent to get God's forgiveness of your sins ... this same truth appliers to your relationship with people ... we must forgive others as Christ has forgiven us.
Acts 2:38
Authorized (King James) Version
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Pleasing God
Jesus wants us to talk to people who have problems with us to try and repent, forgive and reconcile because that's what pleases God. Christians will because they want to please God too. But some Christians won't repent. Here's what Jesus says to do about the unforgiving.
Matthew 18:16-20
Authorized (King James) Version
16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. 18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
If they're Christian, you get your pastor and church involved if they won't on their own like you are, aim on your own to please God and seek repentance and forgiveness to please God. If they won't listen to you and the church, which means that they are rejecting God, you treat them as heathen or tax collector which means to avoid them and stop talking to them. In vv. 18-20, Jesus is talking about prayer. if they won't listen to you alone. if they won't listen to you and the church. The you reject them and keep them in prayer. Jesus is saying in vv. 18-20 that God is able to save that soul ...
The Problem with the Unforgiven
Ever feel like a doormat or a punching bag? it's calle3d a "whipping boy" in slang. The "scapegoat mentality". Someone to take anger out on ... a lot of people experience unforgiveness and say that forgiveness doesn't work because you lose the fight, and they keep hurting you ... that's because you're forgiving someone who won't repent. You forgiver sand they keep fighting you and they call it "submitting" to God. It means you lose your self-value, and they get theirs because no matter what they do, you forgive, and they don't repent. Forgiveness doesn't work on people who won't repent from fighting you. God wants us to be willing to forgive, but there's some people that will remain your enemy and won't forgive. Forgiving them won't work. You have to deal with them as an unbeliever which means to keep them in prayer and have no fellowship with them. Which means to avoid them and have nothing to do with them.
"Trials Turned to Gold" (Keith Green - 1977)
World without end. Amen.