Pastor John,
In Jesus Christ, I greet you!
Do you find that BIBLICAL forgiveness means that you don’t bring a continuing sin up to an acquaintance, and only pray that God bless them without accountability?
Maxine G.
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Hi Maxine.
Thank you for this important question.
God’s kind of forgiveness always follows genuine repentance. God has never forgiven anyone who did not first repent. Solomon made this point when he said, “He that covers his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy” (Prov. 28:13).
To forgive sin before the sinner repents is only to encourage him in his sin. That kind of forgiveness is not of God, and it does more harm than good.
Pastor John