{"id":10337,"date":"2018-08-12T18:36:01","date_gmt":"2018-08-12T18:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pjhmail.wordpress.com\/?p=10337"},"modified":"2018-08-12T18:36:01","modified_gmt":"2018-08-12T18:36:01","slug":"forgiveness-and-repentance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/10337\/forgiveness-and-repentance\/","title":{"rendered":"Forgiveness and Repentance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor Clark,<\/span><\/p>\n

I found your business card (“Speaking in Tongues at Spirit Baptism”) on the restroom sink of the public library in South San Francisco, California, (in case you’re curious).\u00a0 I am new to your website, I am 59 years old (in the flesh), 35 years in Christ, male, and I live in San Francisco.\u00a0 I have questioned Matthew 6:14-15 (and other similar verses) maybe almost as long as I’ve been a Christian:\u00a0 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.\u00a0 \u00a015 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”;\u00a0 (ASV).\u00a0 I’m sure we agree that God is perfect and righteous, and that God does not (typically, if ever) forgive a person without that person being repentant and having saving faith.\u00a0 So the question arises, “Does God expect me to forgive one who is unrepentant and in bad faith?”\u00a0 In other words, does God expect of me what He does not expect of Himself, which would seem peculiar?<\/span><\/p>\n

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In short, no.\u00a0 God expects us to be like Him, who has never forgiven anyone who refuses to repent.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Of course there is no justification for my hating or having an ill heart toward anyone — I should bear my cross, and die to self, care for all people in conjunction with “the grace of God which [is] with me,” and hopefully win others over by my new godly heart and conduct.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I disagree, a little.\u00a0 God hates some people and things, and we do, as well, if we are like him (e.g., Ps. 5:5; 139:22; Rev. 2:6).\u00a0 Still, as you say, ill-will is ungodly.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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We sometimes hear it said conversationally that we should (or do) “forgive and forget”:\u00a0 Am I really forgiving if I do not forget?\u00a0 So, maybe forgiving does not include forgetting?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nobody really \u201cforgives and forgets\u201d, unless he has a good heart and a bad memory.\u00a0 God forgives, but He never forgets.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Two verses come to my mind:\u00a0 “If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men,” Romans\u00a012:18\u00a0(ASV), which suggests to me that we might not “be at peace” with some, and therefore might not be on friendly terms with some.\u00a0 And if I’m not “at peace” with some, can I truly be forgiving of them?<\/span><\/p>\n

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A right relationship with some people is to have no relationship with them at all.\u00a0 After all, God did cast Satan out of heaven.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 And Paul exhorted the saints to keep no company with stubbornly sinful brothers and sisters. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Romans\u00a012:13\u00a0means only that we should do our part to be at peace with others.\u00a0 People who do not repent are not doing their part, and we cannot do their part for them.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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And 1 Corinthians\u00a015:33\u00a0(ASV) tells us, “Be not deceived:\u00a0 Evil companionships corrupt good morals,” which suggests that we should not allow our “good morals” to be corrupted by keeping “evil companionships.”\u00a0 If I believe someone to be “evil company” and a corrupting influence on me, and if I believe it necessary to distance myself from someone for these reasons, it seems that my “forgiveness” of that person is dependent on the person’s faith and repentance (which seems similar to God forgiving us in response to our faith and repentance).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Amen.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Because of my knowledge of and history with a person, I might find it difficult if not impossible to trust that person;\u00a0 am I truly forgiving a person if I feel that I cannot trust that person?<\/span><\/p>\n

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You are confusing forgiving a person with\u00a0willingness\u00a0to forgive.\u00a0 God is willing to forgive almost anyone, all the time, but He only forgives those who come to Him for forgiveness in the name of His Son Jesus.\u00a0 It would be absurd for you to trust an evil person.\u00a0 The way I say it is that forgiveness is the creation of God, blending a willingness to forgive in one person with repentance on the part of the another.\u00a0 If there is only repentance without a corresponding willingness to forgive (a la Judas or Esau, who repented but found no forgiveness), or if there is only a willingness to forgive without repentance, no real forgiveness can exist, even if people say that they have done it.\u00a0 If God is not in it \u2013 and he is not, if there has been no repentance \u2013 then it is just another phony claim by religious men.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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When we’re told that love (agape) believes all things (1Co 13:7), does this mean that one who I believe to be untrustworthy should be treated as — and thought of as — trustworthy?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Love believes\u00a0all things that are true, not all things that anyone says, whether or not he is telling the truth.\u00a0 Only the simple-minded do that, as wise Solomon once said: \u201cThe simple believe every word.\u201d\u00a0 The love of God makes us wise because it \u201crejoices in the truth\u201d, never a lie.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Or should we, on a case-by-case basis, lean on the Lord and ask for His direct guidance in answering these questions?\u00a0 Pastor Clark, I expect nothing from you in the way of response to my questions, but if you don’t mind sharing relevant convictions, I Thank you very much!<\/span><\/p>\n

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I am very impressed with your questions, and very glad that you asked them.\u00a0 Good questions are as much from the Lord as are good answers.\u00a0 In over 40 years of ministry, I have never met a soul who had not been taken in by the Christian myth of \u201cunconditional love\u201d, and by the nonsensical Christian doctrine of \u201cwe have to forgive everybody\u201d.\u00a0 If we forgive the man who does not repent for robbing our house, we are inviting him to do it again.\u00a0 Such Christian teaching does not make us godly; it makes us suckers.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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I am in the process of reading your article, “Speaking in Tongues at Spirit Baptism.”<\/a>\u00a0 I’m sure you’ve probably received many correspondences related to your article over the years.\u00a0 My first impression is of disagreement with your stance, but I’ve only read it once, and am starting my second time through.\u00a0 In a couple of months or so, I want to get back to you with some thoughts related to it.\u00a0 I am confident of my salvation, and I have never spoken in tongues;\u00a0 however, I believe in the legitimacy of tongues as a gift.<\/span><\/p>\n

Love your Brother in Christ,<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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That would be great.\u00a0 Please do.\u00a0 But I might have a better idea.\u00a0 My wife and I, and another couple, will be in your area in early September, visiting friends. \u00a0 Maybe we could meet and discuss these things face to face.\u00a0 What do you think?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you so much for writing.\u00a0 God bless!\u00a0 The Lord is with you.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Your servant in Christ,<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

John<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pastor Clark, I found your business card (“Speaking in Tongues at Spirit Baptism”) on the restroom sink of the public library in South San Francisco, California, (in case you’re curious).\u00a0 I am new to your website, I am 59 years old (in the flesh), 35 years in Christ, male, and I live in San Francisco.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-qa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}