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repentance. After all, we are expected to repent of our sins before we are baptized. Just as in God's great wisdom He does not give blanket forgiveness to all, we are not to give blanket forgiveness to all who offend us.
The slave I referred to earlier in Matt 18:23-35 who had just pleaded for the kings mercy, and got it, turned right around and refused to forgive those who owed him. The king knew from the report that this slave did not really have a repentant heart so he put him in prison. The king knew repentance and forgiveness go hand in hand.
In Romans 12:18 it says, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." We are able to be ready, both in our hearts and in our minds, to forgive those who offend us. We are to continually offer the chance for forgiveness as with outstretched arms. When we get the chance to forgive the person, it isn't a silent forgiveness just as repentance isn't a silent repentance. We are to tell the other person or people involved. If we stay silent we will not promote peace and unity with our fellow man.
We extend the desire to forgive the other person as Jesus did from the cross. Then we wait for the offender to come to us with a repentant heart as Jesus waits for us. We wait anxiously to restore the relationship and have fellowship with the other party.
I'm sure it is a personal matter if someone wants to forgive another without the verbal expression of repentance. For some, there may have been a positive move toward repentance with all the outward signs of change. When a person wants to forgive another without the verbal exchange of repentance and forgiveness, he may lift a load of guilt and anger from his or the other person's conscience. In doing so the union may be precarious. The weight of the offense may not be fully lifted and trust not fully restored to the relationship. Take care, to have a fully restored relationship there needs to be repentance before forgiveness.
Each relationship must be sprinkled with a little grace. We must overlook some things that other people do that may have possibilities of offending us. It is up to us to discern what we overlook, remembering the verse we learned when we were children; "Do unto others as we would have them do unto us." That verse, a Biblical principle, not only applied to us then it applies to us even more now. As mature adults we should know more about what would hurt us now. This law of "Do unto others as we would have them do to us" is just as applicable for the one who may overreact to the offense as the one who offended.
The apostle John, in I John 1:9 said, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This denotes a coming to grips with our sin and repenting of them. We verbalize our sin to God. We should also verbalize our sin to the person offended. Just as we should not expect to be at one with our, offended, God if we have not repented of our sins before Him, we should not expect to be at one with our, offended, brother without verbal repentance.
Repentance and forgiveness go hand in hand. There is not one without the other. If we are willing to accept the saving blood of Jesus, we must also accept the terms of forgiveness. Forgive those who ask for it. Be ready to forgive those who have offended us but have not asked for forgiveness. If we have offended anyone, go, express repentance to the one you have offended to restore the relationship.
Eph. 1:7 says, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace."
We should remember the terms of the Lord's forgiveness when we commemorate the body and blood that made it all possible. Let us remember the terms of forgiveness for each other in our daily lives.
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