Forgiveness has been cheapened. Our parents, pastors, and influencers are preaching a free forgiveness that carries no weight and validates sin. So many of us have been taught forgiveness of sin without the offender repenting is holy. Its reflecting Christs forgiveness for us, but are we forgetting our end of the bargain? Repentance is a key and vital part of our forgiveness and salvation. It does not cost us money, but there is sacrificing of the flesh involved. Christ does not forgive without repentance. A true born-again Christian cannot sin without feelings of shame and sadness. A Christian will actively set up safety checks in their life to prevent themselves from repeat sin. If a person is saying they are Christian but are living in sin I would like to refer to Matthew 7:21-23.
That being said, when a Christian offends another Christian there is also repentance. There is a desire to make things right and never repeat the offence. The sin of selfishness, greed, jealousy, or pride is always involved in human altercations. But for those walking in sin wearing a false signal of righteousness they may excuse their sin and not want to face any consequences or have to change anything.
Many of these characters have been our authority. Teaching us this cheap and free forgiveness so that they can prey on us without reckoning for their wrong.
Consider this: A mom abuses her daughter either emotionally, physically, or mentally. She also teaches her daughter that to be a good follower of Christ she must always forgive right away. She must forgive and forget because that is what Jesus did. This allows the mother to regularly offend and harm her child for years without fear of her daughter cutting her off or demanding better treatment. Her daughter just keeps forgiving! This gives this wicked mother access to a grown man (son in law), grandchildren, and perhaps a few other extended members of the family that she can also manipulate through the daughters perfect “forgiveness and Obedience”.
Satan has used the mothers false teaching to bear false witness against God. Because those grandchildren will see that miserable relationship and put it in the same box as Christianity and deem our faith abusive or fake.
Let’s look at a few scriptures about forgiveness:
1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We must confess our sin for the forgiveness to take place.
Jesus didn’t say “forgive and forget”. He said “Go call him out in love and repair this relationship”.
As you continue reading in Mathew 18 you will see Peter asking how many times should we forgive. Jesus then says 70×7. Everyone quotes this part without acknowledging the earlier part of the discussion. Peter is asking how many times he should repeat the process Jesus just described. He’s not asking “how many times should I bend over and take it?”
We as Christians have done such a great job spreading this false sense of cheap forgiveness that many think that that is how Jesus works too. That he forgives our sin daily without repentance or change of heart. We can justify our sin all day every day. God is just forgiveness to this new generation.
It is time to demand repentance and remember our God is also just. He is not a rug to be tread on and neither are we.