If He Repent, Forgive Him

Jesus said in Luke 17:3, “Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.” Many, even some Christians, evidently are more “charitable” than God himself, and more “charitable” than God instructs us to be in this verse. They say we are to forgive people of sins they commit against us, even if the one who has sinned refuses to repent. I quote from a article written recently by a gospel preacher: “Yet someone might ask, ‘How can we be expected to forgive one who has not yet repented? Isn’t that asking too much?’ No it is not!” I am not sure about everything the writer of this article may have had in mind in these statements, but what is actually said certainly seems to contradict Luke 17:3, doesn’t it?

We Are Only To Forgive After Repentance

The truth is we are to forgive our “brother” if, and only if, he repents. A comparison of Luke 17:3 to some similarly worded passages will verify this fact. Acts 8:37 reads “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest” (be baptized). That implies the eunuch shouldn’t be baptized if he didn’t believe, correct? Speaking of the gospel Paul said in I Cor 15:2 “By which also ye are saved, IF ye keep in memory what I preached unto you …” The “if’ in this verse implies if the Corinthians didn’t keep in memory what Paul had preached unto them, they would not be saved by the gospel. I John 1:9 reads, “IF we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins …” Isn’t it is easy to see the “if” in this verse implies if we don’t confess our sins, God will not forgive us of our sins? Jesus said in Matt 6:14, “For IF ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you …” The implication is if we don’t forgive others, then God will not forgive us. And that is exactly what is stated by Jesus in the very next verse. Now back to Luke 17:3, “IF he repent, forgive him.” Can we not likewise see the “if” in this verse implies if the brother does not repent, then we are not to forgive him?

We should also be able to realize the truth of Luke 17:3b by all the passages that teach God does not forgive until repentance occurs (Luke 13:3, II Pet 3:9, Acts 2:38, 8:22, etc.). If God forgives only after repentance on the part of the sinner, doesn’t it make sense that we should do the same – especially since we are to forgive “AS God … hath forgiven you” (Eph 4:32)?

What This Does Not Mean

The fact that we are not to forgive until one repents does not mean the following things (Lev 19:18, Eph 4:31, Col 3:19, Heb 12:15, James 5:9):

1. It does not mean we harbor resentment toward that person until we forgive. No, we should never harbor resentment toward anyone for any reason.

2. It does not mean we have pent-up hostility toward anyone, ever.

3. It does not mean we hate the one who has sinned against us.

4. It does not mean we do not love (or withhold love from) the person who has sinned against us.

5. It does not mean we hold a grudge, are bitter, or are vengeful toward the person who won’t repent.

6. It does not mean we stand in the place of final judgment over their souls. Only God does that (II Cor 5:10).

7. It does not mean we do not forgive once he does repent; no we must forgive and forget once repentance occurs.

8. It does not mean we come under the censure of Matt 6:15, “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Since Luke 17:3 teaches us we are not to forgive without repentance, then Matt 6:15 must be condemning one person who will not forgive a second, even when the second does repent.

What This Does Mean

The fact that we are not to forgive one until he repents means the following things:

1. This does mean we are NOT to tell someone they are all right even before they repent. This will likely cause the person to lose his salvation at the end because we did not warn him as we ought (Ezek 3:18, Acts 20:26-27,31). If you tell him that he is okay, then he is less likely to eventually repent. Why should he, if he thinks he okay?

2. This does mean we are to continue to rebuke the person. That is what our text says, “If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him …” Once he repents, and we forgive him, then we are not to continue to rebuke him. But until he repents, he needs rebuking. If we stop rebuking him (forgive him), we will share in his guilt (Lev 19:17).

This Error Would Preclude Withdrawal

Consider also: If we are to forgive our brother even without repentance, that would preclude us ever practicing withdrawal. Withdrawal (I Cor 5, II Thess 3:6,14) is basically a strong, extended form of rebuke, and if we can forgive a person in sin before they repent, that forgiveness means we have to stop rebuking them (that’s one thing forgiveness implies – Luke 17:3), and we can’t ever bring up that sin against them again (Heb 8:12). Withdrawing from them would be ruled out if we have forgiven them (II Cor 2:6-7). This would contradict many passages such as Matt 18:15-17.

Conclusion

Some gospel preachers think we ought to forgive regardless. But Jesus said, “if he repent, forgive him.” And we should always agree with Jesus. Luke 17:3 means exactly what it sounds like it means; there is no reason to compromise it.

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