Real Forgiveness

[Anonymous77712]

Have Christians today forgotten what real forgiveness is? It seems so, because for one thing, one reason abuse is so widely spread in our churches is because we have a faulty understanding of what forgiveness actually is. Apparently, being accountable for your actions is not a good message. Forgiveness is not an excuse for someone to keep behaving badly with no consequences. Forgiveness requires genuine repentance and desire to change on the abuser's part.

[Anonymous77712]

Biblically speaking, NO ONE gets forgiven without changing his ways and turning to God and godliness. The New Testament includes an additional requirement for meriting forgiveness - accepting Jesus as one's Lord and Savior (and no one who has genuinely done that can continue abusing others). Abusers would just love an excuse to obligate us to forgive them without the slightest effort to make amends, commitment to change, or anything expected of them at all. It's the Abuser's Dream Gig - to be able to commit one evil deed after another with impunity, and then pervert the Word of God by claiming that others have to repeatedly and unconditionally forgive her. This is utter nonsense.

[hmbld]

2 hours ago, Yowm said:

At it's foundation forgiveness required the shed blood of God's Son.

Jesus died while we were yet sinners.  Would this example support that Christians are to forgive even if there is not repentance on others part?  I guess the part that gets me is the 70 times 7, to forgive, does not tell us to forgive 70 times 7 only if there is repentance on someone's part.  We are to forgive period.  Thoughts?

[gdemoss]

Forgive them for they know not what they do.  Where is the repentance required in that?