If I do not forgive others, does that mean my sins are not forgiven?
Matthew 6:14 - 15
ESV - 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
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Asked July 01 2013
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Anonymous (via GotQuestions)
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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
Matthew 6 does not teach that our eternal destiny is based on our forgiving other people; however, it does teach that our relationship with God will be damaged if we refuse to pardon those who have...
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Jadah Pleiter
Supporter
All the law and the prophets are summed up in he two greatest commandments Love God with all your heart mind and strength and love your neighbour as yourself. How can we withhold forgiveness from someone and fulfil these commandments? We reap what we sow- God is not mocked. With the measure we use it will be measured back to us. If we desire to be like Christ then we must do what he did. When we refuse forgiveness to another we are replacing God as the judge with our own self. I personally do not believe we can recieve Gods forgiveness unless we forgive but regardless it is clearly what we are called to do as Christians so why would you not?
Rod Gill
Supporter
Hi, Here I have listed all the verses in the New Testament that talk about forgiving each other. I have included my comments for your attention in red font. As you will see there are only two conditions for forgiving those who sin/trespass against us. I have not found any scripture supporting what I think is “man’s doctrine of forgiveness”. I would appreciate it if you could please show me any scripture saying otherwise. Our tradition says we have to forgive everyone. This is something that our heavenly Father does not do it Himself and yet some people think God wants us to do something that He cannot do and will not do Himself? It looks like what has caused this error is that some have confused the concept of “unconditional love” with conditional forgiveness. See, God indeed loves everyone including the sinners. We, as His children are also required to love everyone, including our enemies. On the other hand, God does not forgive everyone. He offers forgiveness to everyone, if (1) they repent and (2) confess that Jesus is the son of God. So forgiveness is conditional. It is very important to acknowledge and understand the difference. We, as His children must do the same thing. Scripture (as far as I understand) does not support the doctrine of unconditional forgiveness. Scripture does not tell us to forgive our enemies; It says “love your enemies”. The scripture only requires having an unconditional forgiveness towards your brethren. All the epistles that talk about the forgiveness are related to how believers should treat each other, not other people. Matt 6:14-15 14 rFor if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 sbut if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Mark 11:25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses. C1: Both Matt 6:14 and Mark 11:25 are saying the same thing about the same event. The same passage in Mark can easily shed more light into what our Lord was talking about. The word “anyone” in here in the first glance, may imply that we have to forgive anyone regardless. But if you look at the logic in the entire sentence we find out the process of our forgiveness should resemble God’s and that is the reason given for our requirement to forgive is that God is forgiving our trespasses. OK, the next question is that, when is it that God forgive our trespasses? Does he forgive all sins or just sins of those repentant believers? The answer is quite clear. In another words, we have to follow our heavenly Father’s forgiveness process and forgive those trespassers that sinned against us and are repentant. Matt 18:21-22 21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often ywill my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ZAs many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. C2: The key to understand this verse is the word “brother”. This verse is requiring believers to forgive their brothers in Christ. There also are some steps that we need to take before forgiving our fellow believers. This is elaborated in Luke 17:3-4, as you will see later in this document. Matt 18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Luke 17:3-4 Pay attention to yourselves! YIf your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” C3: Here it clearly spells out what the condition for forgiving is. You have to rebuke a believer that sins against you and yet is not repenting.
Pam Johnson
Supporter
Yes, God says in many places that if we do not forgive other people we will not be forgiven. We are not to hold grudges against others. If we do, then we are judging them and sitting in judgment on them. James tells us there is only one Judge and one Lawgiver. And that if we judge others we are taking God's place which no human being can do. Jesus said at the end of the Lord's prayer in Matthew, "For if you forgive men/women when they sin against you, then your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men/women their sins against you, then your Heavenly Father will not forgive your sins." if your sins are not forgiven b/c you weren't willing to forgive others, you die in your sins and go to hell. Lean on the Lord to forgive others. You could never forgive others more than you have been forgiven. I realize forgiving other people is difficult, but if you ask God to help you forgive.....He will help you forgive.
Billy P Eldred
Supporter
Your question can be viewed in two different ways. There are two ways your sins affect you. One is in your relationship with God and others and two is your Salvation. When you are saved your sins are removed. As far as Salvation, God does not remember those sins. JESUS died for those sins. But as to consequences, all sin has consequences. They affect your relationship with God and other people. They also affect you personally. Spiritually, emotionally and sometimes even physically. The sin of unforgiveness can do all those things. Unforgiveness, like many other sins can be very hard for us to accomplish on our own. We should pray that the Holy Spirit help us with it and pray that in our own heart we can really want to. I believe the Holy Spirit will help you find it.
Jim Tumlinson
Supporter
Firstly you were forgiven before you were born, the reason Jesus went to the cross. Your name was written in the lambs book of life, to get it removed you must not accept Jesus as savior. God is wanting us to forgive others because it puts us in bondage. This bondage will also lead to physical illness. Jesus was also talking to religious people when He was speaking. People who judged others yet did the same thing. Jesus was pointing out that when others do wrong and you judge them and not let it go you do the exact same thing. To forgive someone actually sets you free, most of the time they don't even know that you haven't forgiven them let alone that they did something to you. Our enemies today are actually the devil and his demons, not people, though they may behave like an enemy, as pointed out above we must love our enemies as ourselves, not demons but people who can make life difficult for us, or who may not agree with us. They may even have some demonic influence behind what they are doing, good thing is that Gods grace is sufficient for both. If you do have something against someone it is vital to let it go, and if that means you write a letter that is never sent or you go into your room and just yell and shout and purpose in your heart to forgive them and just let it go, kind of like turning the other cheek you will find that your life will go much better and you will not be consumed with thoughts of them. Once again they probably don't even know they did something to you. Also there are many cases of people becoming ill and have a lot of medical problems in their life because of forgiveness. I like to say it is better for me to be in your heart than in your head, because I can drive you crazy if I'm in your head. LOL Once again remember you were forgiven before you were born because of what Jesus did, just rest in that and ask the Holy Spirit to help you release the person that you are having trouble with letting go, and perhaps you need to talk to someone else about it that you can trust to keep it to themselves. Blessings more today than yesterday. :)
Tim Ranck
Supporter
If you "believe" your house is on fire you will get yourself and family out. A saving faith is one where the blinding light of God's love and mercy has shown into a dark heart (2 Corinthians 4:4-). The clearest passage about this topic, to my knowledge, is the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. After the king forgives a servant a debt that a lifetime of servitude could never repay, that same servant grabs a man by the throat and demands payment for a small debt. The servant is not forgiven a second time. The parable makes the absurdity of the servants actions so plain to see. The finial condemnation from the king seems like the only just descision following the servants actions.
Michael Tinsley
Supporter
Remember Jesus hadn't been crucified yet when He told his disciples about forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15), so they were still under the Law of Moses which does say you have to forgive others to be forgiven (Leviticus 19:18). Since we are under the New Covenant all our sins are forgiven, including being unforgiving but, how can we not forgive others if God has already forgiven us? If we can't or won't forgive others, no matter how grievous the offense, how can we claim true Christianity? God forgave all our personal sins and all the sins of those whom we are unforgiving towards. Can we say we know better than God who to forgive? Forgiving others may not help them at all, but it does wonders for us not to think (dwell upon) how angry or hurt they made us feel. Forgiveness allows us to focus on learning more about Jesus and what He did for us. Given a choice between anger, or peace and understanding, I know which I choose.
Daniel Carlson
Supporter
I liked Michael’s second interpretation of Mat 6:15: Unforgiveness proves one was not saved to begin with. This seems to be the conclusion of the parable of the Unforgiving Debtor (Mat 18:23-25). A servant who had just been forgiven an enormous debt turned around and demanded payment of a small debt from a fellow servant. And when he couldn’t pay, he had him thrown into prison. This made the master furious who turned the unforgiving servant over to the jailers to be "tortured." Jesus’ punch line: “This is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” An unforgiving heart is an unregenerated heart—a heart in which Christ does not abide. And if Christ does not dwell in you, you have no hope (Col 1:27). Rom 8:9: And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. Jas 2:13: Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mat 5:7, 44-45: Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy… Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Rom 12:17-21: Do not repay anyone evil for evil… Do not take revenge… If your enemy is hungry, feed him…Overcome evil with good. Mat 18:21-22: Peter…asked. “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” I wouldn’t place my bets on any so-called believer, who stubbornly refuses to forgive, making heaven his eternal home. It’s not in the program.
Anthony Clinton
Supporter
Christians who become haters of their brothers in Christ will die spiritually. Their hatred if unrepented of will not be forgiven. The same goes for brothers who walk in the flesh (lower nature of sin) Paul teaches that brothers that walk in the lower life of sin will die. Rom 8:12 Rom 8:13 This has to refer to spiritual death because everybody dies a natural death both believer and non-believer. Whether a Christian walks in the Spirit or in Sin they will all die a natural death unless of course the rapture happens and those Christians who are still abiding in Christ will go to meet their Lord in the air. Sin that is not dealt with and repented of will kill you spiritually. The first verse in Romans 8 tells us there is no condemnation if we walk after the Spirit but if that Christian walks in the flesh will be condemned except they repent. This is clearly explained in Hebrews 10:22-39,. (Heb 10:26) The writer of this letter includes himself when he talks about the severity of the punishment meted out to those genuine Christians that become apostates. Heb 10 :34 shows that they this message was not to Jews living under the old covenant as some profess but to the Christians under the new covenant. Note in verse 34 that they had lost their possessions and they had the eternal hope in heaven. So then they would lose their salvation if they abandoned the faith. The very next verse warns them not to cast away their confidence which will bring them their eternal reward. Paul is implying here in this Chapter that the Christian who abandons the faith will lose his eternal salvation. This is why one could die spiritually if they turn to hate their brothers in Christ. They have become a spiritual murderer and no murderer is entering heaven.
Bishop Frenel Calonge
Supporter
Forgiveness is one of the evidences that we are a child of God. Jesus died for our sins and we need to give evidence that we are truely born again. Born again doe not mean for words alone but it is by action also. If our action does not meet Christ's obedience, we are fooling ourselves. John 14:15 / John 14:23 John 15:10 It is clear without personal interpretation that if we don't forgive others, we won't be forgiven by our Father in Heaven Matthew 6:14-15 and we cannot pretend loving God and hate our neighbour. 1 John 4:20-21 For example Romans 8:1 no condemnation for those who are in Christ. This verse benefits those are ib Christ. To be in Christ we need to show evidence of it as states John 13:35. In conclusion, we need to forgive if we are in Christ Jesus.
Judith Tungwarara
Supporter
Wether you were wronged or you are th one who wronged another person, forgiveness is the way forward for both parties! As is stated in Mathew 6v15, if anyone chooses to hold offfense against whoever wronged them, the truth is, you are putting yourself in an unprofitable and unnecessary position, or should I say a cage or prison of your own. Jesus has already told you what will happen as far as God is concerned (Mathew 6v15) That verse is very clear and it needs no further explanation! All I can say is the choice still remains yours! Remember the scriptures cannot be broken (John 10v35b) In conclustion let me say this, unforgiveness is like poison that you take and expect it to kill the other person, only to discover thats not the case! Stop wasting your time, forgive and allow your life to move forward, to your God given destiny! Be blessed!
Jay Saunders
Supporter
When I was born again and read, "Forgive and you shall be forgiven," I realized that I had to forgive my father for his cruelty to me as a teenager. Now you have to understand I was not a rebellious teenager. I did everything to please my father. But I had a bad car accident that destroyed my older brother's car, but I couldn't recall why of how the accident occurred. I had a complete memory loss and my father never accepted my story. But after twenty years I went home with my two children and wife in hand. And when my little daughter climbed up into her grandfather's lap his heart melted, and so did mine, and suddenly all was forgiven. Shortly after that my father died very quickly of pancreatic cancer. So if I hadn't obeyed the scriptures and forgiven him, I would've had to deal with guilt and shame that I missed an opportunity to forgive. Sometime years later I started to have epileptic seizures and realized that was the cause of the accident so many years before. But God, after fasting and praying one day a week for over a year, chose to heal me. All things are possible with God, but you have to be relentless and obey God. Jesus said those that love me obey my commandment. The Father says when you love his son, the Father will love and show his love for you. You reap what you sow, so forgive and you will be forgiven by God, even if the one you forgive doesn't forgive you back. Just do it! Set yourself free by the power of forgiveness.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
Forgiving others is SO important! Ephesians 4:32 comes to mind, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." The hymnwriter wrote: Forget not, brother, thou hast sinned, And sinful yet may’st be; Deal gently with the erring heart, As God has dealt with thee. --Mrs. T. J. Carney But I don't think we'll lose our salvation if we don't forgive. However, we will lose our fellowship with the Lord, i.e. being in His good graces, His favor, if we refuse to forgive.
Robert Woods
Supporter
No. We should forgive other folks BECAUSE we have been forgiven. Not to gain forgiveness. Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. All sin has been forgiven. For everyone, everywhere. Believer and non-believer alike. Sin, as a barrier to a relationship with God, has been taken out of the way by Christ's completed work on the cross. 2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. What sends folks to hell is the fact that they don't BELIEVE. Salvation, even before Christ, has always been about 'what do you believe about what God has said. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Rom_4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham BELIEVED God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Gal_3:6 Even as Abraham BELIEVED God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Jas_2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham BELIEVED God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. That said, we should definitely forgive others BECAUSE we have been forgiven.
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