From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." – Matthew 4:17

I seemed to hear God saying, "Put down your gun and we'll talk." – C.S. Lewis

Sometimes after an atrocity a survivor will stand up in court, or in front of a camera and say, "I forgive him." This has an extremely powerful effect on people. It must have a therapeutic effect on the forgiver.

But is this the right way to look at things?

Does God forgive people who don't want to be forgiven? Does He require us to do that? Or might we, by making this gracious gesture, give unbelievers the impression that God has withdrawn His demands for repentance and faith?

Many people believe that Christians are commanded to "forgive" our enemies while they remain enemies. But here's what Jesus actually taught:

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.... (Matthew 5:44)

"Forgive" is conspicuous by its absence, isn't it? Could that be because we should not (and possibly cannot, in a real sense) forgive the impenitent?

Here are the arguments I've seen in favor of unqualified forgiveness.

Jesus: "Father, forgive them...."

Let's look at the context of this quote. Just before, in Luke 23, they're leading Christ to the crucifixion site.

And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”

This is a warning of a terrifying punishment pronounced by Hosea and echoing through Revelation. And it's in line with Jesus' own prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple "...because you did not know the time of your visitation." (Luke 19:44)

Not forgiveness; judgment. Continuing in Luke's Gospel:

There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

More about the criminals later. Here are the words of Christ that are supposed to show that He's spontaneously forgiving all His killers. Is that really what's being said?

Remember that Jesus had claimed, "The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." (Matthew 9:6, Mark 2:10, Luke 5:24) So why doesn't Christ just say, "I forgive you all!" if He has both the will and the authority to forgive them?

Most of the possibilities are disturbing. Either He lied about having authority to forgive; or His authority to forgive has been suspended or revoked; or He is faking the desire that they be forgiven – OR – He is asking the Father for something that can only happen in the future because not even God can forgive the unrepentant.

A little further on, Luke comes back to the robbers.

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

The "you" in the Lord's promise is singular ("thou" in the King James). It's the same "you" as in "your kingdom." Forgiveness was granted to the repentant criminal, and not to the unrepentant one. Everything in this chapter indicates that forgiveness is conditional.

"Seventy times seven"

Again when we look closely at the last half of Matthew 18 we get a different picture than the one we may have assumed was there. In verses 15 through 17 Jesus teaches us how to deal with the unrepentant in the church. It is not to forgive them, but to give them the boot!

In verse 21 Peter is still asking about church members when he gets the "seventy times seven" response from Jesus. Some people want to make an argument from silence because repentance is not mentioned in this exchange (although repentance is prominent in a similar passage in Luke). But keep reading. The Lord tells a parable to illustrate what He's talking about. There was a king, and a servant who owed him a debt.

The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

This newly debt-free servant had a debtor who also cried out for release, but was denied. When the king heard about this ingratitude he revoked his earlier forgiveness. And note the explanation he gave for the initial clearing of the books:

Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.'

The king's forgiveness was conditional. It was contingent upon both the entreaties of the servant, and his willingness to "pay it forward." This is not the gospel of universalism.

Stephen

The first Christian martyr cries out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" (Acts 7:60) We can hear the mercy in his voice, his concern for the souls of others while they are killing him. But again, read carefully. Is Stephen actually forgiving them? Or is he praying for them, as we are commanded to do?

It's also worth thinking about how and whether God answered this prayer. We only know the story of one person in the crowd, and that is Saul/Paul. Was his sin wiped clean without his repentance?

"As we forgive those who trespass against us"

The silliest defense of unqualified absolution is based on a line from the Lord's Prayer. There is no mention, you see, that "those who trespass against us" are sorry and seek our forgiveness (another argument from silence). But if asking for forgiveness is not required to receive forgiveness, then why are we literally right here in this sentence asking God for forgiveness?!

My purpose here is not to bash anyone who, from the depths of grief, offers grace to a wicked person. All of us were once wicked people. All were offered grace. Those who turned and received that grace – who "put down our guns" as Lewis put it – have been forgiven because of Jesus' sacrifice.

Some say that Charlie Kirk's assassination will spark a national revival. If that happens the first thing you'll see is deep sorrow for sin in the church, followed by widespread repentance in the society. It's repentance all the way down.

If we want to treat our enemies as Jesus did, and as He taught us to do, we will love them (seek their highest good); bless them (say good things to them and about them); do good to them; and pray for them. What shall we pray? Let's pray that God will open their eyes, soften their hearts, turn them around, and give them the gift of repentance.

Then, when they have turned, forgive.

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. – Paul (Acts 17:30)