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Under God, if a God-fearing person sins, we should rebuke them, and if the person repents we should forgive them. This comes from Luke 17: 3-4 which says, “...If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
The extent to which the person should be rebuked is best explained by the origin of the word rebuke. First of all, the Lexico dictionary defines rebuke as “Express sharp disapproval or criticism of (someone) because of their behaviour or actions.” That dictionary tells us that the origin of the word is from a combination of Middle English and Northern French which means to cut down wood. So metaphorically, the sin that a person does is the wood, and to rebuke his sin is to cut the sin down.
Jesus tells us to forgive a person if they repent, but in the context of acting in a Christian manner, Luke 17: 3-4 can go beyond just sinning. For example, someone may bump into us accidentally when getting off or on a train, and we can rightfully tell them to watch where they’re going. They apologize, and at that point we forgive them by accepting their apology. Whether the person has committed a sin or has merely acted in bad form, we must forgive them when they repent and we are expected to forgive them if they apologize.
Jesus doesn’t call on us to forgive the other person if they don’t repent. Do we have the authority to forgive them if they don’t repent? We know of murders that end up in court, and the victim’s next of kin says they forgive the murderer if the murderer doesn’t ask for forgiveness. Does the victim’s next of kin have that authority to forgive under those circumstances? Perhaps to a cynical extent the next of kin, by forgiving the murderer, passes the buck up to God to decide what to do with the murderer, including whether to forgive him or punish him.
God may forgive the murderer if the murderer acknowledges that he did wrong. This is based on Luke 23: 39-43, in which one of the criminals being crucified with Jesus says to the other criminal in Verse 41, “And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds...” Jesus responds to him in Verse 42 that he will be with him in Paradise. Lord Jesus forgives the criminal, who in his own way has repented by expecting the punishment he was getting for his wrongdoing.
Luke 23:34 is an intriguing passage. There, Jesus says, regarding those who crucified him, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We don’t know from reading here if God indeed forgives those Romans. Can we presume that God does because Lord Jesus makes the request? If so, then it seems that only God, and through Jesus, has the authority to forgive someone if they don’t repent, since the Romans who partook in Jesus’ crucifixion may not have repented. At least the Bible doesn’t tell us that they did, and the way the soldiers behaved, dividing Jesus’ garments amongst themselves, does not lend to the argument that they did repent.
Can WE ask God to forgive someone who doesn’t repent? We may not be struck by lightning if we do, but on the other hand we are not Lord Jesus.
The extent to which the person should be rebuked is best explained by the origin of the word rebuke. First of all, the Lexico dictionary defines rebuke as “Express sharp disapproval or criticism of (someone) because of their behaviour or actions.” That dictionary tells us that the origin of the word is from a combination of Middle English and Northern French which means to cut down wood. So metaphorically, the sin that a person does is the wood, and to rebuke his sin is to cut the sin down.
Jesus tells us to forgive a person if they repent, but in the context of acting in a Christian manner, Luke 17: 3-4 can go beyond just sinning. For example, someone may bump into us accidentally when getting off or on a train, and we can rightfully tell them to watch where they’re going. They apologize, and at that point we forgive them by accepting their apology. Whether the person has committed a sin or has merely acted in bad form, we must forgive them when they repent and we are expected to forgive them if they apologize.
Jesus doesn’t call on us to forgive the other person if they don’t repent. Do we have the authority to forgive them if they don’t repent? We know of murders that end up in court, and the victim’s next of kin says they forgive the murderer if the murderer doesn’t ask for forgiveness. Does the victim’s next of kin have that authority to forgive under those circumstances? Perhaps to a cynical extent the next of kin, by forgiving the murderer, passes the buck up to God to decide what to do with the murderer, including whether to forgive him or punish him.
God may forgive the murderer if the murderer acknowledges that he did wrong. This is based on Luke 23: 39-43, in which one of the criminals being crucified with Jesus says to the other criminal in Verse 41, “And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds...” Jesus responds to him in Verse 42 that he will be with him in Paradise. Lord Jesus forgives the criminal, who in his own way has repented by expecting the punishment he was getting for his wrongdoing.
Luke 23:34 is an intriguing passage. There, Jesus says, regarding those who crucified him, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We don’t know from reading here if God indeed forgives those Romans. Can we presume that God does because Lord Jesus makes the request? If so, then it seems that only God, and through Jesus, has the authority to forgive someone if they don’t repent, since the Romans who partook in Jesus’ crucifixion may not have repented. At least the Bible doesn’t tell us that they did, and the way the soldiers behaved, dividing Jesus’ garments amongst themselves, does not lend to the argument that they did repent.
Can WE ask God to forgive someone who doesn’t repent? We may not be struck by lightning if we do, but on the other hand we are not Lord Jesus.
