Okay, next question. Can you
forgive someone who has not apologized or asked for forgiveness? Yes, yes. Now we would all like
to think that if someone wronged us, that they would come to us
and apologize, because that's how it should function and how
it should happen. Just like if we've wronged someone,
we should go to them and apologize, but that doesn't always happen. And I think there is a New Testament
text that does speak to this. I also have an Old Testament
example as well, but in Mark chapter 11, as Jesus is teaching
on the lesson of the fig tree after it is withered, he's just
cleansed the temple. He does say in verse 25, and
when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone,
forgive him. And so the implication there
is you're in the middle of worship. You think of somebody who's got
something against you and who sinned against you, and you just,
you need to forgive them in that moment. I don't know if that
means you have to be the bestest buddy with them again, but certainly
we ought to forgive because we have been forgiven much. And
I'm sure there's a myriad of sins I've not asked for forgiveness
for, and God has forgiven me of those. And I think Judges,
I think it's Judges 13 highlights this, as Israel continues in
their cycle of Sod, their sin, their oppression, and then God
delivers them. We see that typically they cry out to God for deliverance,
but just as Samson's about to come on the scene, we see they
don't do that. and God raised up a deliver anyway to save them.
And so, like I said, we should, if we've sinned against someone,
go ask for forgiveness. We should be able to own our
sins and be able to say we're sorry, just like we would want
other people to do that as well. But if someone doesn't, there
is some sort of, there is some biblical warrant for forgiving
them if they don't do that. Yeah, as I say, the alternative
is holding on to bitterness and hatred and anger. And that's,
that's no good either. It's unhealthy and just wrong. It's hard. It's hard to forgive.
I understand. It's hard. It's easy to hold
on to those. But you feel better afterwards. Yeah. I think that's
a good illustration for the interpersonal dynamics that Christians find
themselves in. I would make a distinction in
terms of crime. If somebody rapes my wife and
doesn't ask for forgiveness, I need to guard against bitterness.
I need to guard against a vigilantism, but there's a breach, a serious
breach, and he demands, or I believe it is demanded that he's be punished
for that. So I would wanna make sure that
we, we locate where we're at in terms of if I cut you off
on the way into church, and I don't repent, I hope you forgive me,
but if you are a criminal in society and you violate my person
or people that I love, I don't feel that it's right to do, well,
I just forgive everybody. Well, no, I think there's consequences
or there should be consequences. for, you know, criminal activity. So, the Christian insistence
on forgiveness is not at odds with a demand for civic righteousness. We don't suspend, you know, large
portions of God's Word because we just need to forgive. I think
that has been used against Christians. Well, you just need to forgive.
What do you mean forgive? They brutalized my entire family. I do need to guard, as I said,
against bitterness and vigilantism. And this is why I think we should
have a robust civil magistrate. I shouldn't wanna go out and
punish criminals. The civil government should do that. And so when you
look at a society like ours where crime is rampant, where prosecutions
and punishments are very lightweight, people get vexed. The absence
of justice and the absence of righteousness provokes people. And so within our community,
we forgive even if we don't repent. Outside of our community in terms
of the civil arena, yeah, if somebody commits a crime, they
should be punished for that crime. And I think it's perfectly consistent.
If the criminal is on death row and I go visit him and he says,
please forgive me, I'll forgive you. But you've still got to
pay the price. That's just, you know, part of
living in God's world. Yeah. And I'm thinking of some
of these stories like Voice of the Martyrs, other places where
wives have had their husbands killed brutally by Muslims or
whatever, but they forgive and it's that that was a witness
and brought more people to Christ. Yeah. By completely, instantly,
completely forgiving. Amen.