I am writing this post to address an issue that I have found to be
somewhat disturbing here in the Philippines. People inside the
Church here seem to be under the impression that forgiveness means
to pretend that nothing happened and to hide your feelings about the
problem at hand. First let me say I think there are two kinds of forgiveness,
forgiving our enemies, and forgiving our brothers and sisters.As for forgiving
our enemies, we forgive them even though they don't ask for forgiveness.
If someone is currently your enemy, it stands to reason that they have not
repented of their evil acts against you so we must assume that when Jesus says
to forgive your enemies that he was saying to forgive them without their
repentance.The second kind of forgiveness, however, is very different.
Forgiveness between brothers and sisters (the body of Christ) MUST come
with rebuke and correction. We have all sinned and fall short of His glory, but
we as the body of Christ are on a road of correction and transformation so when
we sin against one of our brothers or sisters, it is not just the right of the offended
party to rebuke that action, it is their responsibility as a member of the body of
Christ to do so.
“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you,
you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two
more with you, so that by the moth of two or three witnesses every fact may
be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Assembly of believers;
and if he refuses to listen even to the Assembly of believers, let him be to you as
a Gentile and a tax collector."
Matthew 18:15-17
Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive
him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven
times, saying, ‘I repent, forgive him.”
Luke 17:3
Do either of these passages say that if someone sins against you that
you pretend that it never happened? No, it says "Show him his fault"
and "Rebuke him". This is how we learn. how we grow. We must
always be corrected when we make a mistake or else maybe we will
never even realize that an offense was even done. Holding in our feelings
and pretending that nothing happened is actually the worst thing for
everyone involved. The person who was offended is still hurt by what
happened and the person who offended is not even corrected on his
or her mistake. If we truly want to grow in Christ then forgiveness
within the body MUST come with rebuke and correction.
somewhat disturbing here in the Philippines. People inside the
Church here seem to be under the impression that forgiveness means
to pretend that nothing happened and to hide your feelings about the
problem at hand. First let me say I think there are two kinds of forgiveness,
forgiving our enemies, and forgiving our brothers and sisters.As for forgiving
our enemies, we forgive them even though they don't ask for forgiveness.
If someone is currently your enemy, it stands to reason that they have not
repented of their evil acts against you so we must assume that when Jesus says
to forgive your enemies that he was saying to forgive them without their
repentance.The second kind of forgiveness, however, is very different.
Forgiveness between brothers and sisters (the body of Christ) MUST come
with rebuke and correction. We have all sinned and fall short of His glory, but
we as the body of Christ are on a road of correction and transformation so when
we sin against one of our brothers or sisters, it is not just the right of the offended
party to rebuke that action, it is their responsibility as a member of the body of
Christ to do so.
“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you,
you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two
more with you, so that by the moth of two or three witnesses every fact may
be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Assembly of believers;
and if he refuses to listen even to the Assembly of believers, let him be to you as
a Gentile and a tax collector."
Matthew 18:15-17
Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive
him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven
times, saying, ‘I repent, forgive him.”
Luke 17:3
Do either of these passages say that if someone sins against you that
you pretend that it never happened? No, it says "Show him his fault"
and "Rebuke him". This is how we learn. how we grow. We must
always be corrected when we make a mistake or else maybe we will
never even realize that an offense was even done. Holding in our feelings
and pretending that nothing happened is actually the worst thing for
everyone involved. The person who was offended is still hurt by what
happened and the person who offended is not even corrected on his
or her mistake. If we truly want to grow in Christ then forgiveness
within the body MUST come with rebuke and correction.
