Dear Bryan,
I have rarely disagreed with our former preacher on theological matters, but I believe his article in the September 26 edition of the paper was insensitive, dangerous, and theologically incorrect. It was insensitive in that it assaulted a sister-in-Christ immediately following the death of her husband and went so far as to call her a heretic! Granted, only God can forgive sins in the ultimate sense. Yet, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, saying, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Yes, Jesus asked His Father to forgive. Erika Kirk said she forgave the young man, meaning she was giving up her resentment for what he had done to her and her children.
I would agree that God's message has always been, "Repent and believe"? The article maintains that one must always request forgiveness before they can be forgiven. That raises the question, "If that is a hard and fast rule, how could Jesus ask God to forgive those whose hearts were full of hate and led astray by the religious leaders and had no intention of asking for forgiveness?" I understand the argument that Jesus was not forgiving but asking forgiveness, and Erika Kirk's words were that she was forgiving. But that still shows no repentance or request from whomever "they" were in Jesus' situation.
The real issue deals with the word "forgive". If one commits murder and later accepts Christ and asks God to forgive him, God can forgive him in the spiritual sense so that he does not have to spend eternity in Hell, but he is not forgiven in the criminal sense; hence, he might face execution. The term "debt" in the Lord's Prayer is derived from a Greek term referring to a business "record of debt". A businessman can clearly "forgive" a customer's business debt without having been asked to do so. Jesus follows the Lord's prayer with these words, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses". [ESV, Matt. 6:14-15] Jesus says nothing here about their having to ask for forgiveness, and He tells them to "forgive". Webster's gives three definitions of "forgive". The first is "PARDON, ABSOLVE"; that is what only God can do as to our sin. The second is "to give up resentment of"; I think that, clearly was what Erika Kirk was doing. John Calvin in his commentary on Matthew 6:12 says, "Christ did not intend to point out the cause, but only to remind us of the feeling which we ought to cherish towards brethren, when we desire to be reconciled to God. And, certainly, if the Spirit of God reigns in our hearts, every description of ill-will and revenge ought to be banished." He says the term debt here refers "to those who are indebted to us on account of offenses which they have committed." Mark 11:25 tells us that when we are praying, "forgive, if you have any thing against any one". Clearly, that includes many who have never asked us for forgiveness. Calvin says, "The reason is, that God will not be ready to hear us, unless we also show ourselves ready to grant forgiveness to those who have offended us."
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians wrote, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Eph. 3:31,32; KJV). One Reformed pastor wrote, "Forgiveness does not mean excusing evil or foregoing justice. But it does mean releasing hatred and the consuming impulse for retaliation." He goes on to say, "If God has forgiven us our immense moral debt, that reality empowers us to release others from the debts they owe us". Martin Luther said, "Forgiveness is God’s command". Bishop Tutu, following apartheid in South Africa, said, "Without forgiveness, there is no future." In Matthew 18:21 we see Peter asking Jesus how many times he should forgive a brother who has sinned against him. Jesus response was not that only God could forgive sins, but rather that Peter should forgive them seventy times seven.
Calvin says, "Those who refuse to forget the injuries which have been done to them, devote themselves willingly and deliberately to destruction, and knowingly prevent God from forgiving them." I think a Christian should, certainly, err of forgiving those who have not asked forgiveness, rather than err by not forgiving and hoping that God would hear our prayers even though we have not been forgiving. I think Erika Kirk took the right road!
Sincerely
Howard Q. Davis Jr.
