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The topic of forgiveness came up when I visited a Christian on Thursday. When I said I believed we are told in scripture to forgive those once they have repented, she could not accept this and gave me many reasons why I was wrong including Bible verses. One thing she said that stuck out to me was God requires repentance because He's God - we're not God and so that condition does not apply to us. It sounded right, and I left there wondering if it was true or not. The next day, I did some searches on the internet and found one that listed every reason she had given me the night before also with a Bible verse attached. 1. God still tells me to. 1 Peter 3:8-9 2. Jesus gave me an example when dying on the cross. Luke 23:34 (This one I accept.) 3. So my life isn’t blighted by bitterness and resentment. Hebrews 12:14-15 4. Forgiveness gives me power in my spirit. 1 Timothy 6:11 5. Most people don’t understand the significance of what they do. 6. Because I’m guilty too. John 8:7 The website is called 6 compelling reasons why you should forgive someone who isn't sorry (activechristianity.org) There were other websites which basically said the same thing which shows how common a belief this is among Christians, including myself up to a few days ago. Whenever they read the word "forgive" in the Bible, they automatically assume it means forgiving unconditionally, and is therefore something we must do and if we don't, we become sinners in God's eyes. I feel it's one of those areas where wrong doctrine crept into the church that appears Godly when it's not. I did find two sites which do not teach the above. They're listed below. Do You Have to Forgive People Who Don’t Even Ask for Forgiveness? (davidservant.com) Do I have to forgive a person who does not apologize? - BibleAsk

Exactly. Right on the money. This is the cornerstone to my cult recovery and recovery from alcoholism. Im simply not the same person as I was...true repentance and forgiveness has occured. It has encouraged me to read your summation on the matter. Thanks!

It does seem evident that the sinner's REPENTANCE is a necessary part of the equation. We forgive IF HE REPENTS. If he continues in sin and demands forgiveness regardless, that's nothing at all like we are instructed to do, and we don't have to do it. We are, however, to be wary around anyone who would demand it, or even ask it, for that matter. Now, for those who would SINCERELY wonder about someone trespassing AND REPENTING all day (7 times), I would point out that HYPERBOLE is a legitimate figure of speech people use all the time in English, and others understand them all the time. It's possible to misunderstand hyperbole- as it's possible to misunderstand ALL communications- but it's a lot more common if someone's TRYING to misunderstand it. [/b] [/b] Example of misunderstanding clear communication: William Shatner: " I’ve spoken to many of you, and some of you have traveled… y’know… hundreds of miles to be here, I’d just like to say… GET A LIFE, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it’s just a TV show! I mean, look at you, look at the way you’re dressed! You’ve turned an enjoyable little job, that I did as a lark for a few years, into a COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME! It's just a TV show!" Fan: "Are you saying we should pay more attention to the movies?"