The psychology of forgiveness is a good example. Many people believe the false doctrine of forgiveness without confession. They have labeled others as "unforgiving" , when the offender is not sorry, as though forgiveness motivates the offender to feel sorry. There may be rare instances when someone feels guilty when we forgive them superficially, however that is an anomaly, very different from the normal response.
Mankind tends to feel empowered to continue in evil when others enable them by requiring nothing of them. God requires confession of the sin to be forgiven, He operates this way with mankind and expects us to do the same with one another.
Isaiah 26:10 "10 Though the wicked is shown favor, He does not learn righteousness; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, And does not perceive the majesty of the LORD."
All we have to do to see this principle, is observe what has happened to our culture as a whole. As a culture we have been taught to "let it all go", as though pretending the sin does not exist will make it just go away, a sort of burying our head in the sand, if we don't see it, perhaps it really doesn't exist.
The idea that if we just keep forgiving the offender over and over again, they will suddenly see how awful they are and begin to be nice. The problem with that theory is that it is not Biblical and does not produce anything good in the offender.
Albert Einstein once said this: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
The forgiveness referred to by Christ, 70 X 7, did not mean we forgive unconfessed sin. Christ said, "if they come" to ask forgiveness, that was the condition.
Luke 17:3 " 3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and IF HE REPENTS, forgive him"
All of Scripture must be interpreted in terms of the rest of the Bible. Christ does not forgive those who will not confess, and we do not do any sinner a favor by allowing them to believe they can get away with anything without challenge, it merely perpetuates the sin and even empowers them to continue more deeply into that sin, they even begin to indulge in other sin.
The reason we have jails and prisons is to show the criminal that their behavior is not acceptable. This is also the reason we do not forgive unrepentant hearts, their sin is not forgiven by God or us, unless they have confessed it and want to be changed by God. We have no right to forgive a person of a sin God has not forgiven them.
God has a standard that is best for everyone, He requires confession, it is a form of cleansing, and ultimately leads to a change of attitude that leads to changing behavior. If someone will not confess they remain stubborn. One who confesses is the one who has a true heart toward growing and changing and most of all, it is a show of love toward the one they confess to. No confession, no love, that's how it works.
It is easier to forgive others without confession, easier for us and easier for the offender, no one learns anything and we feel peaceful, basically nothing good comes out of it.
It is disturbing to me when Christians apply pressure to an innocent party to forgive someone who is not sorry and continues to torment them.
It is good to take things to their logical extreme when deciding right from wrong. How many of you would release a serial killer because we should forgive him. That would be ludicrous wouldn't it! Anyone who has murdered many people cannot be trusted to refrain from doing it again just because the innocent parties were silly enough to forgive him. If the killer is repentant, then he will want to serve his time and pay the debt. The killer who is not repentant, will without doubt continue their sin, forgiveness toward them is nothing, it doesn't change him nor does it do anything for his victims.
Are we willing to do things God's way, even if it means we will lose friends and family over it? Who comes first, Christ or man?
Our culture has done away with all forms of spanking, calling it bad. Using the rod to train a child is God's way, but our culture condemns what God said was good. Just as our culture demands forgiveness before confession, the opposite of what God teaches. In the last days people will come against God's principles and actually believe it is good.
Feelings are less than nothing, but our culture elevates them to special status. Just because we feel better that we "say" we forgive someone, does not mean we have solved anything. Bitterness is not predicated on how we feel, it is a choice. We do not have to be bitter because we cannot forgive a perpetrator. He is not forgiven because he is not sorry, it's all on him.
Believers pray for the unrepentant, but we cannot have a relationship with them, until the Lord changes their heart and they are deeply grieved over their sin. That may not take away their consequences, but it does take away their sin. A killer who has repented and trusted Christ will go to heaven, but he should still pay his debt to society, through the death penalty. If he is a believer and dies in the chamber, then he will go straight to heaven. That's why we want those on death row to hear the gospel, that when they leave this life they will go to God.
Isaiah 5:20 "20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!…"
Psychology has done more to harm the understanding of Biblical principles than any other single entity. I say entity because it is the devil behind these deceptions, they have managed to pervert the ways of God in favor of human methods that are either of little value of of negative effect.
Isaiah 35:8
"A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it."
Sadly the modern church has thrown out the ways of God in favor of the perverted and ineffective ways of man, orchestrated by the lies of the devil.
1 John 2:6
"the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked."
Psalm 27:11
"Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes."
Each believer must ask God to show them truth, ALL truth, willing to toss aside everything they were taught by man to obey Christ.
Yep, it's quite a challenge, that most will disregard and discard.
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