[Music] 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 a oliz but but that doesn't always happen and I think there is a new testament text that does speak to this um and I also have an old Test example as well but um in Mark chap 11 as Jesus is teaching on the lesson of the Fig Tree after it is withered he's just cleansed the temple uh he does say in verse 25 and when you stand praying if you have anything against anyone forgive him and so the implic implication there is you're in the middle of worship you think of somebody who something got something against you and who sinned against you and you just you need to forgive them in that moment I don't know that means you have to be the bestest buddy with them again but uh but certainly we we ought to forgive because we have been forgiven much and I'm sure there's a myriad of sins I've not ask for forgiveness for and God has forgiven me of those and I think judges I think it's Judges 13 highlights this you know as as Israel continues in their cycle of of sod their sin their oppression and then God delivers them um we see that typically they cry out to God for deliverance but in just as Samson's about to come on the scene we see they don't do that and God raised up a deliverer 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 um just like we would want other people to do that uh as well but if someone doesn't there is some sort of there is some biblical warrant for uh forgiving them if they don't do that yeah I was 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 that hard it's easy to hold on to those you feel better as well afterwards yeah I think that's a good illustration for the interpersonal dynamics that Christians find themselves in I would make it 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 you know it is demanded that he's be punished for that so I you know I would want to 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 you know repent I hope hope you forgive me but but if you are a criminal in society and you violate you know my person or people that I love I I don't feel that it's right to well I just forgive everybody well no I think there's consequences or there should be consequences for you know criminal activity so the 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 I think that has been used against Christians well you just need to forgive what what do you mean forgive they brutalized my entire family uh I do need to guard as I said against bitterness and vigilante vigilantism and this is why I think you know we should have a robust civil magistrate I shouldn't want to 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 you know lightweight people get vexed you know the absence of of justice and the absence of righteousness provokes people and 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 you still got to pay the price that's just you know part of living in God's world so yeah and I'm thinking of some of these stories from like voice of the martyrs other places where wives have had their husbands killed brutally by Muslims or whatever and but they forgive and it said that was a witness and brought more people to Christ Yeah Yeah by completely instantly completely forgiving them yet
