“The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.”
-Matthew 12:41, NIV
If godly forgiveness is truly unilateral, why would Jesus not simply tell his Jewish audience they are already forgiven?
The radical forgiveness crowd should take Jesus to task here for demanding repentance from the Jewish religious leaders.
Do you really think Jesus is being “bitter” or “unforgiving” by insisting on repentance before forgiveness is extended?
If not, then I suggest we need to re-examine our own judgments of faithful spouses who refuse to forgive the cheating and lies with no signs of repentance from the cheater.
I am tired of how religious people are quicker to engage in forgiveness assessments of the faithful spouse than repentance assessments of the cheater.
And they dare call such inverted priorities godly! Nothing could be further from the truth.
Clearly, Jesus expected the Ninevites to condemn the Jewish leaders for not repenting on the Judgment Day. He did not present a cheap version of forgiveness where accounts are cleared without the offender repenting.
Jesus requires repentance for forgiveness. That is the orthodox model of forgiveness presented by Jesus Himself.
