What is the Christian duty to forgive? What about criminals who have served their time, or terrorists who are now considered respectable? What about people who betray their families? What if they don’t seem repentant?
God models forgiveness. He is El-Nasa, God-Who-Forgives (Psalm 99:8). In a distinctive self-revelation, God shows himself the one who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin (Exodus 34:6-7). How much more in Christ Jesus?! Our tasting of divine forgiveness through the Saviour which establishes our attitude to each other, ‘be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you’ (Ephesians 4:32).
God’s dealings with us are our pattern for dealing with others. We even pray, ‘Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ According to The Shorter Catechism, Christians pray that God, for Christ’s sake, would freely pardon all their sins, which they are the more readily encouraged to ask, because by his grace they are enabled from the heart to forgive others.
