I don’t buy “Positional Forgiveness”
The topic of “forgiving someone who hasn’t repented” (called “Positional Forgiveness” for the remainder of this article) came up last night. I don’t like the idea, but I couldn’t remember why. Now I remember, so let me make my argument for why I despise this idea. That might seem like too bold a claim for something that is held by the majority of Christians I’ve met in my life. After all, Jesus said: For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. -Matthew 6-14-15 ESV And if I know anything, I know that 1) God has forgiven me of every wrong I’ve ever committed, 2) He always stands ready to forgive me, and 3) He will do so when I come to him in repentance and faith because Christ bore all my sins on the cross. Seems simple: 1) God effectively forgave me before I ever repented (Jus...