Luke 17:3-4 ties forgiveness to repentance: "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him...and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” So, is repentance a condition for forgiveness, or should we forgive people unconditionally? Unfortunately, scholars don’t agree. There are two groups:

One group says forgive whether people repent or not. This is known as unconditional forgiveness.

Another group says forgive if people repent. This is known as conditional forgiveness. I am in this camp.

https://youtu.be/6SRLoujqDQAIs repentance a condition for forgiveness, or should we forgive people unconditionally? Luke 17:3-4 says, "If he repents, forgive him."

Table of contentsFamily Worship GuideFive Steps When Rebuking SinSermon NotesLesson One: Rebuke sin to help produce repentance.Lesson Two: Associate forgiveness with a reconciled relationship.Lesson Three: Forgiveness doesn’t always mean the same relationship.Lesson Four: Forgiveness should be conditional on the person repenting.Lesson Five: Associate unforgiveness with an unreconciled relationship versus mistreatment.Lesson Six: Unconditional forgiveness can hinder repentance.

Family Worship Guide

Directions: Read the following verses and then answer the questions:

Day 1: Luke 17:3-4—Why does God command us to rebuke people in sin? Why is it often a bad idea to say, “It’s okay”? When people repent what are some encouraging things we can say instead?

Day 2: Matthew 6:12, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13—In what ways should our forgiveness resemble God’s forgiveness? Why is forgiveness primarily about actions versus feelings? Can we forgive people but have a different relationship with them?

Day 3: Matthew 18:24-33—Why should forgiveness be conditional on people repenting? Unforgiveness is not license to do what? How might unconditional forgiveness shortchange the spiritual life of someone in sin?

Five Steps When Rebuking Sin

Find verses addressing the sin.

Share the verses with the person, and request the verses be read aloud.

Ask the person to explain the verses.

Ask the person if they disobeyed the verses.

Ask the person the proper response to disobeying God’s Word.

Sermon Notes

The title of this morning’s sermon is, “Is Repentance a Condition for Forgiveness, or Should We Forgive Unconditionally?”

On Sunday mornings we’re working our way through Luke’s gospel verse by verse. Last week we finished verse 6. I told you we were going to come back this Sunday and deal with one of the questions.

Look with me again at verses 3 and 4…

Luke 17:3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and IF HE REPENTS, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I REPENT,’ YOU MUST FORGIVE HIM.”

Twice we are told to forgive our brother IF HE REPENTS.

This begs the question: What if he doesn’t repent?

In other words, is repentance a condition for forgiveness or should we forgive unconditionally?

I have been asked this question and I have wondered about it myself, so I was glad to have a week to work on this sermon and try to figure out the answer.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Before we answer this important question, we need to back up and get some momentum into it…and this brings us to lesson one…

Lesson One: Rebuke sin to help produce repentance.

Repentance is one of the themes of verses three and four occurring two times. We are told to rebuke sin to help produce repentance. This is the desired outcome.

Because we want to see people repent, we should persuade versus condemn.

Let me explain the difference between the two…

We shouldn’t condemn people by saying:

I can’t imagine God ever forgiving you.

If God forgave someone like you it would make Him a bad God.

You are the worst person in the world.