How do we view forgiveness

Wayne, Christ died for ALL sins of all time. There is only one sin in anyone's life that is not forgiven, and that is something the Lord referred to as the sin against the Holy Spirit. If you remember that Jesus said the Holy Spirit was the Spirit of truth and that, in Romans 1, Paul tells us God's anger is being poured out on those who suppress the truth by their wickedness, then we can let Bible explain Bible and see that the only sin which is forgiveness is suppressing/rejecting the truth one is presented with. Because Jesus IS the Truth, and all truth thus leads to Him, to reject the truth is, eventually, to reject Him.

So all sins except rejecting the Source of atonement and forgiveness are forgiven. Period. On Christ's part it's a done deal. He took the punishment.

That does not mean we don't get consequences (and far less than any of us deserve) regarding our actions. But simple consequences are not punishment.

We don't get punished for what is forgiven. And since our sins are all forgiven, then we will not ever be punished for them -- any of us.

What we find in John 3:16-18 and beyond is that a man is not condemned for sinning, but for not believing on Christ. That ties in with rejecting the truth.

Those who belong to Christ are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9) and will be led by Him, step by step, into conformity with the character of Christ (Romans 8:28-30). We will be disciplined (Hebrews 12), but that will be out of love and not as a matter of non-forgiveness or anger. That kind of punishment is not the same as the punishment that is eternal, for the unbeliever.

So there is no issue about when a person sins. The issue for the person is the recognition of it as sin, however. Making excuses doesn't work.

There is no 'more or less' time with Christ's forgiveness. It is total. It is the ultimate Christmas gift offered to everyone alive. If you reject it, however, you will never know it. That does not deny its reality, however.

Now, from one human to another, we live in time, subject to it (which God does not have a problem with!). So we cannot just 'blanket forgive' people, for many hurts against us (deserved or not) have not yet been commited. So for us it is a one incident at a time thing. The way I described forgiveness among people to my kids when they were growing up was that it meant one did not seek revenge or punishment for the other person. One wiped the slate clean.

HOWEVER, I also warned them that they could forgive a thief who robbed them but that did not require them to give the guy the key to the house! A lot of people seem to think that forgiving means forgetting. That is foolish. We need to remember the experience and we need to learn from it. The point about forgiveness, however, is that it now becomes a quiet memory and not a haunting one filled with your own vengeful thoughts.

Forgiveness among people (since we really don't know each other's hearts) is not the same as renewing trust, if trust was broken. It is not unwise to be cautious around thieves and liars...

But it is the better part of wisdom to leave them in God's hands unless the state demands prosecution for a criminal offense.

Not forgiving puts a burden on the heart that is too heavy to carry for a man. Forgive, and when God wants you to forget it, you will no longer remember it. But you will have learned, and the learning will stay.