The Theological Basis for Forgiveness

You're defining forgiveness as the bare act of releasing from punishment.

First, you cannot forgive sin. You can only forgive trespasses, the injuries that you have suffered. (They're different. There was a sin offering and a trespass offering.)

But forgiveness is more than that. Forgiveness must be from the heart, which means that you bear no ill will nor resentment against another—more than that—it means you must love him (which is not limited to, but includes affectionate feeling.)

I thought you were asking the theological basis (or why) of the forgiveness we're commanded to exercise, not the nuts and bolts of the conditions that must exist before you're required to spare a malefactor justice.

 

On the matter of forgiving an unsaved person, we must not forget that we cannot forgive the sin in the judicial sense that God forgives a repenting sinner, but we can forgive the act of injury toward us. But I do not see where there can be forgiveness without repentance.

It is possible - in fact necessary - to distinguish between forgiving and grudge bearing. I must not hold a grudge against one who has offended me, but I cannot "forgive" until there is repentance on their part.

 

It would help if we understood what scriptural forgiveness is. Both Christians and nonchristians use the word so freely and casually that they have no idea what it means.

Scripural forgiveness does not require a victim to hold blameless his/her transgressors. For example, a victim of child molestation is not required to hold blameless his/her molester, or a victim of spousal abuse to hold blameless his/her abusing spouse. In fact, doing so often leads to enabling the transgressor of greater or continued transgressions.

Rather, scriptural forgiveness calls us to let go of the control which a transgressor has over us, due to his/her transgressions. For example, if I loan my brother money, and he refuses to pay it back, I will forgive his debt rather than let it ruin our relationship. However, I will never loan him money again. This is evidenced in Jesus' words to the adulterous woman, who is first told she is not condemned, but is also admonished to go and sin no more. Without the "sin no more" part, the "neither do I condemn you" part is worthless.

So, the answer of "the theological basis for forgiveness" is to release the stranglehold that condemning a person has on you, but to also put yourself in a position where that person will not be able to sin against you in the fuure.

 

Along with that is the idea that if you forgive someone you must immediately trust that person. Forgiveness is given. Trust is earned.