“4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
-Luke 13:4-5, KJV
Repentance is clearly assumed as necessary before forgiveness and salvation according to Jesus’ own words here in Luke 13.
The Jewish people were assuming the deaths of the individuals were caused by their sins. They got what they deserved is their line of thinking.
Jesus corrects this thinking. He agrees that they deserved what they got. However, everyone of his listeners deserved the same fate!
He does not comfort them with easy forgiveness or cheap salvation here.
Jesus teaches plainly the need for repentance in order to avoid destruction. It is non-negotiable.
Repentance is a necessary condition to be met before they are to expect salvation.
This is how Jesus forgives.
We are to follow God in how He forgives (Eph. 4:32).
It isn’t easy forgiveness or cheap salvation. Jesus makes repentance an important prerequisite to avoiding destruction.
If Jesus does this here, I believe we need to follow His teaching as it comes to cheaters as well.
Something remains incomplete and unhealthy to teach forgiveness apart from repentance. It does no good for either party, in my opinion, as it distorts this biblical principle of keeping repentance first.
If forgiveness is like back-filling the hole made by the sinner, how do you do that if he refuses to stop digging?! It is simply impossible.
The most we can do with unrepentant cheaters is hand them over to God for Him to handle. Make the “hole” God’s problem. Then move on with our lives as best we can.
*I have a whole chapter in my new book exploring the confusing and often abused idea of forgiveness. It is much like I shared today. Check it out:
*A version of this post ran previously.
