Christian teachings on forgiveness
To grant pardon for a wrongdoing - to give up resentment and the desire to seek revenge against a wrongdoer. is a very important teaching in Christianity. There are many accounts and examples in the Bible which tell Christians about forgiveness. Christians are expected to follow these teachings.
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant tells the story of a servant who owed a king a lot of money. The servant did not have the money to pay the king back, so he begged the king to give him more time. The king took mercy on the servant and wrote off the debt so that the servant did not have to repay the king.
The servant was also owed a small amount of money from a friend. After the servant had left the king, he went and asked his friend for the small amount of money. His friend did not have the money to repay him and begged him to give him more time. The servant refused and threw his friend in jail.
The king got to hear about this and was very angry, as he had shown mercy on the servant. The king felt that the servant should have shown mercy to his friend in the same way. The king then threw the servant in jail until he had paid back the large amount of money that he owed.
After the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Peter asks Jesus how often he should forgive:
Then Peter came and said to him, 鈥淟ord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?鈥 Jesus said to him, 鈥淣ot seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times."
This outlines the idea that forgiveness is not a one-time action. If someone asks for forgiveness over and again, then it is the duty of an individual to forgive them.
In Matthew鈥檚 Gospel, the teaching on forgiveness is continued, with Christ making it clear that in order to be forgiven, humans must forgive others:
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins
The Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, in which Jesus taught about forgiveness, is one of the most important prayers in Christianity. The belief is that it is the responsibility of humanity to forgive sins, as Jesus gave the disciples the commandment to go out, teach and forgive sins.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
Just as God sent his Son to forgive sins, so Jesus has passed that commandment on to his followers.
Question
Explain the Christian teachings on forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a very important teaching in Christianity. There are many examples of forgiveness in the Bible and Christians should try to follow these examples. The teaching of forgiveness can be seen in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant when the servant is forgiven for owing money, but he does not forgive another who owes him money. Forgiveness is also mentioned in the Lord鈥檚 Prayer when it states "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us". Christianity teaches that by forgiving others God will forgive them the sins they have committed. There are many Christians who follow these teachings, such as Martin Luther King Jr who believed that humans should always maintain the capacity to forgive.