Kentucky wrote:There are stipulations elsewhere in Scripture that put this passage in Matthew in context. The context is your personal enemies, not the enemies of God. This idea corresponds to the standards of forgiveness: we forgive those we have personal contact with, we do not forgive those to whom God would not forgive. Most often this admonition is referring to friends and family in which bitter conflicts can arise. Mt. 18 is the due process for reconciling with your perceived "enemies", but even then if after all remedies have been exhausted, your opponent is regarded as a "heathen" and "publican" or as Bill renders it "tax collector" (oh and how our people love a revenuer right? lol).
Mark
Taking this topic a little further, when is it appropriate to forgive someone? There are two scenarios:
Someone has sinned against our corporate kindred; they are having a sexual relationship with a mongrel. If they are unrepentant then we are obligated to keep this person out of our community. If they repent
and stop their foul act, they are welcome back into the community.
Someone has sinned against ourselves specifically; they are cursing us and bearing false witness. At what point do we forgive this person? Do they have to repent first? I have such a situation with one individual who had a crush on my wife and now resents me for marrying her without his permission (LOL - We've been married over a year already). He can't reign his tongue in and even swears when talking to my wife. I've never been unkind to him and
always try to make peace, but he just never gets it. As a result, I've cut off all communication until he apologizes, which he of course refuses to do. I just can't forgive this guy, but I'd happily forgive him if he apologized and I'd even allow contact to resume. Have I struck the right balance here? Sadly Paul's protocol of getting a witness, then elders, is not possible.