In his 1976 book The Sunflower, Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal recounted how a dying SS soldier came to him seeking forgiveness for his horrific war crimes. Wiesenthal denied forgiveness to the dying ex-Nazi.
Some argued Wiesenthal should have extended forgiveness. Others affirmed Wiesenthal, noting that forgiving the soldier would have dangerously overlooked the atrocious injustices committed.
Some critics of Christian teaching on forgiveness have likewise questioned whether forgiveness perpetuates injustice. Doesn’t forgiveness let people off the hook?
Justice is difficult to define. But even the definition of “giving persons their just due” begs the question: Who decides what is due? The state? God? Or some combination of these?
Understanding the relationship of forgiveness and justice starts with recognizing sin is ultimately done against God. “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,” King David confesses, then affirms God alone is right in His judgments (Psalm 51:4).
In the face of sin both the demand for justice and its accomplishment starts and ends with God. All sin is against a holy and just God. It is also God who graciously judges sin by laying it on the shoulders of Jesus (Isaiah 53:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21). In God’s giving of His Son for our sins on the cross, justice is met.
Does this mean we needn’t worry about whether forgiveness foregoes justice since it is ultimately out of our hands?
"Love and prayer that the enemies of God would come to repentance is the Christian response to unrepentant evil, not unilateral forgiveness."
Absolutely not. In fact, while King David asserts that sin is ultimately against God, he also experiences God’s just response to his sin of adultery and murder. He receives the gracious gift of forgiveness on confession to God (2 Samuel 12:13), but even God’s forgiveness doesn’t cancel the consequences – the son born to David dies (2 Samuel 12:14).
God’s forgiveness doesn’t magically negate the ugly consequences of sin, nor the troubling questions of when justice will be served. People are still left with innocence lost, physical, spiritual, emotional and mental trauma, and sometimes the loss of loved ones due to others’ evil.
Christians should exercise extreme caution not to minimize the real personal and social injury sin often brings. Even when people repent, it doesn’t reverse the consequences of their violent sinful histories. Victims of physical, spiritual, emotional, political and sexual violence understandably struggle to forgive those who’ve perpetrated such sins. We must compassionately support those who struggle to forgive even a seemingly repentant sinner.
Though we believe God will ultimately right all the wrongs of this world, we must also resist clichés and harsh judgment toward those struggling to forgive even the repentant. If they persist in unforgiveness toward the repentant, they will answer to God (Matthew 18:35). But we also know God hears their calls for justice in the face of violent and traumatic sin (Psalm 94; Revelation 6:10).
We must resist a form of teaching on forgiveness I have long sought to counter as unbiblical. Many Christians believe we are compelled to extend unrestricted, all-encompassing forgiveness to even the unrepentant. Doesn’t such a notion run contrary to the whole of Scripture that reveals a God who doesn’t promise forgiveness to all without condition, but only to those who repent (Luke 13:3; 2 Peter 3:9)?
If hardness of heart and un-repentance brings God’s eternal wrath on some (Romans 2:5), why would we think we should do to the unrepentant what God Himself does not do? If there is a danger of bypassing justice in forgiveness, it is by extending forgiveness to those who steadfastly refuse to acknowledge their sin and violence in the first place.
The idea of unconditional forgiveness for even the unrepentant confuses forgiveness with the notion of love for our enemies. Jesus insists His followers love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:44). Love and prayer that the enemies of God would come to repentance (Romans 2:4) is the Christian response to unrepentant evil, not unilateral forgiveness.
When Jesus said, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:24), He didn’t pronounce forgiveness on the unrepentant, but gave His enemies over to the just and merciful hands of the Father. The first answers to Jesus’ prayer is evidenced among the thousands who repented on the day of Pentecost when responding to the preaching of the gospel (Acts 2:37–38).
Forgiveness, rightly understood, does not negate justice; but God’s justice demands, at the very least, that sinners acknowledge through confession and repentance the injustices their sin has caused. Indeed, this confession and repentance are among the first signs the justice of God is being fulfilled.
David Guretzki is the EFC’s president and CEO. Read more of these columns at FaithToday.ca/CrossConnections. Photo of campers around in front of cross by Cody Otto.
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David Guretzki