Hi arunangelo: That is an interesting comment and just goes to show how there is always another side to the coin.
You wrote, "To forgive is to bring healing to one's offender." And that "those who reject his forgiving spirit by refusing to forgive reject his forgiveness." This line of reasoning has been a bone of contention to me for some while, that Christians should always be forgiving, no matter what.
But as I wrote in a previous answer, the Bible is quite clear on how to deal with serious sin, whether it is immorality or stealing money through fraud, God's standards are clearly states in 1 Corinthians 5:13, (NLT): "God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, 'You must remove the evil person from among you,'" which Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 17:7. That is an interesting term, "the evil person among you," that is, within the Christian congregation. Why are they not immediately forgiven and why are they referred to as evil? 1 Corinthians 5:1-7, shows one such evil persons committed gross immoral behavior and was to be removed from the congregation because it would protect the congregation from their corrupting influence, and also, because this one was boasting, he clearly did not show a repentant spirit. However, later on in 2 Corinthians 2:5-9, Paul's comments show this person had changed and was saddened and repentant so that he should now be let back into the congregation and be forgiven. This clearly shows, if a person commits gross sexual sin or other serious sins and is not repentant, they are not to be forgive by God or man, in fact they are to be put out off the congregation. Forgiving them will not heal them, but demonstration tough love and putting them out of the congregation until they repent or change, will heal them!!!
It is only when they are repentant should they be forgiven and allowed back into the congregation. As Paul explains in Hebrews 10:26, 27, (NIV): "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." Therefore, if God does not forgive unrepentant people and considers them his "enemies" and instructs that they should be put out of the congregation, who is any human to say you must forgive them and welcome them with open arms, thinking that this will some how heal them? Clearly people must express repentance for serious sins to be forgiven, not just be freely forgiven without repentance, otherwise such ones would never see a reason to change and could corrupt the whole congregation.
