Several passages in the New Testament make a connection between God’s forgiveness and our forgiveness of one another. There are three different emphases on this theme in the New Testament. 1) God’s forgiveness requires the disciple to forgive his neighbour (e.g. Mk 11:15). This emphasis is also present both before and after the New Testament (e.g. Sir 27:30-28:7; T. Zeb. 5:3). 2) God’s forgiveness demands forgiveness. Where this fails, God may withdraw His mercy (Mt 18:23-35). In this case, God’s prior but conditional forgiveness sets the tone. 3. God forgives, which motivates us to forgive (Col 3:13; Eph 4:32). There is no warning here, but these verses also clarify the disciple’s responsibility. This study points to the emphasis in the New Testament, especially in the Synoptics, that following Christ is illusory if there is no forgiveness of one another.
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József Nagy (2024) studied this question.
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