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Why state that if someone repents, then you must forgive when one sentence before we are told to rebuke sinners who don't repent? You don't understand what forgiveness is. It does not mean this poor woman being unaware of the men who murdered her husband. It is not as though she is commanded to believe they are somehow NOT wicked men. It is more like Betty Elliot, who, after the Aucas murdered her husband, went into the tribe and met and forgave the indians who did it. My wife met one of these Auca pastors, and the tribe opened up to the gospel due to the FORGIVENESS and love that Elisabeth Elliot (and Rachel Saint). When you hate those who do evil to you, you act (per: Jesus) "just like the heathen" who hate naturally. It is love for hatred, forgiveness for wrongdoing, mercy for savagery and good for bad that is absolutely inexplicable to the non-Christian world.

I was in Colombia SA a few years back and "Alpha Omega"(latin america Campus Crusade) had a campus event to preach the gospel. Marxism was very strong, and the students were attacked and beaten. These young men witnessed to their attackers of the love of Christ WHILE they were pelted with rocks, bricks, and other stuff (yeah, they dodged them). They did not just act like idiots, though. Latino culture is VERY "gallant" in that they simply will not attack women, so the girls in AO formed a protective cordon around the guys and locked arms, and the men kept on witnessing. The love of Christ was so powerful that day that many were profoundly moved and more than a few became Christians.

These people understand that loving your enemies and forgiving are part of the same package. You can't do one without the other.

Repentance requires conviction of sin and an application oriented faith which qualifies one for the forgiveness of their sins. But this is not salvation by works. It was Christ's death on the cross which actually paid the penalty for the sins of the world.

But having done so, the demands of justice were satisfied, and as such God could now freely forgive people of their sins. He could have forgiven people unconditionally, but instead he decided to require people to be qualified to receive such forgiveness, and thus although such forgiveness is free for those who are qualified, it is not unconditional.

One thing to note here is the condition for forgiveness which is often overlooked in practice. "If he repents". Yes, just as Jesus forgave those who crucified him there are times to forgive sins committed against us done in ignorance, but for those of which were done consciously, it is appropriate that repentance be required before granting such forgiveness. For in doing so we are forgiving just as God has forgiven us - freely but not unconditionally.

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