Forgiveness is a complex command throughout the Bible. It’s complexity has more to do with human behavior than God’s guidance. Relationships are complex in life, therefore forgiveness can be complex. To understand how God expects us to view forgiveness, we need to understand the biblical view. In order to recieve forgiveness, the person who wronged someone is required to repent. If they don’t, forgivness can be withheld. John 20:23 states this clearly. Jesus said, “If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
There are basically two types of forgivness–divine forgivness where we seek forgiveness from God when we sin against Him and interpersonal forgiveness where we seek forgiveness from a person we sinned against. It is the latter that Jesus talks about when Peter asks him how many times we must forgive someone who has wronged us. Jesus said, “I do not say seven times but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). Jesus never implied forgiving an unrepentant person. His point is that when we forgive, forgive completely.
We know this because he then gave an example of the servant who owed money to his master. The master forgave the servant because he attempted to repay him: “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything” (vs. 26). That servant then went out and choked one of his servants who owed him money and threw him in jail after he offered to pay back everything. Jesus’ point is that, when someone attempts to repay what they owe, we must forgive them completely because we have been forgiven. We cannot demand repayment from someone who attempts to repay us in full.