Wait! If you haven’t already taken the Forgiveness Quiz click on the link . . .
Here are the answers to the Forgiveness Quiz. You may not agree with all my answers. That is okay! General Patton said, “If everybody is thinking alike, somebody isn’t thinking.” Let this quiz start some “thinking.”
The True/False Answers are hyperlinks. If you click on any of them, you will link to a short explanation on that particular point along with the chance to comment.
ANSWERS TO THE FORGIVENESS QUIZ
Click on any of the answers to read an explanation.
1. FALSE – Where deep wounds are concerned, forgiveness can be unpacked in a moment.
2. TRUE – Personal happiness and joy can legitimately motivate people to live out what the Bible teaches about forgiveness.
3. FALSE – Most Christian pastors and counselors agree about what forgiveness is and how it should take place.
4. TRUE – Forgiveness occurs properly only when certain conditions are met.
5. FALSE – Jesus said little about how people should resolve interpersonal conflict.
6. TRUE – A willingness to forgive is a “test” of whether or not a person will go to heaven when he or she dies.
7. FALSE – Good people get to the bottom of all their disagreements.
8. TRUE – There are times when it is wrong to forgive.
If you posted a perfect score, don’t celebrate just yet. Be humble. It was True / False after all. You may have just guessed. For those who wish to debate, don’t forget. You can link to a short explanation by clicking on any of the above answers.
Of course, there is much more detail in Unpacking Forgiveness.
Question 3 was easy. Any statement that begins with “most Christian pastors and counselors agree…” HAS to be False!
Jim, it was kind of a softball question wasn’t it? But I was accused of being tricky on a couple of the other ones . . .
Can you please explain why a willingness to forgive determines if a person goes to heaven? I understand that we are to follow Christ and he forgive but the only way we get to heaven is to “believe in our heart, confessing with mouth, that Jesus Christ is Lord, making Him our personal Lord. We all sin 0 “and fall short of the glory of God”.
Janet, being willing to forgive does nothing to make a person a Christian. As you have rightly stated, we are saved only by believing in Christ and receiving the gift of eternal life.
While a willingness to forgive has nothing to do with saving us, it does have something to do with assurance of salvation.
Recall, that Jesus taught there are a large group of people who think they have been saved, but are not (Matt 7:21-23). They thinkthey have truly believed, but they haven’t. Jesus said that part of the basis for being sure of our salvation is to examine the fruit in our lives. If the fruit isn’t present, then we need to question the reality of our faith.
Being willing to forgive is one of the sorts of fruit we would expect to see in the life of a believer. This doesn’t mean that a believer will never struggle with anger or even bitterness – – but, ultimately, they will show the fruit of the Spirit in those areas.
As I often tell the people in our church, “Quacking doesn’t make you a duck, but ducks quack. Acting like a Christian doesn’t make you one, but Christians act like it (1 John 2:3-4). Forgiving doesn’t make you a Christian, but Christians forgive.”
Does that help?
Chris, I do understand what you are saying. Perhaps I somewhat misread the statement. I have known “good” Christians that went through a period of not being willing to forgive but to my knowledge did get around to actually forgiving. I guess I was thinking more in the short run instead of the long run. To be Christlike is to have forgiveness just as He did. Thank you for your comment back to me. I will be teaching a class on forgiveness this Fall. I am looking forward to it.
I am thankful to hear that someone who is thinking carefully about forgiveness is teaching on it.
It does sound like we are on the same page.
Whether or not you agree with all my answers, I have found where forgiveness is concerned that a good way to begin teaching is to do a quiz – – you could come up with your own questions. You can then use that to anticipate and organize your teaching time over a number of weeks.
Just say the word “forgiveness” and questions begin to fly.
A few disagreements with your answers:
The Holy Spirit is all-powerful & can do whatever he wants however he wants, so why would it be out of the realm of possibility to be able to unpack deep wounds in a moment? I do agree it is unusual & I do believe it is mostly a process, but healing can come in a moment if the Holy Spirit chooses this.
Where do you get the teaching that a willingness to forgive is a test of your eternal destination?
When is it ever wrong to forgive? This even seems to counteract what you stated about willingness being a test of going to heaven. Relationship is not required along with forgiveness, but we are always commanded to forgive. How does following a Biblical principle ever become wrong?
Chris, when I clicked on “true” your answer to number 8 the link seems to be no longer working. Can this be corrected?
Thanks, Brad
Brad, thanks so much for pointing this out. I don’t know what happened, but none of the links were working. I think I have them fixed. But it makes me fearful for my whole site! Ah, the joys of a blog …
I think question 4 is loaded. Ha. I got it wrong. I was actually thinking there should be no conditions. But of course there is. As I am going through a horrible betrayal, only God’s grace can let me properly forgive. We humans are so weak in times of distraught. Thanks.
Tim, Thanks for stopping by my site. I am sorry to hear you are going through betrayal. The wounds of this life can be so awful. I pray that you will find peace and comfort.
Times we should not forgive? Wow. Nope, we are to forgive no matter what. The difference is that we need not fellowship or be in relationship with a person who is a chronic liar and abuser and one who takes advantage. That’s still love, I can love from a safe distance.
I will always forgive, because while we were still enemies Christ died for us. Me thinks you lack Grace understanding.
It seems like some of these questions are about reconciliation rather than forgiveness. Otherwise I would have answered differently. It’s never wrong to forgive someone who is still unrepentant (in an attitude of forebearance). It may sometimes be wrong to reconcile with such an unrepentant person.
PJ — thanks for engaging with the questions. I believe the Bible teaches we ought always to show an attitude of forgiveness. The case I make in Unpacking Forgiveness is that full forgiveness apart from repentance is not biblical. Of course, this is an area where there is a lot of discussion and disagreement.