Reading that text carefully, we see that nowhere does our Lord speak of the sinner being forgiven. Nowhere does he tell us that we are to forgive our sinning brother. Rather, He speaks of the action the sinner is to take when his sin is brought to his attention.
Only if the sinner does not acknowledge his sin, even to the church, then we are to cast him out and treat him as a heathen or a tax collector. There is no mention of our forgiving our sinning brother.
There has been a fad during the past few years of making if almost fashionable for one to repent of sins and expect the world therefore to forgive them. Politicians, clergy, public figures, and family members beat their breasts publicly, acknowledging in lurid detail their trespasses.
This confession is often but prequel to an expected total exoneration for the confessed sin. It is so pervasive that even at the highest levels of government, a man is found to be utterly corrupt, and yet, even though he continues on in his sins, most seem to be forgiving him.
Some would use as the basis for the forgiveness "free-for-all" Jesus' words as He was being crucified, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." We should note that Jesus, as He was being crucified did not say, "I forgive you all, who are crucifying Me." He prayed to the Father, that the Father might forgive them.
As Jesus was being crucified, one of the outcomes of His crucifixion was going to be His coming 'advocacy' on behalf of us who sin. Jesus taught, "..love your enemies, and do good..be merciful [to them]." He did not teach that we are to forgive our enemies.
Remember that God "loved the world" (Jn3:16) when the verdict was that "there is none righteous, no not one." (Rom3:10) And where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. Love and mercy exist even when their recipient is a worthless scoundrel.
But forgiveness is a different concept. Love and mercy indicate one's 'attitude' towards another. Forgiveness is an 'accounting' term. Jesus needed to die for all of humanity. Jesus was pleading that His crucifixion might not be 'accounted to' the men who found themselves at a point in history, following the orders of their commanding officers to crucify yet 'another' prisoner, to drive the nails into Him.
Regarding sin... sin does not get swept under the rug. For instance, God does not hold a person "guiltless" who takes His name in vain. Through centuries of rebellion and idolatry, God held Israel accountable for their sin, and scattered them throughout the remotest parts of the world. Let us not forget that, if it were not for God's mercies, we would all be destroyed. But the sin must be paid for. It must be accounted for. And this is why Jesus died on the cross, to pay for the sin of the world.
So, we've been forgiven of our sin when we Repent and come to Faith in Christ. But let's not forget one very important key to this understanding. We were forgiven because we repented.
Always, always, always remember the order of things: repentance, and only then remission of sins. God does not go around handing out remission of sins, salvation, eternal life - willy nilly - to any old sinner. Rather, our Father grants remission of sins only to those who have repented of their sin and purpose amendment.
We note that, in Ezekiel, God is not some sort of celestial District Attorney, seeing how many convictions for sinfulness He can achieve. Rather, God tells Ezekiel, "And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: `Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?'
And the Lord continues, "Say to them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel."
God in His perfect love for us sent His only Son to be a sacrifice for our sins, to be the propitiation - the atoning sacrifice - for our sinful ways. No, our Father in heaven does not want us to die as unrepentant sinners. He has given us the Way to His perfection, Jesus Christ our Lord, who, as noted in the Psalm, will "Turn away the reproach which I dread; for thy ordinances are good." We thus respond, "Behold, I long for thy precepts; in thy righteousness give me life!"
It is no wonder that Saint Paul exhorts us, "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. No, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink. ... Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
We, with the psalmist, should ever be crying out to the Lord, "Give me understanding, that I may keep thy law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of thy commandments, for I delight in it. Confirm to thy servant thy promise, which is for those who fear thee."
What, finally, was God's purpose in convincing us of sin? What was God's main goal in sending Christ to save sinners? It was to glorify Himself as both a just God and a Savior. Christ's mission was to glorify the Father by satisfying all the conditions of the salvation of God's elect to the glory of the Father as both Just and justifier.
God must be just when He justifies, and so God's love provided what His holiness demanded. God's love sent His Son to suffer as no man has suffered in order to maintain the honor and dignity of the Father's character in the salvation of sinners.
Christ was sent to be a propitiation, to satisfy law and justice on our behalf by establishing the only ground of salvation, the only righteousness whereby God could save us sinners who deserved condemnation and still be just in doing so.
God therefore is just to justify the ungodly based on the imputed righteousness of Christ. He cannot be glorified in the salvation of sinners based on any other ground.
Also, is it not a big relief to be told we have no place in the forgiveness business? Is it not much less complicated simply to love our neighbors and enemies, and to leave the matter of forgiveness to our heavenly Father? Let us rather concentrate on repenting and loving; God will take care of forgiving us and our neighbor.