Question: We are told to entrust the punishment of criminals to the law and the ultimate judgment to God, and forgive those who do us harm, which is a very difficult thing to ask of us. How does God deal with a criminal, especially an unrepentant one?
Answer: Let us begin at the starting point of Christianity: that God in Christ loves us all infinitely and absolutely, and expects us to love him and our neighbour.
When one of us wrongs another person, God does not stop loving either of them. In fact, he enjoins the innocent party to forgive the guilty party at once — which is, of course, a great challenge for the victim. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Unrepentant sin, particularly mortal sin, leads to spiritual death and separation from God. Those who die in a state of unrepentant mortal sin risk eternal separation from God, commonly referred to as hell. This is not a capricious punishment but rather a consequence of their choices and refusal to accept God’s mercy.
God’s love and grace are available for the sinner if, like the Prodigal Son, they ask for mercy and forgiveness. The loving Father will grant it.
But breaking one of the Ten Commandments certainly is a sin for which the perpetrator is answerable to Christ’s judgment. We just don’t know what Christ will do. We see only from the viewpoint of a single act against us by a criminal, whereas Christ loves and knows the culprit and all his circumstances, motives, virtues and vices. His mercy is infinite.
For us to forgive the criminal is the correct response, one that we Christians must show to others simply because we are all one in Christ.
Hard as it may seem to the ways of the modern secular world, forgiveness goes hand in hand with goodwill. Jesus made no bones about this when he said: “Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who treat you badly” (Luke 6:28).
We all have to pray for the ones who wrong us, particularly that they may become repentant and feel the full impact of Christ’s unshakeable love and compassion. In doing this, we can truly bless those who curse us and treat us badly.
Answered by Michael Shackleton
Published in the December 2025 issue of The Southern Cross magazine
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