32 Having put aside these malicious traits, Christians will instead display kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. "Be" is really "become," for Paul realizes that his readers have not yet attained "the full measure of perfection found in Christ" (v.13). To be "kind" is to show a sweet and generous disposition. "Compassionate" is a rare word, related to the intestines. The ancients located the seat of the emotions in the internal organs—liver, kidneys, and larger viscera.

Mutual forgiveness is a further mark of true Christian fellowship (Col 3:13); it requires a give and take. Paul sets forth the strongest possible motive: Christians must forgive one another because all of them have already been forgiven by God in Christ, when he became "the atoning sacrifice . . . for the sins of the whole world" (1Jn 2:2). "As" further implies that our forgiveness of others is to be like God's forgiveness of us. It must flow from ungrudging love (cf. Mt 18:23-35).

9 John now confronts us with our second definite test of obedience. Walking in the light is demonstrated not by the denial of sin but by confessing it and abandoning it. This action links us to God's mercy. Those who confess their sins and condemn them are linked to God. And we can confess our "sins" to God and before other people fearlessly and in confidence because God is both faithful and just.

The plural "sins" makes clear that we affirm our sinfulness by confessing our sins. The forgiveness that comes is related to God's faithfulness and justice. God is faithful in himself, i.e., to his own nature (cf. 2Ti 2:13), and faithful to his promises (cf. Ro 3:25; 1Co 10:13; Heb 10:23; 11:11). Everywhere he promises forgiveness to his children (e.g., Jer 31:34; Mic 7:19-20). And in keeping this promise, God reveals his faithfulness and justice.

The force of God's being "just" points to the Cross, to the covenant, to God's rule over us, and to the attributes of God from which forgiveness flows. And certainly God's mercy must not be set against his justice. The phrase "he is faithful and just" includes all those things. It is a corollary of the fact that God is light and love.

The verb used for "forgive" has at its roots the idea of the "cancellation of debts" or the "dismissal of charges." The verb used for "purifies" pictures an act of cleansing from the pollution of sin so that a new life of holiness may begin. Sinners are perceived as cleansed from moral imperfections and from the injustices that separate them from God.

21-22 The issue here is not the adjudication of the church, still less the absolute granting of forgiveness by the church (only God and Jesus can ultimately forgive sins), but personal forgiveness (cf. 6:14-15). In rabbinic discussion, the consensus was that a person might be forgiven a repeated sin three times; on the fourth, there was no forgiveness. Peter, thinking himself big-hearted, volunteers "seven times" in answer to his own question.

Jesus' response alludes to Ge 4:24: Lamech's revenge is transformed into a principle of forgiveness. Jesus is not saying that seventy-seven times is the upper limit, nor that the forgiveness is so unqualified that it vitiates the discipline and procedural step just taught (vv.15-20). Rather, he teaches that forgiveness of fellow members in his community of "little ones" (see comment on vv.5-6) cannot possibly be limited by frequency or quantity; for, as the ensuing parable shows (vv.23-35), all of them have been forgiven far more than they will ever forgive.