Perhaps you have heard that “God won’t forgive you if you are harboring unforgiveness in your heart.” Under the law that Jesus preached, that was true. But the law-keeping covenant was fulfilled at the cross. Those who maintain we must forgive to be forgiven are confused about the finished work of Calvary. They will draw your attention to those scriptures that say forgiveness is conditional while ignoring those that say it isn’t.
We need to have a whole Bible theology but that does not mean “read everything indiscriminately and hope for the best.” That would be like going to the drug cabinet and swallowing every pill in sight. A whole Bible theology means you read the written word through the lens of the Living Word. It means you filter everything you read through Christ and his finished work on the cross.
Paul Ellis
The Gospel in Ten Words, KingsPress, 2012, 29.
GraceQuotes.com 
Amen! Some people say that born-again Christians place too much emphasis on what Paul said as opposed to what Jesus said in the gospels. But the same Jesus who taught that we must forgive to be forgiven taught through Paul that we are to forgive as we are forgiven. The cross has made all the difference! Now we can truly forgive from the heart because the Forgiver lives in us!
Amen! PTL for His finished work at the cross.
its good to know the book, but better to know the author,then you know what the book means,,,never confuse knowledge about God with knowing God.
While in principal this is true, I do notice that the only hindrance to faith Jesus offered was unforgiveness…I’m not willing to make this a salvation issue of course but His words do stand with or without the Law…I think to suggest that this all changed after the cross misunderstands his purpose, would you follow Him if he never went to the cross? I do notice that Paul never brings up the issue at all, never once do you have him telling us to ask for forgiveness, but I interpret Paul through the words of Jesus not the other way around. If Jesus is the EXACT representation of the Father then all of the doctrines Paul will raise can find expression in the behavoir of Jesus…was the man Paul turned over to the devil for the destruction of his flesh forgiven or not? Forgiven of course…I don’t think Jesus is raising the issue of salvation here, he is also telling us about the consequences of ungodly behavoir and its results…what I have seen in real life is that believers who retain unforgiveness in thier heart towards others isolate themselves from the flow of Gods forgiveness that is already available…it’s not that He has not, it is because they refuse to place themselves into the place where they can recieve it.
Surely you are not suggesting that the cross eliminates the need for us to forgive others?
Sometimes the line between a rule and a relationship is found in the heart of motivation and not the theology.
That being said I want everyone to enjoy a guilt free life both here and before the Father…I do my part here by holding no offense…the rest is up to Him.
Maybe you can explain why Jesus would suggest that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would never be forgiven…is he simply stating the conclusion of that behavoir, or heavens perspective?
My point is that apparent contradictions in scripture can be resolved by interpreting them through the life and work of Jesus Christ. We filter the written word through the Living Word.