Let’s read Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER will also forgive you. But if you do not forgiven men their trespasses, neither will YOUR FATHER forgive your trespasses.” The Lord had just taught His disciples how to pray to their heavenly Father. In verses 5-7 He taught them to “pray in a private place” (verse 6) and “not to pray using the same words over and over again” (verse 7). He also taught them an example of praying in verses 9-13. This has been called “the Lord’s prayer”, but it is actually “the disciples’ prayer.” Notice how it starts out, “OUR FATHER in heaven.” This teaches us that Jesus is speaking to BELIEVERS who are “children of God.” They are now in the “family of God and God is their FATHER.” As we shall see, nothing will change this relationship if one has truly trusted in Christ as their Savior and have been born again into God’s family (see John 1:12-13). In other words, they are SAVED forever and all their sins have been eternally forgiven.

The Apostle Paul preached this truth (of eternal forgiveness) in Acts 13:38-39, “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the FORGIVENESS OF SINS; and by Him everyone who believes is JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” The Apostle John spoke of this forgiveness too in 1 John 2:12, “I write to you, little children, because YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN for His name’s sake. God sees the believing sinner as RIGHTEOUS in His sight because of their faith in His Son and His work on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). We sometimes call this JUDICIAL FORGIVENESS because it is the forgiveness that God grants to a guilty sinner as a Holy JUDGE. After one is forgiven by God “the JUDGE,” God is now “their FATHER.” This forgiveness happens the moment we believe on Christ and it never has to be repeated.

But there is another kind of forgiveness, and we call that PARENTAL or RESTORATIVE FORGIVENESS. If a believer in the family of God sins, his sin results in a disruption of fellowship with God the Father and the Lord Jesus. Just as dark cloud separates us from the warmth and beauty of the sunshine, our sin comes between us and the Father, and we can’t enjoy the warmth and beauty of His love until that sin is “confessed and forgiven by our heavenly Father.” The Apostle John wrote of this forgiveness in 1 John 1:9, “If we CONFESS OUR SINS, He (the Father) is faithful and just to FORGIVE US OUR SINS and to CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.” Our heavenly Father grants His child forgiveness the moment he confesses (from his heart) his sin and then He delivers us from that sin by morally cleansing us through His precious Word (Psalm 119:9 and Ephesians 5:25-26). The child of God then has a “good conscience” before the Father and is completely RESTORED to fellowship with Him (see 1 John 3:20-22).

Now let’s apply these two kinds of forgiveness to your question. If the one you refer to is truly saved, he will go to heaven when he dies. He has been eternally forgiven based on his faith in Christ and His work on the cross where He suffered and died for his sins (1 Corinthians 15:3 and 1 Peter 3:18). If he refuses to forgive certain people and does not confess this sin to his Father before he dies, he will die “out of fellowship with the Father.” He is still a child of God and will go to heaven, but he will no doubt be unhappy at the very end, having failed to forgive others when he himself was forgiven eternally by God. May this teach us, dear fellow believer, to “keep short accounts” with our heavenly Father by confessing our sins to Him the moment we are made aware of them. That way we can continue to have fellowship with God the Father to the very end of our life, with true PEACE and JOY in our hearts and a good testimony before others. (DO) (733.3)