I encourage you to look into the New Covenant. You are reading things from the Old Covenant mindset. NO place in the New Covenant "after" Jesus died and rose from the dead do we see that people need to forgive others to be saved. Jesus "before" the cross and resurrection told someone that they need to keep the commandments in order to inherit the kingdom of God. Is that what we tell people today? No, of course not - well some I suppose do say that if they don't know about the New Covenant.Jesus told a guy that was healed to go show himself to the priest as the law commands - do we do that today?What ever religion you are in - they have short changed you in the understanding of the true gospel of the grace of God. I encourage you to find a place where they actually preach the gospel of the grace of God in Christ's finished work on the cross - then you will understand that we are already forgiven and we now forgive others because we are in Christ.
Hi G7,
The way I look at this is ......... this is proof as to who is saved or not saved. It's producing the fruit of the Spirit to forgive your brother. It's called love. If you forgive your brother, it's proof that your a true believer and have a genuine faith.
1 John 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.