NOTES for Co2 2:10-11
Readiness to forgive belonged to those seeking a righteous life even in pre-Christian times. Then the need for forgiveness was explained by the features of the path of righteousness itself. After all, it was about nothing other than one's attitude toward one's neighbor, and the chief condition of righteousness, love for God and love for one's neighbor as for oneself, was known even before the Savior came.
And the point, of course, was not only one's neighbor, but oneself as well: it was impossible to preserve inner spiritual wholeness while nourishing hatred for another person. Such hatred in itself slowly but steadily corroded the spiritual core on which a person's whole life rests, both inward and outward. Now, after Christ's coming, readiness to forgive has become even more important.
Before, the issue was the life of an individual person and his spiritual path; now the issue is the life of the Kingdom. It would seem that the life of the Kingdom depends little on the spiritual state of one individual person. But this is true only when that person has no relation to the Kingdom. If, however, we are speaking of Christians, who are by definition inhabitants of the Kingdom, the situation looks completely different.
For the Kingdom, the spiritual state of each of its inhabitants is absolutely important. After all, the Kingdom is precisely relationships; relationships make up its structure. People's relationships with God and with Christ, their relationships with one another, and finally Christ's own relationship with His heavenly Father as the chief relationship of the Kingdom, all of these make the Kingdom what it is before God and before people.
And here, of course, the spiritual state of each person becomes absolutely important and significant. Unwillingness to forgive simply destroys the Kingdom. Of course, this does not mean that every refusal to forgive means the end of the Kingdom. But every such refusal also means a "no" to the Savior Himself, just as every act of forgiveness means readiness to stand beside Him. That is why such a refusal separates the one who refuses from the fullness of the life of the Kingdom of God. And it becomes a loss. A loss that does not destroy the Kingdom, but proves to be as absolutely significant for it as every person saved is absolutely significant for it.