MUST CHRISTIANS FORGIVE THEIR BROTHERS IN ORDER TO BE SAVED?

~There are many Scriptures that show us we must forgive our brothers:

Matt. 6 (NKJV) ^"12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."

Matt. 6 (NKJV) ^"14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Matt. 18 (NKJV) ^"21Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, Up to seven times," ²²Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."

Luke 17 (NKJV) ^"3So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

~There is an urgency about forgiving our brothers. God does not want us to put off tomorrow what we should do today.  Notice that God wants us to make things right with our brother BEFORE we worship Him and BEFORE we pray to Him. Sin interferes with worship and prayer.  

Matt. 5 (NKJV) ^"23Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."

Mark 11 (NKJV) ^"25[Forgiveness and Prayer]
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."

~The sooner that a brother repents and is forgiven, the sooner that an issue is resolved. The quicker an sin is taken care of, the less hard feelings there are between brothers and the more pleasing it is in the eyes of God. God does not hear the prayer of sinners. So if a Christian commits sin and refuses to repent, he is in a serious condition.  

John 9 (NKJV) ^"31Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him."

~On the other hand, God does hear the righteous man. The Holy Spirit advises us to confess our sins one to another and pray because the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  

James 5 (NKJV) ^"31Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

~We should want to forgive our brothers when they sin for several reasons. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). Jesus Christ, being God, was the only Perfect Human. We should want to forgive out of compassion for our brother. We must show him his sins and hope that he will love us enough to show us ours. We certainly do not want to go to Hell and we do not want him to go to Hell either! Therefore, we must forgive him when he repents. We must also repent anytime we sin for we are not perfect either. The first commandment is love the Lord, Your God will all your heart, soul and mind. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:37-29). A person cannot love if he does not forgive his brother. God is love. We cannot know God if we do not love our brother:

1 John 4 (NKJV) ^"8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. "

~There are a lot of people who choose not to ever repent before God.  And there are those who will not repent when they sin against a brother. Many people, as well, choose not to forgive their brothers.  Many people claim that they do not sin. Some people also claim when they have sinned that IF they repent, their brothers do not need to know that they have repented. Others claim that they repent, but their brothers do not need to know what they repented of (it is just between them and God) even when they have sinned against a brother). How could the brother know that this brother repented if his repentance was just between God and himself, How could a brother forgive his brother if he did not know what he repented of, If the brother has "known sin", then, the offended brother must know that the brother has repented of his sin. Also, how can a brother bear another's burdens if he doesn't know what burdens to bear or what things to pray for...?

Gal. 6 (NKJV) Bear and Share the Burdens
^"1Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. ²Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

James 5 (NKJV) ^"31Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

~When a brother sins against a Christian and the brother goes and says he repents, his brother must forgive him from the heart. God has forgiven Christians of much, therefore, we should be eager to forgive others. Though their sins against us may be hurtful, our sins against God have hurt Him. God loved us when we were yet sinners and sent His Son that we might be saved from our sins. We also must love our fellow man.  

Matt. 18 (NKJV) The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
^"21Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, Up to seven times," ²²Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. ²³Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. ²⁶The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, "Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all." ²⁷Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. ²⁸"But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, "Pay me what you owe!" ²⁹So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you all." ³⁰And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. ³¹So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. ³²Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. ³³Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you," ³⁴And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. ³⁵"So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses."

~Sin causes separation. It caused the separation of Adam and Eve from God and it causes the separation of man from man.The wages of sin is death.:

Rom 6 (NKJV) ^"23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Luke 7 (NKJV) A Sinful Woman Forgiven
^"36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat. ³⁷ And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Phariseersquo;s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, ³⁸ and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner." ⁴⁰And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." So he said, "Teacher, say it." ⁴¹"There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more," ⁴³Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged." ⁴⁴Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman" I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. ⁴⁵You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. ⁴⁶You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. ⁴⁷Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." ⁴⁸Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

~When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He showed us that we should ask God for forgiveness, saying that we also forgive others:

Luke 11 (NKJV) ^"4And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us."

~Is forgiveness unconditional?