What is Forgiveness?

This is my response to class tonight on forgiveness. I wouldn't say this in class, because those that disagreed in any way were given the "don't take it out of context" line. I respect the teacher and his opinions very much, but it felt like we were ignoring the text.
I think that forgiveness is more than just loving the person and not holding a grudge against them and "giving it to God"- whatever that means. I don't think we have to forgive everyone no matter what like I think was the conclusion tonight. Here's what I see.

1. Biblical examples of forgiveness. Luke 17:3-4 "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."" Im pretty sure this specifically states: if a fellow Christian sins, rebuke. IF he repents, then forgive (a lot)! Not, 'forgive a brother that sins'
2. I say this because the conclusion drawn was that we should forgive everyone for everything, but treat them differently, and here is where my view differs. Treat them differently by firing the preacher who has an affair- but is repentant- as consequence for his sin, not invite a murderer who killed your loved one into your home for dinner- love him from a distance. WHAT? what good is forgiveness then? What if the preacher lied to save his child's life (and was not repentant) would he still be fired- I doubt it. Rom 3:23 "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Aren't we to “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Matt 5. This verse speaks of loving enemies and the like, but nowhere is forgiveness mentioned- because there is no repentance. This describes our Christian attitude toward people in general- LOVE.
3. Eph. 4:32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." So, we should forgive others as Christ forgave us. How did Christ forgive us? Once we repented and were baptized (gotta put the church of Christ verse in here- Acts 2:38) we were forgiven. God's love and blessings are for everyone, but he does not forgive our sins until we repent of them. So also, we can love someone and pray for their well-being, without forgiving them if they are unrepentant. But, when they do repent, we shouldn't treat them differently. God doesn't say, "you sinned against me yesterday, so I am going to take your job today as punishment," or "since you failed to love me fully today, I'm only going to love you from afar, know that I love you, but I'm not going to answer your prayers.' God's forgiveness is full and complete- we are sinless in his eyes- pure and clean. So, if we are to forgive as Christ forgave, we should give complete forgiveness, wipe the slate clean- like the sin never occurred. Yes, the person may have to face the judicial system for their sins, may face health problems or other repercussions, but as someone who has repented of a sin, we should be like God and accept this person as pure and clean.
4. So, in all this, forgiveness is only after repentance. True forgiveness is not just loving and praying for a person (we should do that with EVERYONE)- but it is wiping the slate clean of that person's sin and loving them as Christ loves and forgives us!

If a person has repented, please don't punish them for their sin. We all sin EVERYDAY-BUT GOD has forgiven us of all of our many sins (all of which are against him) and has made us clean- even the person that sinned against YOU.