Is forgiveness linked to repentance?

I was asked today, "Can there be forgiveness without repentance?" And which one comes first? (This could be like the chicken and the egg.) Hard question. I think it actually may depend on the circumstance. Clearly the Bible ties forgiveness to repentance. Yet, there have been times I have silently offered forgiveness without the offender knowing. I felt God calling me to forgive someone from my childhood, yet I didn't feel it was prudent to offer it to him personally since I hadn't seen him in almost 30 years. My inclination is to think my bitter and unforgiving heart was causing me more harm than good while he was out living his life. It was really more about forgiving the offenses committed so I could move on. It was for MY benefit. So what about someone who is in your life? Can you truly forgive someone if there is not Godly sorrow? And how do we judge the heart? Sometimes, only time will tell. I believe I would rather err on the side of grace, yet especially when one offends repeatedly, that is so hard. But the Bible says 70 times 7(Matt. 18:22) I've been studying and looking up Scripture all evening.

Chuck Colson said this; “But forgiveness is not a blank check. A sinner who is not repentant will not be forgiven by God." Repentance, deriving from the Greek metanoia, means a change of mind(also reversal of decision.) Repentance is not a casual thing. It is not admitting a mistake,---it means being aware of one's sin, being deeply and genuinely sorry and amending one's ways.

In Luke 15, the story of the Prodigal son, The father was filled with compassion and forgave his son, yet if you look in the previous verses the son came with a repentant heart. It said "when he came to his senses." And even though he was repentant and forgiven, he still had consequences for his sin. Just as David did after his sin with Bathsheba. Jesus forgave one thief on the cross who asked, but not the other one who did not repent.

2 Chron 7:14
14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

Charles Spurgeon says "Repentance must go with remission, and you will see that it is so if you think a little upon the matter. It cannot be that pardon of sin should be given to an impenitent sinner; this were to confirm him in his evil ways, and to teach him to think little of evil. If the Lord were to say, "You love sin, and live in it, and you are going on from bad to worse, but, all the same, I forgive you," this were to proclaim a horrible license for iniquity. The foundations of social order would be removed, and moral anarchy would follow. I cannot tell what innumerable mischiefs would certainly occur if you could divide repentance and forgiveness, and pass by the sin while the sinner remained as fond of it as ever.
But, so long as God lives, there can be no promise of mercy to those who continue in their evil ways, and refuse to acknowledge their wrongdoing. Surely no rebel can expect the King to pardon his treason while he remains in open revolt. No one can be so foolish as to imagine that the Judge of all the earth will put away our sins if we refuse to put them away ourselves".

To be forgiven is an immeasurable favor. Why lead someone into the light if he is still blind? If one was forgiven and permitted to live in sin, what would be the use of forgiveness? It would eventually destroy instead of heal. And isn't the purpose of forgiveness to be made whole? Yes, I think in most cases, forgiveness is indeed linked to repentance. I welcome your comments or further verses for this study.