“I believe we are saying the same thing...forgiveness is a two-way street.”
No, sorry, I don’t like to disagree with you, but we are not saying the same thing. Forgiveness can be a one-way street. Reconciliation must be a two-way street. You can and must forgive even your enemies. Jesus said so and did so. They remain your enemies until they repent and ask you to forgive them.
But one can and a Christian must (I mean that—it is an absolute obligation to forgive even before the offender asks for forgiveness) forgive regardless whether the offender asks to be forgiven. His asking to be forgiven is a prerequisite for reconciliation but not for forgiveness.
That does NOT however mean that by unilaterally forgiving my enemy I am saying that he did me no wrong or is not doing grave wrong. I can (and must) forgive him even while he remains the worst possible enemy, evildoer.
What I just outlined is what it means to “love your enemies,” “pray for those who persecute you” etc.
Now, what Mrs. Sanford means by “forgiveness,” I don’t know. I’m just describing what Christian faith says about it. It was revolutionary when Jesus pronounced it and it remains so today.
To me, what you're saying if follow it to its logistical conclusion, is that there is no hell! I don't believe that nor do I believe one can be forgiven unless one seeks it?
Hell is there for the unforgiven, it may or may not be a permanent place (as I am unsure about its eternity for the tortured souls there but my uncertainty borders a bit on heresy so we won't go there)...Instead let me point out that yes, Christ sacrificed Himself for forgiveness but, only when it is sought with demonstrable contriteness (a penance). To forgive those who are not truly sorry for what they have done amounts to enabling their sin; and, in such cases, one might as well committed it themselves. Gov. Sanford has stated only two days ago that his heart was not with his wife but with his "soul mate"...a "love story" he called it rather than by it's true definition: sinful adultery. To me, that doesn't sound much that he's really seeking forgiveness!