Where To Find Forgiveness In The Bible?

The Bible has a lot to say about forgiveness. Where can we find essential verses on forgiveness?

What is Forgiveness?

The word forgive is an interesting one and in the New Testament it is from the Greek word “aphiēmi” which means “to bid going away or depart” and “to send away” and that is exactly what forgiveness is. If someone offends us or does something wrong against us, we are to send it away and let it depart, meaning that we don’t hold on to it. If we hold onto it, then it’s truly not forgiven but it’s like harboring a grudge. You cannot hold onto something and have it depart or send it away at the same time. That’s impossible. To forgive someone, by definition, is to allow or let any offense intended toward us go away. It is to give up any resentment, insult, or personal injury, whether physical or verbal and making any claim to it. It is a releasing of sorts. To have an unforgiving spirit has been described as drinking poison in the hopes that the other person will die from it. It is self-injurious. It is in the best interests of us all to forgive someone and more beneficial to us than it is for the other person that has caused the offense toward us.

Our Forgiveness

One of the most important Bible verses found in the Bible on forgiveness is 1st John 1:9 which says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Many people feel like they’ve committed too many sins to ever be forgiven by God but 1st John 1:9 has no conditions tied to it. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive them. This verse doesn’t quality which sins will be forgiven and which won’t…it simply says that He will forgive us and cleanse us from “all” unrighteousness. There can never be too many sins or too big of a sin where our Savior is not bigger and no sin cannot be washed away by the blood of the Lamb of God.

Redemption and Forgiveness

Paul writes in Ephesians 1:7 that “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” and of course that “Him” is Jesus Christ. Redemption doesn’t come from being sorry for your sins or it doesn’t come from regretting our wrongs; it only comes from the blood of Christ and that is how we are redeemed or purchased by God through Christ’s blood. That is why Paul wrote “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1st Cor 6:19-20).

The Sweeping Away of Offenses

Isaiah puts forgiveness in a most beautiful way “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist” (44:22). The removal of our sins is described like them being swept away or like the heat of the morning sun burning off the fog or mist permanently. It never comes back.

Separating us from our Sins

The psalmist gives us a vivid image and description of the removal of our sins in Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” If you look at the globe, you can see that north and south meet at the equator but the directions of east and west go on into infinity and never meet. In that same way, God removes our sins from u so far that it’s impossible for us to ever meet them or see them again.

Forgiving and being Forgiven

Jesus spoke a lot about forgiveness because He knows the human heart and how hard it is for us to forgive others so this must have shaken many of His followers up when He said “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt 6:14-15). Jesus may be saying that if we don’t forgive others of their sins against us, how can we expect God to forgive us since our debts against Him are so much more than any debts that we must forgive others which is why Jesus said that we must pray; “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12). If a person claims to be a Christian and yet doesn’t forgive others, they are either deceived into believing they are one or they don’t really understand what forgiveness is.

Limitless Forgiveness

Peter once asked Jesus about forgiveness saying “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times” (Matt 18:21) but “Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seven times seventy” (Matt 18:22). The Jews typically set a limit on forgiveness to three times and so Peter, sounding very pious, said “as many as seven times” but Jesus took this to infinity saying “but seventy times seven.” This doesn’t mean that once we reach 490 times, that’s it. No, this is like saying you must keep on forgiving and don’t keep count.

The Unpayable Debt

In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Jesus described a debt that a man couldn’t pay in a hundred lifetimes but he was forgiven by his master (Matt 18:24-27) but that same man went out and found a man who owed him about a day’s wages and he had this man thrown into prison (Matt 18:28-30). When this man’s master found out, he took that wicked servant and cast him into prison until he could repay it…which being in prison meant he could never repay it (Matt 18:32-34). Jesus warned that “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Matt 18:35).

Conclusion

We owe so much more to God for our forgiveness than we would ever owe others in a million lifetimes. That is what the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant was all about so how can we not forgive, meaning to release or send away the offenses of others toward us? There is no comparison on how much we have been forgiven compared to what we must forgive others. Think about that the next time someone sins against you or offends you because Jesus paid a debt He did not owe for a debt we could never pay.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.