What We Can Learn About Forgiveness in the Bible

Forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts God has given us. It makes a way for us to live as one with God, it provides a way for person-to-person relationships to be restored, and it develops spiritual maturity as we learn to live from a position of forgiveness. As we explore forgiveness in the Bible, we discover explore God’s forgiveness, Jesus’ ministry of forgiveness, and the practical application of forgiveness.

Forgiveness releases a person from guilt and its consequences. It is an act of compassion to restore broken relationships. Forgiveness can involve both the remission of punishment and the cancellation of debts. To forgive is to refuse to blame and take an account of offenses. To be forgiven is to be exempt from personal consequences for an offense. When we experience forgiveness, our mistakes are no longer considered or held against us.

God’s Forgiveness in the Bible

But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. – Nehemiah 9:16-17, ESV

The Israelites had a reputation for a back-and-forth relationship with God. They had numerous experiences of rescue and refusal. They refused to follow God, which led them to sin and captivity. Then God would hear their cry and rescue them because of his kind nature. He was ready to forgive because that is His nature. We can rely on His readiness to forgive us too.

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. – Isaiah 55:6-7, ESV

Pardon is another word for forgiveness and this passage instructs us to seek the Lord and to call on Him. When we leave our old ways of a life filled with hopelessness and separation from God, He has compassion for us. He offers us the promise of forgiveness when we repent and leave our old thought patterns behind. If you suffer from bitterness and resentment, repent and He will have compassion on you.

Forgiveness under the Old Covenant required the shedding of blood through the sacrificial system. There were numerous types of sacrifices required for numerous types of sin, but these sacrifices were temporary. They were unable to completely purify the sinful heart of humankind. The guilt remained.

Only God could provide the perfect sacrifice for His perfect justice, righteousness, and moral order. His name is Jesus and He died once for all time so that the blemish of sin and guilt in our hearts would be swept away. Through His sacrifice, we experience unhindered access to God. Jesus offered up His life according to the plan of God and died for our sake. Forgiveness in the Bible reveals God’s unmerited favor and stems out of His amazing love for us.

Jesus’ Ministry of Forgiveness

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. – John 1:29, ESV

In the Old Testament, a lamb was used in sacrifices to make atonement for sin. These sacrifices could never remove sin, but Jesus could. John the Baptist declared this statement when he saw Jesus. One of Jesus’ primary ministries was the forgiveness of sins which culminated in His death and resurrection on the cross. While Jesus ministered on earth, He faced opposition from the Pharisees and Sadducees.

And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” – Mark 2:6-7, ESV

Jesus’ ministry of forgiveness brought criticism from religious leaders. To them, forgiveness was tied to Old Testament sacrifices and stringent diligence to the Law. When this man, Jesus, healed people and forgave their sins, the religious leaders could not see past their dedication to the Law of Moses.

They refused to believe that anyone could be truly forgiven. Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation through forgiveness began in His earthly ministry and continues today for those who repent and believe.

Jesus demonstrated that believers’ sins were forgiven through their faith in Him and exercised His divine authority to forgive. He healed physical bodies and the separation that sin created between humankind and God. He used parables to teach about and demonstrate forgiveness. After his ascension, the church continued the ministry of forgiveness in Jesus’ name.

Application of Forgiveness in the Bible

Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As any as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. – Matthew 18:21-22, ESV

Jesus taught about forgiveness in Bible through His actions and parables. He used a parable to answer Peter’s question. This parable, found in Matthew 18:23-35, tells the story of a servant who owed the king more than he could ever repay. The servant asked for mercy and received forgiveness.

After he received forgiveness, the servant demanded a much smaller payment from a fellow servant who owed him a debt. This servant who received forgiveness from the king missed the point and suffered because of it.

Jesus used this story to emphasize how important it is to receive and extend forgiveness. Forgiveness is a duty, it has no limits, must be granted without reserve, and cannot be reduced to a simple formula. His lessons and actions on forgiveness radically challenged the Jews’ way of thinking because forgiveness was not considered a virtue by the Jews of Jesus’ time.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. – Colossians 3:12-13, ESV

Forgiveness amongst the body of believers is one way to demonstrate the type of forgiveness that God showed us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul not only calls us chosen ones, holy and beloved, but he also gives us a list of character traits to develop. These character traits help us forgive each other when we frustrate one another or offend each other.

Offenses happen in the body of Christ and forgiveness is the gift we can give. We remember our great debt of sin and recall how it caused a deep separation between us and God. This awareness helps us forgive those who wound us and makes it possible to forgive another person whether they apologize or not.

In Acts 6, we read that Stephen was full of grace and power and did great wonders and signs among the people. He had great wisdom and preached the gospel so that his opponents found it impossible to refute his arguments. Instead, they stoned him to death (Acts 7) and some of his last words were words of forgiveness.

Stephen is one example, but there are stories after stories about forgiveness in the Bible. There’s repentance and reconciliation among families. God’s longsuffering forgiveness toward the Israelites is a testimony of his gracious nature.

Jesus’ ministry of forgiveness continues as we receive the forgiveness that leads to eternal life. It also persists when we extend forgiveness to others rather than seek revenge or hold onto bitterness.

If you struggle to receive and extend forgiveness and want to explore forgiveness in the Bible and what it looks like in your life, please contact our reception team to set up a counseling appointment. We would be honored to support you as you let the power of God’s forgiveness into your life.