Forgiveness is the basis of our relationship with God. When Jesus died on the cross, he didn’t die for his own sins because he didn’t have any, but he died for our sins. All the wrath of God that should have come upon us for our sins came upon Jesus instead. Because of that we are free from our sins.
“As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).
God’s nature is to forgive.
“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You” (Psalm 86:5).
God forgives us our sins for his own sake.
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25-26).
The fact that God forgives us for his own sake shows that our forgiveness is sure. He forgives us because his very nature is to forgive, and we are his children.
When Jesus died on the cross, he cried out, “Father forgive them.” When the first martyr, Stephen was being stoned to death, the Holy Spirit inspired him to pray that God would forgive his attackers.
Sin can hinder our relationship with God. In order to receive forgiveness for our sins, we need to confess them. If we confess our sins to God, which means to tell him what we did and agree with him that it was wrong, then we are forgiven of our sins (1 John 1:9).
“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy (Proverbs 28:13).
We need to confess our sins directly to God.
Forgiving Others
We ought to also forgive others who sin against us.
The Lord’s prayer includes the line “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us” (Matthew 6:12).
Jesus once told a parable about a man who owed his master a lot of money. The man couldn’t repay the master, so he fell at his feet and begged for mercy. The master was compassionate and forgave him his entire debt. Then the servant met another servant who owed him a little money. The forgiven servant refused to forgive the other servant and threw him into prison. The master heard about it. Then the master threw the first servant into prison too. The master said the servant would be tortured in prison until he paid everything back.
Jesus told this parable to teach us that we need to forgive others.
It is not possible to repay everything we owe to God. Our offense against God is of infinite weight because God is of infinite value. The just punishment for our sins, which is commensurate with the offense, is an infinite punishment. This is the reason why hell is eternal. This is also why Jesus, the eternal Son of God, was the only one who could pay the penalty for our sins. Praise God for the infinite power of the blood of Jesus Christ that forgives us this infinite debt.
Meaning of Forgiveness
Forgiveness means to give up a demand for punishment. It means we no longer bear a grudge against someone. We no longer want to take revenge against them. Forgiveness also means to release someone. When we forgive, we release them of the obligation they owed us because of their sin against us.
Our model for forgiveness is Jesus Christ. The New Testament says we should forgive others as Christ forgave us (Colossians 3:13). We can only do this with the help of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is hard to forgive someone. But God will help us. The Holy Spirit is able to forgive everyone because the blood of Jesus Christ atoned for all sin. He is living inside of us, and he will help us forgive.
Forgiveness Heals our Souls
Forgiveness is healthy. The Bible tells us that forgiveness heals our inner turmoil. Bitterness often comes from unforgivness. And many evil things come out from bitterness (Hebrews 12:15).
“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).
When we don’t forgive others, bitterness builds up inside of us. This produces hatred, anger, malice, envy, and all kinds of evil things. Many bad things grow inside of us when we refuse to forgive others.
Danger of Unforgiveness
If we don’t forgive others, God cannot forgive us (Mark 6:14-15). Why? Unforgiveness is a sin, and it is a root of many other sins. If we hold onto the sin of unforgiveness, we also hold onto hatred, rage, and many other sins. As long as we hold tightly onto these sins and refuse to confess them and repent from them, we cannot be healed from them. This is why if we refuse to forgive others, we cannot be forgiven by God.
Someone once said that unforgiveness is like drinking down poison and expecting the other person to die.
Forgiveness Heals our Bodies
Forgiveness heals us internally. It also heals our bodies.
Many scientific studies have shown the benefits of forgiveness on mental and physical health. Here are some of the results of these studies:
1. Forgiveness heals our hearts. It lowers our blood pressure and our heart rate.
2. Forgiveness lowers our cortisol levels. Cortisol is the stress hormone. Unforgiveness raises the level of cortisol in our bodies which leaves us in a constant state of anxiety and tension.
3. Forgiveness boosts immunity.
4. Forgiveness decreases hostility. It makes us better able to manage anger. It decreases outbursts of rage.
5. Forgiveness leads to lower risk of alcohol or drug use. People often turn to alcohol or drugs to help them manage pain. Pain often comes from unforgiveness. With forgiveness, pain is decreased, and this decreases reliance on alcohol or drugs.
6. Forgiveness lowers the risk of depression.
7. Forgiveness reduces chronic pain.
A surgeon and professor at Yale Univerisity said, “I have collected 57 extremely well-documented so-called cancer miracles. At a certain particular moment in time they decided that the anger and the depression were probably not the best way to go, since they had such little time left. And so they went from that to being loving, caring, no longer angry, no longer depressed, and able to talk to the people they loved. These 57 people had the same pattern. They gave up—totally—their anger, and they gave up—totally—their depression, by specifically a decision to do so. And at that point the tumors started to shrink.”
This does not mean that every instance of fatal disease is caused by unforgiveness. However, some illnesses are a result of unforgiveness, and forgiveness can be an important part of physical healing.
Science is only now catching up to what God revealed in the Bible. Only in the past 30 years has the field of psychology begun studying the power of forgiveness. But Christians knew about this essential truth thousands of years ago. Let’s believe the Bible in faith. We don’t need to wait for scientists or so-called experts to tell us what we need to do. We need to obey the word of God and then we will be blessed by God.
Forgiveness is something we do for ourselves. It heals our souls, minds, and bodies.
Forgiveness heals relationships. Relationships are often harmed by unforgiveness and the evil fruits of unforgiveness. Let’s forgive people freely as God forgave us, so that our relationships can be healed.
Jesus said we have to forgive everyone who ever sinned against us at anytime (Mark 11:25). We don’t need to wait for them to apologize to us. Our ability to forgive doesn’t depend on the actions of others.
However, just because we must forgive everyone doesn’t mean that we have to be in a close relationship with everyone. Sometimes people refuse to change, and they continue to harm us. God does not want any of his children being abused. We can forgive everyone, but healthy boundaries are important.
Rebuking
We need to rebuke a Christian when he or she sins against us. We don’t have to rebuke unbelievers when they sin against us, but we need to rebuke our Christian brother or sister. When we rebuke someone, we make them aware of their sin against us. This gives opportunity for them to repent. It makes it possible for our relationship with them to be healed. It also shows that we care about them and expect better from them. This ultimately reveals our love. God wants his church to be holy. Rebuking other Christians helps this process.
Hindrances to Forgiveness
There can be hindrances to forgiveness.
1. We might be waiting for an apology. But Jesus told us to forgive everyone, whether they apologize or not.
2. Pride can stop us from forgiving. When we don’t forgive someone, we can feel morally superior to them as we remember their faults. We may fear that if we forgive them we will be at the same level with them. But we need to recognize that this false pride is empty. Our value is not in condemning others, but in knowing who we are in Jesus Christ.
3. Sometimes we don’t forgive someone because we are afraid they will sin against us again. However, Jesus told us to forgive the same person if he sinned against us 490 times in one day. In addition, just because we forgive everyone doesn’t mean we have to be close to everyone. Boundaries can be essential.
4. A final reason we may not forgive is because we have a desire for revenge. We want to see the person who wronged us face the consequences for their actions. But vengeance belongs to God, the only perfect Judge.
“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21)
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