Forgiveness is one of the great themes of the Bible. Without forgiveness from God, man would be hopeless and destined to eternal torment. Without forgiveness of each other, marriages would be destroyed, children could not be reconciled to their parents and friends would become enemies.
Why the need for forgiveness, and what is there to forgive? The answer is contained in one small but profound word with a terrible definition—sin. Man has sinned against the Holy God; he has sinned against his fellow man; he has sinned against himself. When man sins, and until those sins are taken out of the way by forgiveness, he is spiritually dead. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience…” (Ephesians 2:1-2).
Ultimately, all sin is against God. Joseph recognized this as Potiphar’s wife continued to try to seduce him into committing adultery with her. He refused her advances by saying, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). When man sins, those sins offend the holiness of God. The nature and extent of sin is seen in Paul’s statement in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death,”—spiritual death. Is it any wonder that the Jews on the Day of Pentecost cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
The very nature of sin demands that it either be punished or that atonement be made for it. It is here that John 3:16, that “Golden Text” of the Bible, applies. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Forgiveness can be obtained through God’s great Gift, His Son! Sometime later Paul declared, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). As one symbolically contacts the shed blood of Christ when he is baptized into the death of Christ (Romans 6:3), he is washed clean by that blood, and then he is raised to walk in newness of life. He is now forgiven.
This is what the apostle Peter told those inquiring Jews on Pentecost: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” (Acts 2:38). As one continues to live in the light of God’s Word, grow in His grace and walk in that light, he continues to be cleansed by that precious blood of the Son of God. John wrote, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Concerning forgiveness, Jesus gave a stern warning, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). He simply stated that one must forgive if he expects to be forgiven. This sets out the attitude that the Christian must possess, which is to be willing at all times to forgive with absolutely no hidden grudges or motives. To borrow and paraphrase a statement of Jesus as He sent the twelve forth to preach, “Freely you have been forgiven, freely forgive” (cf., Matthew 10:8).
Perhaps the most difficult act of forgiveness man has to make is that of forgiving himself. When we remember our transgressions against God and against men, we begin to wonder if it is actually possible for us to be forgiven, or if we can ever forgive ourselves. The biblical answer is a resounding, “Yes!” We must remember that when we have complied with God’s commandments concerning forgiveness, thus being assured of His forgiveness, we must then forgive ourselves. How can we not forgive the one whom God has so freely forgiven? “O happy day… when Jesus washed my sins away!”
