In order to understand forgiveness, we must consider its origin—love—the love of God for His creation. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). To understand love—from God’s perspective—we must go to the Bible and 1 Corinthians 13, beginning in verse 4, where we find the definition.

Love…

From this list of attributes, we clearly see God’s love in its pure, unconditional nature. It is in this love that forgiveness has its roots. However, “… according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).

From this passage of Scripture, we see that even though love is the motivation, forgiveness cannot be accomplished without a blood sacrifice. Even so, love provided the perfect sacrifice: “… God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8); “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

God loves us so much that, even though He is perfect holiness—and His holiness demands justice in regard to sin—He provided the way for sinners to be exonerated, declared not guilty! The way was and is Jesus, who went to a cross and died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. That is forgiveness rooted in pure love.

Of utmost importance in considering how we approach every day of our lives, and our eternal destiny as well, is the forgiveness provided for us by God. In order to know that we are forgiven, we must understand our need to be forgiven. Romans 3:23 and 5:12 clearly make that case:

“… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—”. These passages leave no doubt as to our guilt before God. Therefore, in order to be assured that we are forgiven, we must place our faith, our trust in someone who has authority to forgive sins. For Christians, that “Someone” is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the surety of our forgiveness and salvation:

As He hung dying on the cross in our place, considering the eternal consequences to be faced by all unbelievers, He looked down in compassion on those who had scorned and tortured Him, and who were administering His death, and “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:34).

“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18)

“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13–14).

“I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:17b–18).

“Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43).

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake” (1 John 2:12).

“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29)

“So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him” (Hebrews 9:28).

“You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5).

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:1–2).

To substantiate the authority of Jesus to forgive sins, we review the story of Jesus and the paralytic in chapter 9 of the Book of Matthew. Verse 6 states, “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”--then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”

We have established our need to be forgiven and that Jesus has authority to forgive. And we have established beyond question that the Bible declares not guilty those who come to Jesus in faith. That brings us to our part in the forgiveness equation. Do we believe the Bible is the Word of God? Do we believe in the human birth of Jesus Christ; His death on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins; His burial; and His bodily resurrection through which He is able to restore in us the spiritual life that all mankind lost through the original sin of Adam?

Do you believe this in your heart; have you acknowledged your sinfulness and thanked Jesus for dying in your place; and have you asked Him to give you His eternal life? If so, that’s wonderful! If not, please do not delay. Read our Born Free tract and learn how you can be lead into a saving, eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. (When you are finished there, return here…)

By experiencing our existing salvation, or establishing it anew through the truth explained at the above web site, we affirm that we have received the great forgiveness promised in Jesus Christ our Lord. Truly, it is a matter of faith. If we believe the testimony of the Bible, and if we believe the testimony of the Holy Spirit residing in us as believers, then we accept it as bedrock truth that we are forgiven people.

The second part of our question is, how do I forgive someone who has hurt me so badly?

From one of the sweetest stories in the Bible comes the Parable of Two Debtors (Luke 7:36–50). The story goes like this:

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”

And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.”

“A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

“When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?”

Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”

Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”

And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

The point of the story is that those—like this woman—who have been forgiven much, love much (v. 47). And those who love much because of the forgiveness they have received are able to exhibit forgiveness toward others. In this we see the truth of the statement, “We love, because He first loved us” (John 4:19). And we can confidently state, we can forgive because He first forgave us.

Those who are in Christ should not fear to forgive others who have wronged us, because “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” … “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (John 4:18, 20).

The admonition of our Lord through the apostle Paul is to forgive. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31–32).

The only harvest that can come from holding onto a wrong suffered is bitterness, hatred, and potential wrath, none of which comes from God. It has been noted that bitterness is like being stung to death by a single bee. What good can come from hanging onto bitterness? None! Only ill will. While we waste our time and our lives harboring resentment and bitterness, the one we are resentful and bitter toward is going about his or her life unknowing. Bitterness harms only us! And its effects can be devastating.

When considering the offense of others toward us, we should ask ourselves, ‘Have I ever done anything that offended someone else?’ Think about it. And wait for the answer. Yes, we have all offended others—a sister or brother; a parent; a teacher; a friend; our Lord. Need we say more?

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity (Colossians 3:12–14).

For an in-depth study on the issue of forgiveness, may we recommend Bob George’s three-lesson series, Experiencing the Forgiveness of God. You may order it from the People to People Online Store or by phone during Central Time office hours at 800-727-2828.

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