What is Forgiveness?

C. S. Lewis once said, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” To fully appreciate the quality of kingdom life for the Christian, the believer must appreciate the value of forgiveness and be willing to pass it on. Making this connection real begins with an acceptance that the new covenant offers the believer total forgiveness for all sins, past, present, and future. In Hebrews 8:12, "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." 

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed [hagiazo – regard as holy, venerate] be Your name. ' [Let] Your kingdom come. [Let] Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 'Give us this day our daily bread. 'And forgive us [aphiemi – pardon] our debts [opheilema – that which is owed], as we also have forgiven our debtors. 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]' "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.                   Matthew 6:9-15

Rather than making prayer a matter between an individual and God, the Pharisees had turned it into an act to be seen by men, to demonstrate their supposed righteousness. Their prayers were directed not to God but to other men, and consisted of long, repetitive phrases. Jesus condemned such practices. Prayer should be addressed to your Father, who is unseen and who knows what you need. It is not to be seen by men. But Jesus also presented a model prayer for His disciples to follow. This prayer is commonly called "the Lord's Prayer," but it is actually "the disciples' prayer."

The prayer of the remnant is documented in Isaiah 64. In Isaiah 64:8, But now, O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand. In calling Him as our Father, the believer expresses a known relationship from our infancy, but, in calling Him our Father who is in heaven, we contrast Him with the natural father we have, raising our souls to heaven where He dwells, and to that Majesty and Glory which are there in their proper home.

When speaking of Your kingdom, the disciples and other followers understood that the context was the physical Messianic Kingdom to take place at the end of the age. When Jesus refers to the kingdom as “ [Let] Your kingdom come,” he was also speaking of the spiritual kingdom He came to introduce to those who would properly see Jesus as Messiah and King. John the Baptist’s message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus told some Pharisees that the kingdom of God is in your midst (inside you – Luke 17:21). To let the kingdom come is to let His will be done, both earthly and heavenly.

Our Daily Bread

When the believer asks for his daily bread, the reference is most likely related to Proverbs 30:8, Remove falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches — feed me with the food allotted to me. The order of the two requests is significant. The wise man's prayer is first and primarily, "truth in the inward parts," the removal of all forms of falsehood, hollowness, or hypocrisy. The evil of the opposite extremes of social life is that in different ways they lead men to a false standard of duty, and so to a forgetfulness of God which passes into an absolute denial. “Give me for food the bread of my appointed portion." The prayer foreshadows that which we have been taught by the Divine Wisdom: "Give us, day by day, our daily bread."

Forgive

Once the proper foundation of the prayer is laid, Jesus focuses on forgiveness, particularly in light of the believer's relationship with others. Jesus is telling him that there is a direct relationship between the forgiveness he experiences from God and his willingness to release others from the debt the follower of Jesus may believe he is owed. Forgiveness is a change in God's relation to us and our sins. It should create a change in the way we see God and others.

Walking in the kingdom requires a willingness to pardon others of their debts, just as the Lord has forgiven our sins. Forgiveness is an attitude that follows from recognition of the seriousness of our sin. A person with an unforgiving heart toward others shows that he does not take his own sin seriously and has not appropriated God’s forgiveness. Our forgiveness of others demonstrates our perceived need for forgiveness. The person who does not forgive a brother's offenses does not appreciate how much he himself needs forgiveness.

Some believers have wondered why we should ask for God's forgiveness, since the New Testament clearly reveals that God forgives all sins—past, present, and future—when He justifies us, by faith. That is judicial or forensic forgiveness. However, as forgiven believers, we need to confess our sins to receive forgiveness and restore fellowship with God. It is the effect of sin, the energy behind the sin to be repeated, that needs cleansing (1 John 1:9). Forensic forgiveness brings us into God's family. Family forgiveness keeps our fellowship with God and His people intimate within God's family. Walking in the kingdom is a family affair.

Forgiven

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven [nasa – taken away], whose sin is covered [kasah – covered over, concealed]! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute [hasab – reckon, regard] iniquity [awon – conscious, intentional sin], and in whose spirit there is no deceit [remiyyah – intentional mistruth]! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged [yada – made known] my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess [yadah – made known] my transgressions to the Lord” and You forgave the guilt [awon – conscious, intentional sin] of my sin.                         Psalm 32:1-5

The Apostle Paul quoted Psalm 32:1-2 in Romans 4 to support his argument that it is a faith like Abraham's by which the righteousness of God comes to each believer, not through the Law of Moses. David's confession in Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 is his honest attempt to acknowledge the sins he committed and their effect on his life. They are to show the blessedness of the forgiveness of sin. This is done by showing, in the first place, the pain, distress, and anguish resulting from the conviction of guilt. Then follows a statement of the effects of an honest and full confession of guilt in giving peace to the mind and relieving the distress caused by the remembrance of guilt. It is remarkable that Psalm 32 refers so much to the inward life and contains no reference to any external acts, such as Jewish sacrifices and offerings. It pertains to the human soul and to God, and to the inward work of penitence and pardon. The Psalm addresses the sorrow of conviction and the peace of forgiveness, and it shows that among the Hebrews there was an inherent idea of religion as a spiritual transaction between the soul and God.

A Clean Heart

Be gracious to me [hanan – form of hesed], O God, according to Your lovingkindness [hesed – God’s love expressed in His kindness]; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out [mahah – wipe out] my transgressions [pesa – rebellion]. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me [taher - make me pure] from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge.                Psalm 51:1-4

Create in me a clean [tahor – clean, pure, genuine] heart, O God, and renew [hadas – reconstruct] a steadfast [kun – cause to stand in an upright place] spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.                 Psalm 51:10-13

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.                  Psalm 51:17

It is most likely that Psalm 51 was intended as a "public" expression of David’s penitence in light of his failures with Bathsheba and Uriah. Both the fact of its composition and the manner in which it was to be used were intended to be interpreted as his willingness that the widest publicity should be given to his confession and that the memory of the crime and of his penitence should be perpetuated in all ages of the world. The phrase in the title, "A Psalm of David," indicates that it was intended for public worship or for praise. It was designed not merely to express his private feelings, but was intended to be employed in the solemn services of public devotion.

As a corrective for his sinful nature, David petitioned God for inward renewal of his heart attitude, preservation in service, and restoration of joy. He was aware that he had become indifferent in his attitudes, so he needed renovation and restoration. He was also aware that Saul was removed from the kingship for his sin, so David asked that God not take away His Spirit and depose him also. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit does not leave believers, but indwells them at the moment of salvation. A Christian may be cast aside from service because of sin, but the Spirit never leaves. David was also aware that to experience the joy he once had in his salvation, he needed God's inner spiritual renewal. He wanted a broken spirit, and a broken and contrite heart.

Stand Firm

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes [methodeia – methods, strategies] of the devil. For our struggle [pale – wrestling, hand-to-hand combat] is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.                  Ephesians 6:11-12

The struggle is not physical (against flesh and blood), but it is a spiritual conflict against the spiritual "Mafia." Paul categorizes the satanic forces as not only the rulers and powers he referenced in prior passages, but the world forces of this darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness are added. Their sphere of activity is in the heavenly realms. Satan is trying to rob believers of the spiritual blessings God has given them. He will use anyone under his influence to attack others to undermine their spiritual effectiveness. Unconfessed sin is a major strategy that the devil uses to infect others with unbelief.

Forgiving Others: How Often

Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.                          Matthew 18:21-22

The traditional Rabbinic teaching was that an offended person needed to forgive a brother only three times, so Peter was being generous. Jesus's response was excessive, seventy times seven, to say that there should be no limit to a believer's forgiveness of others. Jesus continued by likening the kingdom of heaven to a king settling accounts and forgiving the massive debt of a slave, who is then unwilling to forgive a much smaller debt. The parable lays equal stress on two things. First, the foundation of all real mercifulness in men is the reception of forgiving mercy from God. We must have experienced it before we can exercise it. And second, we must exercise it if we desire to continue experiencing it. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7). To be merciful, we must first have received the initial mercy of canceled transgression.

Mercy

And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."                    Exodus 34:6-7

Nowhere do we imitate God more than in showing mercy. In nothing does God delight more than in the exercise of mercy. To us, guilty sinners and to us, wretched, dying, and exposed to eternal woe, he has shown his mercy by giving his Son to die for us, by expressing his willingness to pardon and save us, and by sending his Holy Spirit to renew and sanctify our hearts.

Forgiven Much

“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.’"       Luke 7:44-50

The woman in this passage was most likely a prostitute who had found forgiveness in Jesus and expressed that forgiveness by demonstrating devotion to Him, wiping His feet with her hair and pouring perfume on His feet. She was willing to accept His forgiveness, and it became a great teaching lesson for His disciples. Until His disciples could see themselves as sinners in need of forgiveness, like any prostitute, they would not be able to fulfill the divine call God had on their lives to bring the Gospel to the world after Jesus’s ascension. As Jesus says in verse 50, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Like the woman caught in the act of adultery, she was encouraged to go, living in the reality of her salvation. Being forgiven is a work of God; living in forgiveness is the result of the acceptance of man’s fallenness and the awesome provision of God for that fallenness by His grace.  

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison for standing against apartheid. Upon his release from prison, he made the following statements: “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies… As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”

Jeff Metcalf, father of murdered teenager Austin Metcalf, said he forgave his son’s killer for himself, not for the killer. He understood that not forgiving could result in bitterness. Operating in God’s forgiveness and mercy is foundational for a rich spiritual life in the kingdom.