What Is Biblical Forgiveness?

If you sin regularly, this post is for you. God hurls your sins into the sea and remembers them no more. An old fashioned word study and basic Bible study, with lots of biblical verses put in an easy-to-read format.

It is marvelous how God forgives our sins. So, are we likewise willing to forgive those who hurt us?

Let’s first do some basic word studies and then apply some Scriptures.

I use the New International Version here. If you would like to see other translations, please go to biblegateway.com.

I. Old Testament Hebrew Words

A. The verb ḥanan

1.. It is pronounced khah-nahn and used 77 times.

2.. Its basic mean is “to show mercy, favor, be gracious.”

See my post:

Do I Really Know God? He Is Gracious

B. Another verb is kasa

1.. It is pronounced kah-sah and used 153 times.

2.. It means “to cover” or “conceal” and “hide” and even “forgive.”

a. When you forgive someone’s sins, you cover them, as if they do not bother you.

b. It is used to cover oneself with a garment (2 Kings 19:1-2; Is. 37:2).

After the field commander of Assyria threatened King Hezekiah Hezekiah tore his robes and puts on sackcloth. He ordered his advisers to do the same:

When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. ²He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. (2 Kings 19:1-2)

c. It can refer to protecting or hiding someone (Gen. 9:23; 18:17; Judg. 4:18-19).

²³But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked. (Gen. 9:23)

One of two men (angels) is talking:

¹⁷Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? (Gen. 18:17)

Jael an Israelite woman invites the enemy Sisera to hide in her tent. She covered him up:

¹⁸Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

¹⁹“I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. (Jud. 4:18-19)

d. Hiding sins is the opposite of confessing them (Ps. 32:5; Prov. 28:13). It is better to confess a sin and not hide it. King David perfectly and humbly clarifies the issue for. Don’t cover your sins.

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin. (Ps. 32:5)

And so does King Solomon in the Proverbs:

¹³Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Prov. 28:13)

e. The atonement cover on the ark is a superb meaning because it is also the mercy eat (Lev. 16:13). The atonement cover was the lid to the ark of the covenant. It was also called the mercy seat.

¹⁵“He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. (Lev. 16:13)

f. Most relevantly, “when God ‘hides’ sin, he makes it completely invisible and casts it into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:19) (Mounce 144). I will quote Micah 7:19 two more times, below.

¹⁹You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Mic. 7:19)

g. God forgives all our iniquities and covered all their sins (Ps. 85:2).

After God forgives people’s iniquities, only then he will cover them:

²You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sins. (Ps. 85:2)

C. A third verb is nasa’

a. It is pronounced nah-sah and is used 659 times.

b. Its basic meaning is “lift high, raise high, bear, carry.”

c. It sometimes means “to forgive” on God’s part, “to carry or bear sin.”

Exodus 34:6-9:

⁶And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

⁸Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. ⁹“Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.” (Exod. 34:6-9)

David said he would confess his sins, and the Lord would forgive the guilt of his sins (Ps. 32:5).

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin. (Ps. 32:5)

Most famously, the Suffering Servant would carry or bear the sins of another person, and by this he would make many righteous and receive great honor and reward (Is. 53:12).

¹²Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors. (Is. 53:12)

4. Another verb is salach.

a. It is pronounced sah-lakh and appears 47 times.

b. One Jewish commentator on Leviticus 4:20 says that the Hebrew verb for “forgive” is “salach,” and it refers only to God’s forgiveness (Torah, p. 771).

¹⁹He shall remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar, ²⁰and do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the community, and they will be forgiven. (Lev. 4:19-20)

To jump forward to the New Testament, it makes no distinctions in its Greek verb. However, Jesus may have used the word when he pronounced forgiveness on a paralytic whom he healed.

The Son of Man Claims God’s Authority to Forgive Sins on Earth

See this offsite post for a quick definition and all the biblical references to salach:

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/strongs_5545.htm

In all its contexts, it truly is the kind of forgiveness that only God can offer.

II. New Testament Greek Words

A. It was written in Greek, and let’s look at a noun and a verb.

B. The noun is aphesis

1.. It is pronounced ah-feh-seess and used 17 times.

2.. BDAG is a thick Greek lexicon, and many consider it to be authoritative of the Greek New Testament. It defines the noun as follows:

a. “The act of freeing and liberating from something that confines, release”;

b. “The act of freeing from an obligation, guilt or punishment, pardon, cancellation.”

c. The Shorter Lexicon says: “release” or “cancellation” or “pardon” or “forgiveness.”

d. And so God lets our sins go, and we should let go of our past sins and the sins of those who have offended us. God graciously grants us his forgiveness; we should grant people the same grace.

C. The verb is aphiēmi.

1.. It is pronounced ah-fee-ay-mee and is used 143 times.

2. The New Testament is a thin document compared to the Old Testament, so it is remarkable how often the verb is used. God must think it is important.

3.. BDAG defines the verb with the basic meaning of letting go:

a. “dismiss or release someone or something from a place or one’s presence, let go, send away”;

b. “To release from legal or moral obligations or consequence, cancel, remit, pardon”;

c. “To move away with implication of causing a separation, leave, depart”;

d. “To leave something continue or remain in its place … let someone have something” (Matt. 4:20; 5:24; 22:22; Mark 1:18; Luke 10:30; John 14:18);

e. “Leave it to someone to do something, let, let go, allow, tolerate.”

f. The Shorter Lexicon adds “forgive.”

g. In sum, God lets go, dismisses, releases, sends away, cancels, pardons, and forgives our sins.

h. His work is full and final. Don’t go backwards or dwell on it. The verb means to forgive.

III. Human Forgiveness of Others

A. Esau and Jacob

In Genesis 33:4, Esau had to forgive his brother Jacob, who tricked his older brother out of his birthright. Jacob was nervous when they first met after many years of separation, but the reconciliation was positive.

B. Joseph and his brothers

Joseph boasted that his brothers would bow down to him, and his brothers resented the very idea and sold him into slavery into Egypt. After many years of troubles, Joseph was promoted, and because of a famine his brother came town into Egypt from Canaan. Joseph disguised himself, but after some trick play, he revealed himself. They wept and had a group hug. All was forgiven. What they had meant for evil God turned it around for god (Gen. 50:15-21).

¹⁵When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. (Gen. 50:15-17)

C. A father forgives his wayward son

In one of the greatest parables ever told, certainly in the three Gospels, the younger son of a wealthy father demanded his inheritance now, right now! He left for a faraway country squandered it on riotous and debauched living. He came to himself and returned to his father (vv. 17-20), who saw him at a distance and ran to meet him and hugged his neck. His father forgave and honored him (Luke 15:17-24). Here are vv. 20-25:

²⁰So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:20-24)

D. Jesus forgave his enemies who crucified him

In Luke 23:34, Jesus forgave those who crucified him—while he was on the cross.

³⁴Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. (Luke 23:34)

E. Stephen forgave his executioners

In Acts 7:60 Stephen, while he was dying from being stoned to death, he forgave the ones killing him. “Fell asleep” means he died.

⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:60)

F. Paul forgave everyone who deserted him, praying that the Lord would not charge their abandonment to their account (2 Tim. 4:16). The rest of the paragraph says God gave him the victory.

¹⁶At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. (2 Tim. 4:16)

IV. Forgiveness Is Commanded of Christians.

A. The Father in heaven will not forgive us if we refuse to forgive others.

Jesus spoke a heavy and serious parable. Ending the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt. 18:21-35), who refused to forgive someone of a small debt, when he had just been forgiven a massive one, Jesus said that the servant was put in prison. So the Father would do to us if we refused to forgive. We would be put in prison of our own making (Matt. 18:35).

Here’s the punchline:

³⁵“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matt. 18:35)

B. Jesus requires us to forgive because our sins were forgiven.

In the Lord’s Model Prayer, Jesus said, “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who sins against us” (Luke 11:4, my translation). So there is a relationship between God’s forgiveness of us and our willingness to forgive those who sin against us. We forgive because God forgave us.

⁴Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation’” (Luke 11:4)

C. Paul says the same thing—you are forgiven, therefore forgive.

Ephesians 4:32 says exactly this. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you” (NIV). We forgive as we have been forgiven.

Colossians 3:13 issues a straightforward command.:

Bear with one another and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone” (Col. 3:13).

V. The Reasons God forgives

A. Compassion

Exodus 34:6-7ab says that God passed in front of Moses, proclaiming that God himself is the gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness and rebellion and sin. Therefore God’s compassion and grace moves him to forgive.

Micah 7:18-19 promises that God will have compassion on Israel (and us); and he will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities in the sea. So once again God’s compassion moves him to forgive. The image of treading sins underfoot and throwing them into the sea is fantastic.

¹⁸Who is a God like you,
    who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
    of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
    but delight to show mercy.
¹⁹You will again have compassion on us;
    you will tread our sins underfoot
    and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Mic. 7:18-19)

B.. Love

Psalm 51 is David’s great confession psalm after he sinned with Bathsheba. In the first two verses he asks God to have mercy on him, according to his unfailing love.

¹Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
²Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin. (Ps. 51:1-2)

C.. Grace

Psalm 103:8, 10-12 has great verses about God’s grace. Great promises!

⁸The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love. […]
¹⁰he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹²as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Ps. 103:8, 10-12)

D.. Mercy

Isaiah called out to the wicked to forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. They should turn to the LORD and he will have mercy on them, and he will freely pardon (forgive) (Is. 55:7).

⁷Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon. (Is. 55:7)

V. How God Forgives

A. Shedding of blood

Hebrews 9:22 says that he forgives by the shedding of blood. Life was in the blood, and it became the substitute for our own blood. Either we paid for our own sins, or someone else would do it in our place. Who would be qualified to pay for our sins permanently. The Son of God alone was qualified (see Letter C, below).

²²In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Heb. 9:22)

B. Foreshadowed in the Levitical system

The sacrifice of Christ was foreshadowed in the Levitical system (Lev. 4:1-5:13), In fact Jesus fulfills the Day of Atonement.

See my post The Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16 from a NT Perspective

Here is an important verse:

¹¹For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. (Lev. 17:11)

C. This foreshadowing was fulfilled by the blood of Christ or his sacrifice on the cross.

Ephesians 1:7 is clear about redemption through the blood of Christ:

⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace (Eph. 1:7)

According to Ephesians 2:13, because of his sacrificial death on the cross, we are now brought near to Christ, even though we had been alienated.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Eph. 2:13)

Colossians 1:13-14 says we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Christ who rescued us from the domain of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he love.

³For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1:13-14)

Colossians 2:13-14 says Christ was nailed to the cross and canceled the legal charge against us and condemned us. He has taken it away. Recall that one definition of forgive was to cancel.

¹³When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. (Col. 2:13-14)

Hebrews 9:14 says that Christ’s blood, who offered himself unblemished by the eternal Spirit, cleanses our conscience from acts leading to death. Verse 28 goes on to say that Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many.

¹⁴How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Heb. 9:14)

D. Jesus can forgive sins.

Mark 2:1-11 says that Jesus was about to heal a paralytic, but he first pronounced forgiveness of the man’s sins. The religious guys complained because only God could forgive sins, not some self-proclaimed prophet (as the saw things). Jesus both forgave the man’s sins and healed him. Here are vv. 10-12:

¹⁰But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹²He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” (Mark 2:10-12)

Hebrews 9:28 says that after his sacrifice and ascension into heaven, he can definitely forgive sins:

²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Heb. 9:28)

VI. The Results of Forgiveness of Our Sins

A.. Our sins disappear from God’s sight

Isaiah 38:17 records a prayer written by King Hezekiah that says that God has put all the king’s sins behind God’s back. In other words, the sins are hidden or concealed, out of sight.

¹⁷Surely it was for my benefit
    that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me
    from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins
    behind your back. (Is. 28:17)

B.. They are thrown out

Recall that Micah 7:19 says God hurls our sins and iniquities in the sea. And Psalm 103:8, 11-12, says that our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west. These passages are so good, let’s quote them again.

Micah 7:18-19)

And here are the verse from Psalm 103.

C.. They go out of God’s mind

Isaiah 43:25 says that God blots out our transgressions, for his own sake, and remembers our sins no more.

²⁵“I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions, for my own sake,
and remembers your sins no more. (Is. 43:25)

Jeremiah 31:34 and Hebrews 8:12 say that God will forgive the people’s wickedness and will remember their sins no more. Jeremiah predicts the New Covenant (vv. 31-36), and the author of Hebrews quotes from it:

³⁴No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.” (Jer. 31:34)

¹²For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.” (Heb. 8:12)

D.. They go out of existence

Recall that Psalm 51:1 says that David prayed God would blot out his transgressions. Verse 2 asks God to wash away all his iniquities and cleanse him from his sin. Verse 7 asks God to use hyssop and more washing, so he will be white as snow. Hyssop was an herb uses for cleansing and purifying (Num. 19:6). And verse 9 ask God to hide his face from David’s iniquities and again to blot out all of his iniquities.

Here is v. 9.

⁹Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity. (Ps. 51:9)

Isaiah 44:22 says that God has swept away offenses like a cloud and our sins like the morning mist.

²²I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you.” (Is. 44:22)

In apostolic teaching, this time by Peter to his fellow Jews, Peter tells them to repent and turn to God, so that their sins would be wiped out (Acts 3:19).

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, (Acts 3:19)

VII. How We Receive Forgiveness

A.. We confess our sins.

Psalm 32:5 is great. David said he acknowledged (confessed) his sin to God and did not cover up his iniquities. He even determined, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And God answered and forgave the guilt of his sin.

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin. (Ps. 32:5)

I John 1:9 is for believers. If we confess our sins, he is faith and righteous to forgive us of them and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Some grace teachers claim that this verse is for unbelievers because the first chapter of John’s first epistle was written to proto-gnostics. No. Verse 7 says it was written to believers. Anyone can claim v. 9, whether believer or unbeliever, if he needs it.

⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

B.. We must repent of our sins.

Peter preached that his fellow Jews should repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). And they would receive the gifts of the Spirit. So does the act of dipping into water save a person? Is the water sacred or holy and have healing virtue in it? This is very difficult to prove. In fact the opposite is easier to prove. People were saved before they were water baptized (Acts 9:18; 10:44-48). Water is a symbol of the inner work of the Spirit and our saving faith and the washing away of our sins (Titus 3:5).

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

Acts 3:19, as we just read, says that people must repent and turn to the Lord, so their sins would be wiped out. Repenting and turning are the same act. Repentance is more than just “changed mind.” It is a turning 180 degrees. See my post What Is Repentance?

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, (Acts 3:19)

C.. We believe in Christ

In Luke 24:47 says that the disciples are called to go out preach repentance for the forgiveness.

I include v. 46 for the context.

⁴⁶He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47)

Acts 10:43 says that everyone who believes in him (Christ) receives forgiveness of his sins through his name. Peter is speaking:

⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43)

How does this post cause me to grow in Christ?

Forgiveness is a gift of God. He offers it to you on your repentance. When you acknowledge and confess your sins and believe in Christ at the same time, your sins are instantly forgiven. Now you begin a new journey with God through Christ.

Now what about you believers who sin? You too can just whisper a gentle prayer of repentance, when the Spirit convicts you. Yes, the Spirit really does convict believers, despite what grace teachers say. (See my post Does the Spirit Convict Believers?). 1 John 1:9 applies to you. No, you do not need to obsess over your sins, but when the Spirit nudges you to repent, do so. And God’s forgiveness is instant and joyous.

Now what about you believers who have an overactive conscience who obsess over your sins. Pray every day that God would heal your overactive conscience and bring it back into balance. Just meditate on those wonderful Scriptures in Micah 7:19 and Hebrews 8:12. God throws your sins in the sea and remembers them no more. Gradually (or rapidly) your conscience will come into balance.

Now what about your refusal to forgive others? That is a risky place to be. The Father will put you into a prison of your own choice. Your unforgiveness hinders your prayers and growth in Christ. A wise saying: unforgiveness is like your taking a poisoned pill, hoping it will poison the one who hurt you. Instead it poisons only yourself.

Reconciliation and forgiveness are not the same thing. You can forgive, and then God may or may not call your to be reconciled. Don’t be reconciled to an abusive man, if your counselors advise against it. Forgive him, and then move on.

So how do we forgive? Sometimes you have to fight and “smack down” your emotions that won’t let you forgive. You do this by asking the Spirit to empower you. You have to surrender your emotions to Christ and ask him to strengthen your will to forgive. Meditate on how God has forgiven you of your sins, and then it becomes easier for you to forgive others who have hurt you.

The Son of Man Claims God’s Authority to Forgive Sins on Earth

How to Forgive Adultery and Fornication

What Does ‘Salvation’ Mean?

What Is the Source of Salvation?

What Is the Work of Salvation?

How Do We Respond to God’s Salvation?

What Is Repentance?

Regeneration: What Is It and How Does It Work?

SOURCES

Works Cited

At that link, look for the NIV Study Bible.