And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Matthew 6:12 (KJV)

Forgiveness is a powerful tool for restoring and maintaining relationships between individuals, ethnic groups, or even nations. It even restores a broken relationship with God and leads to immortality. God’s forgiveness of us restores relationship with Him; our forgiveness of each other restores our relationships between us: husband and wife, parents and children, friends.

Since salvation and eternal life are tied to forgiveness, forgiveness is the greatest need of mankind. If anyone has the forgiveness of God, they have salvation – their sins are no longer held against them but instead are removed and forgotten. With forgiveness, we have eternal life and an inheritance in the Kingdom of God – an amazing future. Without forgiveness, we have none of these things. Instead, there will only be darkness, death, eternal regret and judgement. No second chances once we pass from this life.

We all need forgiveness because we have all sinned. We have all broken the Law of God.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Romans 3:23

The forgiveness of God comes only through the cross of Jesus Christ. Justice requires the penalty for sin be paid. And so it was. At the cross, Jesus met the requirements for God’s judgement of sin so that those who would trust in him would not have to pay that debt themselves. The bible says that the wages of sin is death.

For the wages of sin is death

Romans 6:23a

Without the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins, we would all remain under judgement. But through His death and resurrection, we have forgiveness and reconciliation, the restoration of relationship, and eternal life – if we meet the requirements for forgiveness.

The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23b

Forgiveness is not automatic or universal. God’s forgiveness is conditional. It requires repentance and faith. At the moment of repentance and placing our complete trust and allegiance to Christ, we receive forgiveness for all of our sin and eternal life. We must believe – we must trust in Him completely if we want forgiveness and eternal life.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:18

We who believe are no longer under the condemnation that comes with sin. This is the power of God’s forgiveness in Christ.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Romans 8:1

Have you repented of your sin and trusted in Christ? For a more complete explanation of the gospel message that addresses these issues, please take some time to read through Steps to Eternal Life.

Steps to Eternal Life

Forgiveness is a fundamental principle of Christianity. It is the opposite of retribution. The other large world religion is driven by enmity and retribution. Most of the culture today has become highly polarized and is driven by enmity and retribution. But enmity and retribution lead only to destruction.

Look around you at the world today. Do you see forgiveness and reconciliation or do you see enmity, retribution, and violence? Revenge propagates violence. When revenge is the philosophy on both sides of a dispute, then the violence never stops. Vengeance feeds hatred which, in turn, feeds violence. It’s literally a death spiral that can escalate to the destruction of relationships, marriage, families, and even greater expressions of destruction through wars and genocide.

Forgiveness is not the normal human response to being wronged in some way. The first human instinct is to strike back with greater forcefulness. There is always an escalation embedded in retribution.

Forgiveness is of primary importance in the practice of Christian faith. The Lord would even tie his own forgiveness of us to our forgiveness of each other. It’s easy to call out someone on the basis of what we see as sin. We are quick to judge unless it means judging our own actions where we find the greater sin. It’s best to forgive than to condemn.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14-15 (KJV)

Have you forgiven those who have sinned against you or do you withhold forgiveness? The bar for forgiveness is high. The expectation God has for those whom he has forgiven is that they do the same for those who have sinned against them. We have all sinned against God, but those who have trusted Christ are forgiven and will honor that forgiveness by our own forgiveness of others who have offended us.

What Does it Mean to Forgive and Forget?

“I forgive you, but I will never forget what you’ve done…”

Ever say that to someone? Has someone ever treated you that way? Do you sense that you are truly forgiven? If that is the approach to forgiveness, then there is no forgiveness. It means dragging up the same pile of transgressions whenever necessary to hold it over someone. The wrongs are never really forgiven but instead become weaponized. Pull a past sin out whenever it’s convenient and recount it detail by detail, or maybe distortion by distortion.

When we are forgiven by God, he forgets.

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Isaiah 43:25 (KJV)

If we are forgiven in Christ, he has removed our sin from us; removed and forgotten.

Sometimes, as believers in Christ, we feel like we are still under sin. Ever feel that way? Or perhaps you feel some things you’ve done are so terrible that there can be no forgiveness. That’s just the accuser trying to nullify God’s complete forgiveness of your sin. It’s a little different than conviction in our conscience for on-going sin. You need to give heed to that. Listen to your conscience but don’t listen to the accuser. The voice and the feel of it in your spirit is different. If it’s struggle with sin, conviction and guilt can be helpful to drive you to maintain the fight against sin until there is victory in Christ.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins;
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as the heaven is high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalms 103:10-12 (KJV)

Who then are we to hold someone in their sin against us. Forgive and choose to forget. That is the biblical standard for forgiveness. When you set someone free by forgiving and forgetting then you yourself become free of the bitterness and darkness that builds over time. You hold someone in chains when you hold their sin over them. You are also held firmly in those very same chains.

What does it mean to forget? It means you make a decision to stop dwelling on the sin and dragging it up in front of the person when you feel the need to hold it over them again. It’s just manipulation at that point. So stop it. It’s harming you as much as that person. Prayerfully Let. It. Go.

For the sake of the Name. Forgive, forget, reconcile, restore, heal.