Forgiving By the Book

Instruction on forgiveness is found throughout the Bible. We usually think of forgiveness this way:

+ What would it take for us to forgive someone?
+ What do they have to offer us – how honest of an apology or what?

The Bible speaks in entirely different terms.

PSALM 130:3-4. Lord, if you kept a record of sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.

PSALM 103:10. He does not deal with us according to our sins.

One of the greatest examples of forgiveness is found in the story of Joseph, the way he offered forgiveness to his brothers after they had left him for dead. He has an opportunity to take revenge, but he instead chooses the way of forgiveness. You can refresh your memory on the story of Joseph by reading chapters 37-50 of Genesis.

We find Joseph’s words to his brothers here:

GENESIS 50:19-20. Am I God, to judge and punish you? As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for harm.

Here you begin to see the big difference in the way forgiveness is looked at in the Bible – we think of our decision whether or not to forgive – as based on whether someone else has earned the right for us to forgive them – so we can decide whether to make things right. Joseph saw the opportunity to forgive his brothers strictly in terms of his relationship with God.

Forgiveness is tied so strongly to the opportunity to take revenge. Because Joseph let God take control of revenge – he was set free to forgive.

Jesus spoke very pointedly about forgiveness...and the teaching becomes even more challenging!

In Matthew 6 we find Jesus giving what we today call the Lord’s Prayer:

MATTHEW 6:12. Forgive us our sins, just as we also forgive those who sin against us.

Every time we pray that prayer – whether we use the word "sins," "debts," or "trespasses" - we need to think carefully about why we pray it that way:

MATTHEW 6:14-15. If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Jesus touches on the same theme here:

MARK 11:25. When you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.

To understand this teaching of Jesus, remember that he is speaking not of punishment, but a principle. It is not so much that God withholds forgiveness from us to "teach us a lesson." Rather, he reveals this principle to us to help us understand how a lack of forgiveness in our hearts closes the door to our ability to receive forgiveness!

The disciples must have really wrestled with what Jesus said:

MATTHEW 18:21-22. Peter came up and said to Jesus, “Lord how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”


Jesus then told the story that exemplified the foolishness of being forgiven much by God but then refusing to forgive others - read the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23-35.

Note the huge difference between "10,000 talents" (the amount forgiven) and "100 denarii" (the amount he refused to forgive another). According to the New Interpreter's Bible, 10,000 talents represented an incalculable amount, larger than the entire annual tax proceeds for Syria, Phoenicia, Judea and Samaria combined!

Meanwhile 100 denarii was not a trifling amount, but in comparison it was quite small - approximately 100 days' wages for an ordinary laborer.


Our world was stunned by the forgiveness offered by the Amish in the recent tragedy in Pennsylvania. Read these profound words by our own Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, on the theme of forgiveness, in light of the incident in Pennsylvania.


Some other Scriptures on the theme of forgiveness:


EPHESIANS 4:31-32. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.


COLOSSIANS 3:13. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.


Read what St. Augustine (354-430) had to say long ago about forgiveness:

"It is certainly a bargain to be reckoned with when we say, 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.' We can be sure that we have violated that rule if we do not forgive those who ask our pardon, since we too want to be forgiven by your most generous Father with respect to those who seek pardon from us...It must be said that we should forgive all sins committed against us if we want the Father to forgive what we have committed...In this pronouncement he wished us to be merciful because that is the only prescribed means of avoiding miseries. Indeed, in no other petition do we pray in such a manner as to make a kind of covenant with the Lord, for we say, 'Forgive us as we also forgive.' If we default in this covenant, the whole petition is fruitless."


Read also this anonymous writing, from an early Christian letter called the Epistle to Lucian:

"If an injury is done to you, look to Jesus Christ. Even as you desire that he may forgive your sins, just so you must also forgive them theirs. By this you will circumvent ill-will, and bruise the head of that ancient serpent (see Genesis 3:15, Romans 16:20), who is ever on the watch with all subtlety to undo your good works and fruitful aims. Let no day pass by without reading some portion of the sacred Scriptures, whenever you have time, and giving some space to meditation. Never cast off the habit of reading the holy Scriptures. Nothing feeds the soul and enriches the mind so much as those sacred studies."


Read "Forgiveness: It Just Ain't Fair," by noted Christian writer Philip Yancey.


Read "How Do I Deal With an Unforgiving Spirit?" by Dr. Charles Stanley.


Here is a lengthy piece that goes into much more detail on the story of Joseph, and what the Bible has to say about forgiveness - "The Fundamentals of Forgiveness," by Bob Deffinbaugh.