Lots of people have some some of secret sin in their past (or in their present life) which they think is so bad, God could never forgive them.
Well, they’re wrong.
If you think you have committed a sin which God cannot forgive, let me tell you…. God has already forgiven you for this sin.
And yet He still wants you to confess and repent of this sin. Why? So He can forgive you.
Confused yet? That’s because there are lots of confusing statements in the Bible about forgiveness.
On the one hand, forgiveness seems unconditional and free (Col 2:13).
However, there are other verses which seem to say that we will not be forgiven unless we confess or repent of our sins (1 John 1:9).
A few passages indicate that we can lose forgiveness simply by not showing forgiveness to others (Matt 6:15). So does this mean that even if you confess our sin, we may not be forgiven of it if we fail to forgive others?
Then, there is apparently a sin which will never be forgiven, no matter what (Matt 12:31-32).
And of course, there are the confusing verses which seem to indicate that certain human beings have a special power or ability to forgive others (cf. John 20:23).
Finally, there is the issue of what forgiveness actually accomplishes. Many believe that in order to go to heaven, we must be forgiven of all our sins. Therefor, if any of our sins remain unforgiven due to one of the conditions of forgiveness listed above, does this mean we end up in hell?
I cannot begin to address all these texts in this post, and even if I did, there would be dozens of other similar passages which would demand explanation as well.
So instead of trying to explain every verse about forgiveness, let me try to briefly summarize what the Bible says about forgiveness and why there is so much confusion surrounding this concept in the church today.
What the Bible Says about Forgiveness
One of the biggest reasons there is so much confusion about forgiveness is that there are three Greek words used in the New Testament for forgiveness, but they often (though not consistently) get translated as “forgiveness” into English. For my own study of Scripture, it often helps to know what kind of forgiveness is in view.
Charizomai Forgiveness
The first kind of forgiveness is charizomai. It is what I think of as “God’s unconditional forgiveness.” This makes sense, because it is based on the word charis, which means “grace.”
Charizomai refers to the removal of guilt, but not necessarily the removal of consequences. Charizomai is God’s free pardon (cf. 2 Cor 2:7, 10; Col 2:13). As such, charizomai is offered freely, to all, with absolutely no conditions.
This kind of forgiveness is a free gift of God to every single person on earth, emanating purely from God’s love and grace. In this way, you have been forgiven of every sin, no matter what.
Aphesis Forgiveness
The second kind of forgiveness is aphesis. It is best to think of aphesis as release. It often is used to refer to the release of a financial debt or burden, but is often used in the sense of gaining liberty or freedom.
Aphesis, however, is usually not without condition, so in this way, it is different from the unconditional charizomai forgiveness. Aphesis is usually connected with repentance, meaning that aphesis does not come unless there is repentance.
This makes sense when we understand that sin enslaves us and puts us in bondage. If we do not repent of our sin, that is, if we do not turn away from it and turn back toward God, how can we gain freedom, liberty, or release from it? We cannot.
But note that even if we do not gain aphesis, we still have charizomai from God. He freely forgives us out of His grace, and calls us to repent so that we might also gain aphesis. If we do not, He still loves as forgives us (charizomai), but we will continue to experience bondage and enslavement to sin.
Apoluo Forgiveness
Then finally, there is the third kind of forgiveness, which comes from the Greek word apoluo. Apoluo is based on the Greek word luo, which means “I loose.” So apoluo is to be loosed, or set free. This word is nearly indistinguishable from aphesis, and may be nearly synonymous. There may be some small shades of differences, but nothing worth noting in this post.
So How Does This Help Christians Learn to Forgive?
First of all, we need to understand that we are forgiven, freely, by God’s grace, of all our sins, no matter what. You have the charizomai of God whether you confess your sins or not. You have charizomai for your sins whether you are Christian or not.
As far as God is concerned, your guilt has been removed from you. Your sin is no longer an issue with God. I have written about this previously, and so will say nothing more here.
However, we all still struggle with the consequences of sin in our lives and in our relationships. How can we fix this problem? This is where most of the teaching in the Bible about forgiveness comes in.
Aphesis forgiveness and apoluo forgiveness have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not a person goes to heaven when they die. Aphesis forgiveness and apoluo forgiveness are about whether or not we live in bondage and enslavement to sin here and now. They are about whether or not we destroy our lives, our health, our marriages, our family, our finances, our jobs, and pretty much everything in our life.
God does not want us to live our lives surrounded by destruction, addiction, and enslavement, and so He encourages us to confess our sins, repent of our sins, purify our lives and in so doing, gain release, freedom, and liberty from sin and the damaging consequences of sin.
God encourages us to forgive others, because often, that is the only way we can gain release to the bitterness and resentment we hold in our hearts toward them. Until we forgive others we cannot gain the release of forgiveness for ourselves.
You are already Forgiven, so Forgive to be Forgiven
That subtitle sounds like gibberish, right? But from a biblical perspective it is true. You already have the free charizomai forgiveness of God, completely free of charge. So in light of this free gift of forgiveness, it would be wise to give aphesis and apoluo forgiveness to others so that you can experience the release of aphesis and apoluo forgiveness in your own life.
Study Forgiveness on Your Own
I encourage you to embark on a study of forgiveness of your own. Find some sort of Greek-English parallel Bible, and whenever you see the words “forgive,” “forgiven,” or “forgiveness” in Scripture, take a few minutes to look it up and find out which kind of forgiveness is in view.
By doing so, you will be encouraged. God is not dangling your sin over your head as a way of threatening you with eternal punishment in hell. No, He has already forgiven you of all your sins, past, present, and future.
However, God wants more for you than to just have your guilt removed from you; He does not want sin to reign in your body; He does not want sin to rule over you, to destroy you, to ruin your life, your health, your finances, and all your relationships. He wants you to experience freedom and liberty. But for these, there are conditions and steps that must be met…
I encourage you to develop in your thinking about forgiveness. There are different kinds of forgiveness, with different conditions to receive the various kinds, and different consequences and results from each. Learn to distinguish which forgiveness is which, and your Bible will make a whole lot more sense.
A very good explanation, thank you!. Even so, I would just like to comment on the words of Jesus in Mat. 6:14 and 15: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”. This was said in the same vein as Mat 5:48 “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”.
Jesus was born under the law (Gal 4:4-6), preached to people under the law. Under the law forgiveness was conditional (forgive to be forgiven). Nevertheless, after Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, everything changed. After the atonement sins are not been forgiven conditionally!
Our God is the same as always, however, the covenant has changed. Under the Old Covenant forgiveness was conditional (forgive to be forgiven). Under grace (new covenant) Jesus atoned for all our sins. “…I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering (forgive and be forgiven) for sin” (Heb. 10:17 and 18). Under the New Covenant we are forgiven for Christ’s sake, and exhorted to forgive because we have been forgiven. Ephesians 4:32 says “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you”.
The foundation of New Covenant forgiveness is God’s love and grace which is unearned and unmerited.
Joe,
Yes. Do you know which type of forgiveness is in view in those passages?
Matthew 6:14-15 – aphesis forgiveness
Ephesians 4:32 – charizomai forgiveness
And as for the Old Covenant forgiveness, did you know that there was no offering or sacrifice in the Law for intentional sin? So does this mean that they could not be forgiven for intentional sin? Of course not. They had to rely and depend on the charizomai forgiveness of God just as we do – the free, unmerited, completely unearned and unwarranted, gracious forgiveness of God. All of the sacrifices and offerings were for fellowship forgiveness (aphesis and apoluo).
Thanks Jeremy. I (now) agree with you. Short and sweet, Hebrews 10. Stumped!
Joe,
Hebrews 10 is tough! Here is a post I wrote on it though…. No Sacrifice for Willful sin is left. Let me know what you think!
Thanks Jeremy, I’m sure when you speak about bondage caused by our lack of forgiveness becuse we have not repented (turned 180 degree’s from it and changed) that it not only keeps us in bondage but also the person or organisation we have not forgiven.
I have met a few Christians who have told me that they could not possibly forgive a particular injustice, ever. Their bitterness deep down in their soul effects the way they relate to everyone they meet, it’s very sad to see how it effects both sides even unto death.
Yes unforgiveness is a most powerful weapon as can be seen in both sides of the conflict in Syria and Egypt and many other conflicts.
Forgiveness allows resolution to come. Unforgiveness keeps us with a Victim mentality, we trust no one, we hold back from having meaningful relationships with our spouse, children, relatives and neighbour’s, it fills us with bitter resentment towards the world and even nature itself, “when I go on holiday it always rains and whatever I purchase there is always something wrong with it, I’m cursed”. They even blame God and say “I’m being tested but I can’t think why”. Tragedy.
“If you suddenly remember you have a problem with your neighbour, leave your offering and go back and make things right, then come back and make your offering which will now be acceptable unto thr Lord
Clive,
Yes. The power of forgiveness is unlike anything else in the world. I heard of a study about all the negative mental, emotional, and physical side-effects of not forgiving someone. It is astounding!
I’m so glad you mentioned the passage of our forgiveness of someone else before we seek true restoration with God. Some say Jesus’ words are not for us Today, but we know that as long as it is called “Today” the Word of God remains the same: the just shall live by faith. And that means submission and spiritual growth.
We do not get those by reading, or talking about it. My wife and I had to live it through 8 years of court case, and continuing mistreatment, slander, and maligning of character by her family and mine. It is not easy to actually forgive. But Jesus told us to offer grace without boundaries, recorded in Matthew 5f, that we were to be perfect as our heavenly Father — who even causes the rain to fall of the fields of the righteous and unrighteous.
Thanks Clive – I particularly enjoyed reading your post.
Thanks, Jeremy.
So many times I’ve encountered word issues like this one. One Greek word being translated multiple ways or several different words translated the same way or even words translated in the wrong way, meaning, they miss the depth of the original meaning and use a word that falls short of what the writer meant. I haven’t the wherewithal to look them all up myself, so I appreciate reading about what another has found.
And thanks again for the reminder of God’s outrageous grace! I think I’ve been needing a refresher on that.
We all need a refresher on grace all the time! It is so opposite of the way the world works and the way we are trained to live. Thanks for the encouraging comment.
Hey man, the post is so good. . . don’t remember ever hearing about forgiveness two ways, guilt and freedom, but makes sense. Always thought freeing from sin that came from repentance was just grace, not like a stage two forgiveness. Forgiveness is grace too tho. Lots to chew on. . . thanks.
Alan,
Well… yes, the freedom from sin does primarily come from grace… without the grace of God in our lives, we would not be able to confess or repent or turn from sin toward obedience. So it is all from grace, but the ongoing freedom does require some discipline and perseverance.
Think of it this way: God has freed us from the penalty of sin and given us everything we need for life and Godliness so that we can live our lives according to His Word and thus be freed from the ongoing power of sin in our lives as well. Eventually, when we receive our new bodies in the resurrection, we will be finally freed from the presence of sin.
Jeremy, thanks for the followup. May be oversimplifying it but thinking that while saving and grace are not based on works, growth is. . . not works that we deserve things, but that some response, some movement is needed on our part to move on with God and become more like Jesus. Just never linked that moving on with God with forgiveness. . . thought forgiveness was a starting point, not ongoing. . . ongoing in the sense of having been forgiven, needIng grace moving forward. . . always will need forgiveness when messed tho.
Yes, I think that is essentially true. Obedience and discipleship do lead us to spiritual growth and greater Christlikeness. Initial forgiveness and ongoing forgiveness will be part of this as well, for sure.
This article is a mess. Muddies the waters of forgiveness. If God grants salvation to someone, then that someone will have forgiveness. God’s terms for salvation are conditional, therefore forgiveness will be conditional.
I see what your saying Chris but it’s only conditional on the basis that we accept the free gift of forgiveness, so the doing bit is the direction God has given us to receive freedom to live our lives free from anger, remorse, vindictiveness and the rest, because of a hurt we feel we can’t possibly forgive.
Whichever way the hurt has come, in Christ, we are on a win win answer.
Far from muddying the water, for me what Jeremy has said has added clarity to a sometimes difficult understanding abiut forgiveness. Clive
Chris,
Well, you probably need to do some research on “salvation.” The term very rarely means “eternal life” in the Bible. It is so critical to understand how the Bible defines the terms it uses.
Eternal life? I thought I was talking about salvation and forgiveness. I think I understand salvation. A definition of the Christian doctrine of salvation would be “The deliverance, by the grace of God, from eternal punishment for sin which is granted to those who receive by faith God’s conditions of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.” More often, the word “salvation” concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance. Sorry we are not syncing up on this and sorry my opinion is that your article is complicating and confusing to a non seminary student as myself. My understanding of forgiveness is based from my reading of scripture with guidance from The Holy Spirit and from that I do not experience the question you pose about forgiveness.
I agree with what you have said, that the revelation of scripture is received from Holy Spirit and I know this to be true in my life as well, as I to have had no biblical teaching of a professional nature.
In your case the subject of forgiveness is straight forward and requires no additional information. I to have always accepted that forgiveness is uncomplicated but sometimes when trying to explain it to someone who thinks the Bible is contradicting itself it can be helpful to explain it in the way Jeremy has.
I think we are all in agreement as to what God is offering when it comes to forgiveness, we are just approaching it from a different direction. Clive
Chris,
I am trying to simplify things, but maybe I am failing. That happens when I write sometimes…. sorry!
“Salvation” is not biblically defined as you have stated it. Though some pastors and theology books may define it that way, such a definition does not fit nearly every use of the word in the Bible. That is where some of your confusion is probably coming from. If we define salvation as you have defined it, there are hundreds of texts which will cause confusion.
I am fine with a definition of salvation as “deliverance” but not with all the rest of the stuff you included. If you definite “salvation” as “deliverance” then whenever you see the word “salvation” “save” “saved” etc., in the Bible, stop and ask yourself “Deliverance from what?” and then carefully look in the context to see.
Good article, thanks Jeremy. It is one I will be forwarding to many.
I quickly glanced through an article, The Quest for Forgiveness that I wrote in December 2007 after coming through a demanding year. Although I did not follow the same approach and did not touch on the word studies, there are important similarities described in other words, e.g.:
” The Bible also carries different nuances and it is important to study the context of the specific Scripture. Nonetheless, it seems that a primary meaning is to show mercy and favour, and be gracious to someone.
Grace means that I give someone a free gift he or she does not deserve. Mercy, on the other hand, means I do not give someone what he or she deserves. And oh Boy! Of myself I must confess that it is not always easy to forgive. I say I do, but then thoughts of anger might still pop up in my mind from time to time. Today I understand that I am in fact battling in my mind to move beyond that first level of forgiveness [which I described earlier as one where you do not wish the other party harm or seek revenge]. And I realize that it is only through the indwelling Holy Spirit that I am able to achieve that position of victory. More than ever before I now understand how spiritually impoverished I had been for most of my life, being in a church that hardly gave any attention to the manifest presence of the Ruach HaQodesh”.
Sounds like you have done a good study on the subject. It is always a good idea to study these issues when going through times that they are pressing upon us. Much of our theology is developed in the crucible of life experiences, right?
I do see the need of thoroughly forgiving others in order to see the benefits of genuine release for myself. And that to not completely release people from certain debts or obligations is to stay permanently and inappropriately attached to them. ( I also see that forgiveness usually happens in layers, not all at once.) For instance, I see that for me to hold a grudge against a parent or “spiritual parent” whose commands discouraged the proper detachment from them needed to acquire my own personal journey with the Lord, is the very dungeon of despair that actually blocks this desired venture. So it is good to release them from this obligation, yes to drop that silly grudge, so that my hands can be free to grab hold of the hands of both the Father and His Son, being that through the Spirit, “truly our most important fellowship is with [them both]” — 1 John 1:3.
Yep! Forgiveness does come in layers, and sometimes, we forgive others simply to be released from the grudge we bear against them. Sometimes, forgiveness of others is for US, not them.
This was very encouraging! If only more pastors and teachers would look up the Greek words before they expound on a passage and confuse us with their mixture of grace and law!
Thank you, Jeremy.
I don’t always do this myself. It is a time consuming process, especially when it doesn’t always help much.
In Col 2:13 those bieng spoken to are the christians in Collosia and have (presumably) already repented. The scripture speaks a great deal about God’s ‘willingness’ to forgive but I hold that we cannot be forgiven for those things we do not accept as sin.
Yes, the one English word for forgiveness comes from two main words in Greek (with two different meanings) which causes some confusion about the conditions and consequences of forgiveness. Here is a link that explains a bit more: https://redeeminggod.com/two-kinds-of-forgiveness/
I dont quite get the part in which you say you dont need to confess sin (not be born again) to be forgiven…
This does not make sense at all what about Mathew 22… I’ve been sinning against God… and I ask for forgiveness (in my eye genuine forgiveness) and I still feel nothing… I completely lost the wisdom He gave me. Sometimes I wanna get mad at Him but it’s not His fault… there’s a Harvard teacher I talk to and he tells me that the scriptures aren’t clear to sheathed willful sinners will go to heaven.. he mostly described it as if there is no repentance after sinning there is no heaven for you… I have been born again but when I sin it feels like the Holy Spirit left me and I am left to die
So if we go by your definition of forgivness everybody gets a free ride?
It don’t matter how foul and evil of a person you are God has already forgiven you without repentance???
Are you serious? LOL
So why does the bible mention hell????
If what you say is true it is not necessary!
Do you care how many people you are leading astray????????
There is a hell, and the bible says there is a special place there for phalse prophets like you.
Please repent God still loves you.
Stop this hereasy!
I find there are warnings in the Bible. I see where it says that our sins will be remembered no more and I see where the Bible tells us and Ephesians forgive even as God for Christ has forgiven you. All those references so that Jesus paid for our sins once and for all.
I also see that there are warnings like Hebrews 6:4 through nine and Hebrews 10:26 and second Peter 2:20
All these sins were done and a person was overtaken, or he was doing it on purpose, and it says that he insulted the spirit of grace. How come when people talk about Grace? They just blow over all these other verses. I believe I am forgiven. Maybe I am just religious and having problems because I’ve always been taught to do first John 1:9 And to forgive others to be forgiven.
I do not just want to accept doctrines coming down the pipeline because they are popular. I want to know the truth.
I posted before so here is another comment or question; there’s the story about the king and the unjust servant who owed a large debt. He begged the king and the king for gave him of his debt.
Later when he went out and someone owed him couple hundred denari, He grabbed him by the throat and said pay me back what you owe me. The Man said have mercy on me, but he wouldn’t and had the man thrown in prison.
When servants of the king, the mandate had been forgiven is such a great debt mistreating another individual they told the king.
He was brought before the king and he asked him did I not forgive you of that great debt? He called him a wicked servant and had him thrown in prison because he did not forgive someone of a lesser debt. So are you trying to say that Jesus just taught this to people that are under the law and that this does not apply to the new covenant believer in Christ Christian? And like I said there are warnings in Hebrews six verse four through nine and Hebrews 1026 and again in second Peter, 220. So I believe that we are forgiven of our sins, but I’m not ready to throw out that we need to forgive. If you take in context the story, Jesus said the man that had a great debt was forgiven, but then his sin was held accountable to him because he would not forgive. do you say this does not apply to the current church?
I would say we are forgiven, but we must forgive because unforgiveness is not a luxury that we can afford. I believe you’re forgiven unless you hold unforgiveness towards someone else. I think in my opinion, people just to grab into some of the new teachings could be dangerous.
I’m not saying that I am right, but I’m not ready to say that I’m wrong. I pray that God reveals his truth to us . I believe we have received forgiveness of sins, but then God command us to death the misdeeds of the flash by the spirit. The Bible says no longer yield your members as instruments to wickedness. The Bible says do not yield to send evil desires. So he gives us the means to resistance by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus at the last supper was their feet. Jesus said you were clean he who has been bathed. You just have to wash your feet and then you were clean again. Could this be that God is saying keep a repetitive lifestyle when we know we have send and repent?