Mark 11:25 « And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. »
Forgiveness, which is a powerful
demonstration of God's own love for us, is not something new revealed to us in
the New Testament. God has commanded us to forgive since the Old Testament. In
fact, we have many examples of forgiveness in the Old Testament, such as the
story of Joseph, who was sold by his brothers and yet was humble enough to
forgive their betrayal; Job, who forgave his friends and prayed for them, thus
drawing God's favor into his life (Job 42:10); and so on. Let these examples
not lead us to see forgiveness as a means of getting things from God, but
rather as facts that make us understand how much God loves a humble, loving
heart that practices forgiveness with sincerity.
Forgiveness is the act of forgiving,
which itself comes from the old English word “forgiefan” ( for and giefan,
meaning completely and to give). Given this etymological definition of the
word, we understand that there can be no partial forgiveness: it must be total.
We understand that partial forgiveness is the same as to not forgiving at all.
Colossians 3 : 13 « Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you », Matthew 6 :12, Luke 11 : 4 et Ephesians 4 : 32. These are verses that invite us to forgive completely, just as our Father forgives us completely for our sins.
What is forgiveness in the Bible?
1. Forgiveness is an act of love
From the Old Testament to the New Testament, the act of forgiving the offenses of our neighbors is presented as an act of loving them with all our heart, just as God loves us when we commit sins and repent before Him. Forgiveness, then, means showing that we love others as we love ourselves, which makes it easy for us to put ourselves in other people's shoes, to be more understanding, tolerant, and patient with them. When we see ourselves through the eyes of others, it's very difficult for us to judge, and we're more inclined to forgive.
Luke 17 :3 « So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them»
1 Corinthians 13 : 4-7, 13 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.…Maintenant donc ces trois choses demeurent : la foi, l’espérance, l’amour ; And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. »
2. Forgiveness is an act of obedience to God.
God told us in Matthew 6:14-15 that if we forgive our brother's trespasses, He will also forgive ours. But if we don't forgive, He won't forgive us either. So, when we forgive, we are obeying a commandment of God. A heart that is submitted to God is a heart that pleases God.
Leviticus 19
: 17-18 « Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor
frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a
grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I
am the Lord. »
3. Forgiveness is an Act of Faith
In Numbers 14:19-20, God forgave the iniquity of the people of Israel because Moses interceded on their behalf. And in many other books of the Bible, we find similar instances of Jesus and God's servants interceding and asking God to forgive people their sins. Examples include Stephen's intercession while being stoned (Acts 7:60), Job's at the end of his trial (Job 42:8-10), Moses' (Numbers 14:19-20, Exodus 32:10-14), Abraham's (Genesis 18:20-33), Samuel's (1 Samuel 12:18-20), and Jesus' while He was on the cross (Luke 23:34).
Forgiveness is an act of faith, because when we intercede for our brothers and sisters to be forgiven, we recognize that God is listening to us, that we have such a strong fellowship with Him that we know that if we ask Him for anything, He will give it to us (Mark 11:24). We demonstrate that we believe His Word, which says that whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18).
4. Forgiveness is a revelation of the Holy Spirit in us.
When we forgive our brothers and sisters their trespasses, as God forgives us, we are able to do so because, renewed by the Holy Spirit, we bear the fruits of the Spirit. For a proud, resentful, and unloving heart cannot forgive. But forgiveness can only come from a humble, loving, peaceful, and gracious heart.
Psalms 143 : 10 « Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.»
Galatians
5 : 22-23 « But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
and self-control»
5. Forgiveness is the foundation of our salvation.
The very foundation of our salvation was, is, and always will be the forgiveness we have received in Jesus Christ. We are confident that we have salvation because we have the assurance that our sins have been forgiven by God, our faults forgotten, our transgressions blotted out in Jesus Christ. When we believe in eternal salvation, we also believe in God's complete, final, and eternal forgiveness.
Luke
1 : 77 « to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the
forgiveness of their sins, »
1 John
2 :12 « I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have
been forgiven on account of his name.»
As long as we live on this earth, let us not stop forgiving, let us not close our hearts, let us not be filled with pride and anger. Let us be understanding and patient. Let us love one another.
Matthew 18 : 22 « Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven
times, but seventy-seven times. »