You and I are not very different from each other. I know I am not wrong. Each of us has stepped on someone’s toes. Maybe not all the time, but enough times. I know, because you and I are sinners, and it is only a matter of time before we step on each other’s toes. We have been guilty of saying insensitive things to another person, and offended them. We have said the wrong things and have done things we should not have. We have all failed each other, at one time or another. We have all had our selfish moments. I know I have. I know you have too. On the other hand, we have also been offended by someone, and unfortunately, we will continue to be offended for as long as we live. It is part of living life in a fallen world. We are not very different from each other.
God saw what would happen afterwards if sin were to enter in the world. He knew we would offend each other, and step on each other’s toes. Left alone to ourselves, we would not know any better than to choose to hold a grudge, or worse, take revenge on each other, daily. I take revenge on you. You take revenge on me. One day, you and I would kill each other, for sure. For this reason, God stepped in and taught us about forgiveness. We must forgive one another in order to disrupt the cycle. The only hope for sinners is to forgive.
What is forgiveness? I think we all know what is forgiveness and what it means to forgive someone, but have you tried to put a definition around what it is? If we were asked to explain to someone what it is forgiveness, I think most of us would have a hard time. I say this because even though the world has its many ideas about what is forgiveness, the Bible is interestingly silent, in my opinion. You and I will agree the Bible talks a lot about forgiveness, and the importance of forgiving each other. It just does not define what it is. The Bible does not give us a good definition of forgiveness.
Genesis 50:17 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.
Exodus 32:32 But now, please forgive their sin.
Leviticus 4:35 In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven.
1 Samuel 25:28 Please forgive your servant’s presumption.
Matthew 12:31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Luke 5:20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
What is forgiveness? When I ask what is forgiveness, what I mean to ask is exactly how far must one go in order to be able to say he has forgiven someone? Some say this. Others say that. You and I may have our own ideas how far we must go, but in the end, it shouldn’t matter what we think. What matters is what God thinks. What God thinks, that we must do. When the Bible commands us to forgive, how far must we go to forgive in order to meet his requirement for forgiveness? This is super important to us because the last thing we want to do is to forgive someone, and to think that we have forgiven someone, only to find out afterwards that we came up short, and we have not forgiven someone at all. God didn’t consider what we have done to have forgiven someone. We didn’t go far enough. So, what is forgiveness?