The Hebrew nasa' or nacah means to forgive or pardon. This is the word used by the brothers of Joseph when they asked his forgiveness in Genesis 50:17. Calach means to forgive, pardon or spare and is the word used by David in Psalm 25:11 and 103:3. Machah means abolish, blot out or wipe away as used by Isaiah in Isaiah 43:25.
The Greek aphiemi means forgive, lay aside, omit, put away or remit and is used by Jesus in Matthew 6:12-15. Aphesis denotes pardon, deliverance, forgiveness, liberty and remission as used by Jesus in Matthew 26:28. Apolutrosis signifies riddance, salvation, deliverance and redemption as used by Paul in Colossians 1:13-14. Logizomai means to count, impute or reckon and is used in the negative sense in Romans 4:8. Lutron is used to identify a redemption price or ransom as identified in Mark 10:45.
Other important terms applicable to the consideration of forgiveness are confession, repentance, restoration, healing, covering, cleansing, freedom, compassion, salvation, redemption, atonement and, of course, the fundamental consideration of what is to be forgiven, i.e., sin. To, as we say, "cut to the chase," the end effect of forgiveness is a condition in which our forgiven sins will neither be recorded nor used against us in the day of judgement as expressed in Romans 4:7-8, "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT." and Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins."
Now, we may ask, how do we obtain forgiveness?
First, everyone should understand that all are given the opportunity for forgiveness (John 3:16) and that it is a free gift available to any who will choose (Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8).
Forgiveness requires confession (1 John 1:9).
Forgiveness requires repentance (Isaiah 55:7 and Luke 24:47).
Forgiveness requires belief (Acts 10:43).
Forgiveness requires obedience to the gospel of Jesus (Acts 2:37- 38).
Forgiveness requires that we forgive others (Matthew 6:12-15).
Who can forgive whom? We have the power to forgive others of their offenses against us (Matthew 18:35). God and Jesus have the power to forgive us of our sins. Nowhere in scripture is there a passage that states we have the power to forgive ourselves. We may at times hear someone express the concept that "I first had to learn to forgive myself before I could forgive others" or "An important milestone in my 'recovery' was when I was able to forgive myself," etc. However, such concepts are without Biblical foundation as we do not have the power to achieve our own salvation (Galatians 2:15- 16, Ephesians 2:8-9 and 2 Timothy 1:8). Perhaps a truer approach would be to express such feelings in terms of accepting, as opposed to rejecting, God's forgiveness and love on a personal basis.
Forgiveness gives us that clean slate upon which we can strive for greater levels of spiritual maturity/growth.
Copyright 1996: By R.W. Sutliff, All Rights Reserved.