Forgiveness
It has been said, “to err is human, but to forgive is divine.” While there is no end to the depths of human error, just what does divine forgiveness entail. There are many Christians struggling in their relationship with God due in part to a misunderstanding of forgiveness. Thus to help alleviate such misunderstanding and remove the struggle it is necessary to understand forgiveness from a theological perspective.
To begin, forgiveness is “the legal act of God in removing the charges against the sinner because atonement for the sins has been made.”1 ‘Forgiveness’ comes from two Greek words - charizomai and aphiemi. Carizomai means to cancel a debt on the basis of grace (Colossians 2:13).2 Aphiemi caries the idea of letting go or being released and pictures the believers sins as being sent away (1 John 1:9).
The Basis – Propitiation and Advocacy
The basis upon which the believer receives forgiveness for sins is contained in Christ’s sacrificial work. Christ’s shed blood (Colossians 1:14) and sacrificial death on the cross satisfied the just demands of God’s holiness (1 John 2:2). Holiness denotes separation from all that is unclean. Man’s iniquity has made a separation between God and man (Isaiah 59:1-2). Therefore, God can only be approached via a Mediator whose righteousness is acceptable and satisfying Divine holiness.3 God’s holiness procures the need for forgiveness.
The satisfaction of God’s holiness is accomplished through ‘propitiation’. Propitiation means “to appease or make well disposed; conciliate.”4 Propitiation is the not the removal of guilt or punishment, but the removal of divine wrath (Romans 1:18). God’s holiness results in wrath (i.e. anger) against sin. When His holiness is appeased, God in His love can offer forgiveness to mankind (Psalm 78:38; 1 John 4:10). The love of God is sacrificial and self-giving. It is God’s love the produces forgiveness. This forgiveness was costly to the Godhead in that it resulted in the death of the Second Person of the Godhead – the Son, Jesus Christ. However, this forgiveness involves a cost to those who are recipients of it. The love of God that issues divine forgiveness is grounded in the holiness of God and thus demands the sinner change his ways. Holy love involves the disciplining and chastening of its recipients (Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:6).
Once forgiveness is appropriated to the repentant individual, he is now the recipient of Christ advocacy (1 John 2:1). An advocate is “a person who intercedes on behalf of another; a person who pleads his client’s cause in a court of law.”5 Christ as the Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:15-16) represents believers before the Father. Advocacy is needed because the closer the believer draws to God (walking in the light), the more aware he becomes of the presence of sin and how unlike God he is. The consequence of this awareness results in the believer understanding his unworthiness and need for help in approaching a holy God (1 John 1:5). Christ sacrifice is not only sufficient to forgive sinners and grant them atonement to God (Romans 5:11), but is sufficient to keep on forgiving believers and grant them fellowship with God (1 John 1:3).
The Means – Confession of Sin
While the ministry of forgiveness is reliant upon Christ’s sacrifice it is dispensed solely by means of confession (1 John 1:9). Note the phrase in 1 John 1:9 – ‘if we confess our sins’. The word ‘if’ (ean) is conditional and “represents something as under certain circumstances actual or liable to happen.”6 This conditional clause squarely places the responsibility of confession on the believer who has committed sin. Indeed, God’s forgiveness does not become an efficacious reality apart from repentance.7
The confessing of sin is more than simply admitting sins and saying sorry. The word ‘confess’ (homologomen) means “to say the same thing [about].”8 Thus it means viewing sin the same way God views sin. God views sin as: lawlessness, iniquity, transgression, etc. As well, God views sin as something that needs to be forsaken. Because God is holy, He is separate from sin; when a believer sins, his fellowship with God is broken. Therefore, confession is necessary to maintain fellowship with God. Such confession requires honesty and humility to examine one’s self before this holy God.
When an individual first makes a confession of sin for salvation, Christ forgives that one of all sins committed past or present. The believer is commanded to continue to ask forgiveness for sins being committed. Note the plural usage of ‘sin’ in 1 John 1:9. This shows that confession includes not just a general statement about sin but a specific acknowledgement of specific acts of sin. That a believer continues to confess sins is not due to the possibility of loosing salvation. Sin in the believer’s life destroys fellowship with the Father, not sonship to the Father! A believer ought to confess sin in order to continue enjoying fellowship with God. Furthermore, that God’s grace is sufficient to forgive should not be an excuse for the believer to sin.
The Grounds – God’s Faithfulness and Justice
Forgiveness is guaranteed by the essence9 of who God is – He is faithful and just (1 John 1:9). Faithfulness speaks in regard to God’s promise (Jeremiah 31:34; Micah 7:19–20) particularly that He will fulfill them (Hebrews 10:23; 11:11) complete what He has begun (1 Thessalonians 5:24; 1 Corinthians 1:9) and guard those who place their trust in Him (1 Corinthians 10:13).10 The particular promise that concerns Christians is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and repeated in Hebrews 8:7-13. The promise confirms that God will not only be merciful towards unrighteousness, but that He will remember confessed sins no longer.
The promises are legitimate because God is just (John 17:25; Romans 3:26). ‘Just’ does not imply that God overlooks sin but rather that He is righteousness. God has righteously dealt with sin. That God is just means that God is entirely correct and righteous in all His dealings with humanity. This includes the giving and upholding of the Law. The Law of God is God’s standard for mankind. Therefore, when man breaks God’s Law, God is just in judging man for His breaking of the Law. This same justice is not only distributive in the execution of punishment, but in the reward of obedience (Deuteronomy 7:9; 27:26; Psalm 58:11; Isaiah 3:10, 11; Romans 2:6-7; 6:23 Galatians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:17). The same justice that condemns the sinner, forgives the sinner and keeps on forgiving the sinner.
The Result – Forgiveness and Cleansing
Forgiveness of sins results not only in the removal of charges (i.e. cancelling of debt), but in the restoration to holiness. Forgiveness removes any and all barriers between God and the believer so that the believer can dwell in the presence of God. It relieves one of guilt and eliminates alienation from God. Cleansing results in God touching the believer’s motives and desires and gradually reshaping them.11 The cleansing restores one to the place of fellowship with the Father. Both acts are spoken of here in view of their completeness. As well, note the word ‘all’ in 1 John 1:9 (forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness – italics mine). ‘All’ is comforting. No sin is beyond the forgiving and cleansing power of the Almighty. Specific sins are completely forgiven and the individual character is completely cleansed. “As judging righteously God forgives those who stand in a just relation to Himself: as being righteous He communicates His nature to those who are united with Him in His Son.”12
Isaiah 55:6-7 - Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
To begin, forgiveness is “the legal act of God in removing the charges against the sinner because atonement for the sins has been made.”1 ‘Forgiveness’ comes from two Greek words - charizomai and aphiemi. Carizomai means to cancel a debt on the basis of grace (Colossians 2:13).2 Aphiemi caries the idea of letting go or being released and pictures the believers sins as being sent away (1 John 1:9).
The Basis – Propitiation and Advocacy
The basis upon which the believer receives forgiveness for sins is contained in Christ’s sacrificial work. Christ’s shed blood (Colossians 1:14) and sacrificial death on the cross satisfied the just demands of God’s holiness (1 John 2:2). Holiness denotes separation from all that is unclean. Man’s iniquity has made a separation between God and man (Isaiah 59:1-2). Therefore, God can only be approached via a Mediator whose righteousness is acceptable and satisfying Divine holiness.3 God’s holiness procures the need for forgiveness.
The satisfaction of God’s holiness is accomplished through ‘propitiation’. Propitiation means “to appease or make well disposed; conciliate.”4 Propitiation is the not the removal of guilt or punishment, but the removal of divine wrath (Romans 1:18). God’s holiness results in wrath (i.e. anger) against sin. When His holiness is appeased, God in His love can offer forgiveness to mankind (Psalm 78:38; 1 John 4:10). The love of God is sacrificial and self-giving. It is God’s love the produces forgiveness. This forgiveness was costly to the Godhead in that it resulted in the death of the Second Person of the Godhead – the Son, Jesus Christ. However, this forgiveness involves a cost to those who are recipients of it. The love of God that issues divine forgiveness is grounded in the holiness of God and thus demands the sinner change his ways. Holy love involves the disciplining and chastening of its recipients (Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:6).
Once forgiveness is appropriated to the repentant individual, he is now the recipient of Christ advocacy (1 John 2:1). An advocate is “a person who intercedes on behalf of another; a person who pleads his client’s cause in a court of law.”5 Christ as the Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:15-16) represents believers before the Father. Advocacy is needed because the closer the believer draws to God (walking in the light), the more aware he becomes of the presence of sin and how unlike God he is. The consequence of this awareness results in the believer understanding his unworthiness and need for help in approaching a holy God (1 John 1:5). Christ sacrifice is not only sufficient to forgive sinners and grant them atonement to God (Romans 5:11), but is sufficient to keep on forgiving believers and grant them fellowship with God (1 John 1:3).
The Means – Confession of Sin
While the ministry of forgiveness is reliant upon Christ’s sacrifice it is dispensed solely by means of confession (1 John 1:9). Note the phrase in 1 John 1:9 – ‘if we confess our sins’. The word ‘if’ (ean) is conditional and “represents something as under certain circumstances actual or liable to happen.”6 This conditional clause squarely places the responsibility of confession on the believer who has committed sin. Indeed, God’s forgiveness does not become an efficacious reality apart from repentance.7
The confessing of sin is more than simply admitting sins and saying sorry. The word ‘confess’ (homologomen) means “to say the same thing [about].”8 Thus it means viewing sin the same way God views sin. God views sin as: lawlessness, iniquity, transgression, etc. As well, God views sin as something that needs to be forsaken. Because God is holy, He is separate from sin; when a believer sins, his fellowship with God is broken. Therefore, confession is necessary to maintain fellowship with God. Such confession requires honesty and humility to examine one’s self before this holy God.
When an individual first makes a confession of sin for salvation, Christ forgives that one of all sins committed past or present. The believer is commanded to continue to ask forgiveness for sins being committed. Note the plural usage of ‘sin’ in 1 John 1:9. This shows that confession includes not just a general statement about sin but a specific acknowledgement of specific acts of sin. That a believer continues to confess sins is not due to the possibility of loosing salvation. Sin in the believer’s life destroys fellowship with the Father, not sonship to the Father! A believer ought to confess sin in order to continue enjoying fellowship with God. Furthermore, that God’s grace is sufficient to forgive should not be an excuse for the believer to sin.
The Grounds – God’s Faithfulness and Justice
Forgiveness is guaranteed by the essence9 of who God is – He is faithful and just (1 John 1:9). Faithfulness speaks in regard to God’s promise (Jeremiah 31:34; Micah 7:19–20) particularly that He will fulfill them (Hebrews 10:23; 11:11) complete what He has begun (1 Thessalonians 5:24; 1 Corinthians 1:9) and guard those who place their trust in Him (1 Corinthians 10:13).10 The particular promise that concerns Christians is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and repeated in Hebrews 8:7-13. The promise confirms that God will not only be merciful towards unrighteousness, but that He will remember confessed sins no longer.
The promises are legitimate because God is just (John 17:25; Romans 3:26). ‘Just’ does not imply that God overlooks sin but rather that He is righteousness. God has righteously dealt with sin. That God is just means that God is entirely correct and righteous in all His dealings with humanity. This includes the giving and upholding of the Law. The Law of God is God’s standard for mankind. Therefore, when man breaks God’s Law, God is just in judging man for His breaking of the Law. This same justice is not only distributive in the execution of punishment, but in the reward of obedience (Deuteronomy 7:9; 27:26; Psalm 58:11; Isaiah 3:10, 11; Romans 2:6-7; 6:23 Galatians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:17). The same justice that condemns the sinner, forgives the sinner and keeps on forgiving the sinner.
The Result – Forgiveness and Cleansing
Forgiveness of sins results not only in the removal of charges (i.e. cancelling of debt), but in the restoration to holiness. Forgiveness removes any and all barriers between God and the believer so that the believer can dwell in the presence of God. It relieves one of guilt and eliminates alienation from God. Cleansing results in God touching the believer’s motives and desires and gradually reshaping them.11 The cleansing restores one to the place of fellowship with the Father. Both acts are spoken of here in view of their completeness. As well, note the word ‘all’ in 1 John 1:9 (forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness – italics mine). ‘All’ is comforting. No sin is beyond the forgiving and cleansing power of the Almighty. Specific sins are completely forgiven and the individual character is completely cleansed. “As judging righteously God forgives those who stand in a just relation to Himself: as being righteous He communicates His nature to those who are united with Him in His Son.”12
Isaiah 55:6-7 - Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
- Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), p. 635
- This is a specialized word. It denotes not merely a gift, but a gift which is given out of the spontaneous generosity of the giver’s heart, with no strings tied to it. The Greek word grace (charis (χαρις)) has the same root and the same meaning. Thus the word refers, not to an undertaking based upon terms of mutual agreement, but upon the free act of one who gives something, expecting no pay for it. – Kenneth Wuest, Wuest's Word Studies From the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1997, c1984)
- Donald G. Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology Volume 1. (Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 1998), p. 284
- Collins English Dictionary. (electronic ed., Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2000)
- Collins English Dictionary. (electronic ed., Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2000)
- Lukaszewski, A. L. The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament: Expansions and Annotations, (Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2006)
- Bloesch, p. 164
- W. W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, “An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series” – 1 John 1:7, (electronic ed., Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996, c1989).
- Essense is “those distinguishing characteristics of the divine nature which are inseparable from the idea of God and which constitute the basis and ground for His various manifestations to his creatures.” – A.H. Strong, Systematic Theology, p.244.
- B. F. Wescott, The Epistles of St. John: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays, 4th Ed., (electronic ed., New York: Macmillan, 1902
- L. Richards & L. O. Richards, The Teacher's Commentary, (electronic ed., Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1987)
- B. F. Wescott, The Epistles of St. John: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays, 4th Ed., (electronic ed., New York: Macmillan, 1902)