Forgiveness may be one of the most practical commands in all of Scripture — and one of the hardest to obey. This message traces forgiveness from its roots in God’s own character, through the stories of Joseph and Jesus, to what it actually means to forgive the way God forgives.
Gen 45:1 — Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
Gen 45:2 — And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it.
Gen 45:3 — Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence.
Gen 45:4 — And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 — But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 — For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
Gen 45:7 — And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Joseph had about 22 years since the time his brothers sold him in to captivity and about 9 after becoming the second in command of Egypt to come this level of forgiveness.
Gen 45:8 — So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Gen 45:9 — “Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry.
Gen 45:10 — You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have.
Gen 45:11 — There I will provide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine.” ‘
Gen 45:12 — “And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
Gen 45:13 — So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hurry and bring my father down here.”
Gen 45:14 — Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.
Gen 45:15 — Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.
Gen 45:16 — Now the report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” So it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well.
Gen 45:17 — And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and depart; go to the land of Canaan.
Gen 45:18 — Bring your father and your households and come to me; I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.
Gen 45:19 — Now you are commanded—do this: Take carts out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives; bring your father and come.
Gen 45:20 — Also do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ “
Gen 45:21 — Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them carts, according to the command of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey.
Gen 45:22 — He gave to all of them, to each man, changes of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.
We can see that Joseph had completely forgiven his brothers.
Forgiveness is a critical skill for Christians to master. As we will see it is something that Christ talked often about and pointed us, as His followers, to practice and perfect.
Before we move on to how forgiveness is to become part of our nature, our character let’s look briefly about how the Word of God connects forgiveness with the nature, the character of God.
Let’s start in the prophet Micah. The prophet Micah starts off by
Mic 7:18 — Who is a God like You, Pardoning (H5375 one of 5 Hebrew words that are translated as forgive, forgiven, forgiveness) iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
This word pardoning is also often translated as forgiving, it is one of 5 Hebrew words translated as forgiveness. So we see here that one thing that sets God apart, makes Him unique is his capacity to forgive. Micah goes on and says
He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.
Giving up anger in due time and being merciful are critical parts of forgiveness. Think back to Joseph. He had 22 years to forgive his brothers, 9 after escaping slavery. Do you think day 1 or year 1 Joseph would have so completely forgiven his brothers? Forgiveness takes time but here we see we are called to not hold on to anger forever just like God doesn’t. We know that God gets angry, with righteous anger. But even God doesn’t hold on to righteous anger forever. That is a powerful lesson for us to learn.
Mic 7:19 — He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.
Mic 7:20 — You will give truth to Jacob And mercy to Abraham, Which You have sworn to our fathers From days of old.
David in the Psalms says that God is “Ready to Forgive”
Psa 86:5 — For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive (H5546), And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
Daniel, in his prayer on behalf of the Jews, says that mercy and forgiveness belong to God. They are His possession yet He gives them freely to those who ask.
Dan 9:8 — “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
Dan 9:9 — To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.
The prophet Jerimiah tells us about the completeness of God’s forgiveness.
Jer 31:34 — No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive (H5546) their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
God’s forgiveness is so complete that it is like it never happened. Now it is important to pause here because Jeremiah and other verses like Psa 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” doesn’t mean our sins don’t have consequences, they will and they do. This is talking about from a relationship point of view that God will not view our relationship any differently than He did before the sin once He has forgiven us.
And lest we aren’t certain how much forgiveness is a core part of God’s nature, His Character. Let’s look at His Son’s example:
Luk 23:33 — And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
Luk 23:34 — Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.
Luk 23:35 — And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”
We see how forgiveness is something that set’s God apart, makes Him unique, that He is ready to forgive, that forgiveness belongs to him and that when God forgives He does it completely, so much that it is like the offense never happened from a relationship perspective.
But forgiveness is not just something our Father and His Son do, it is something that is critical for us as followers of Christ, as sons and daughters of the Living God to learn and practice.
Early in Christ’s ministry at the sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes plain, in the Lord’s Prayer, the importance for you and I to learn how to forgive:
Mat 6:12 — And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13 — And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Mat 6:14 — “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Mat 6:15 — But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
I know I have many trespasses that I want forgiven. Christ here in no uncertain terms tells us if we want to be in God’s Kingdom, if we want to be adopted sons and daughters in His Family for all eternity we MUST, not optional, but we MUST have forgiveness as a core part of our character just like it is a core part of God’s Character. Because if God does not forgive our sins, our trespasses, we will not be in His Kingdom as it says ” For this you know, unclean person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”(Eph 5:5).
So this is a trait, a skill, that we must learn and have it become a part of our nature if we want to be in God’s Kingdom.
Now someone might say, but the Bible also says “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Joh 3:16). So is there a contradiction here? Of course not, if you believe in Christ, truly believe in Him you will do as He did and as we saw forgiveness was a core part of Christ.
Christ is clear that we can’t have a relationship with God and Christ if we haven’t forgiven those who we have something against in our own lives.
Mar 11:25 — “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
Mar 11:26 — But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
We must first get right with our fellow man, even when we are the one who has been wronged if we want to have a relationship with God.
Paul in talking about putting on our new selves after we are raised up from that baptism into God’s Church
Col 3:1 — If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 — Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
It goes on an talks about characteristics that we are to put off and then it gets to verse 12 where it talks about putting on the character traits of God.
Col 3:12 — Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13 — bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Again reinforcing why we forgive, because Christ forgave us first. And Paul knew, as you and I should know, how much he needed Christ’s forgiveness for his sins.
Col 3:14 — But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
Col 3:15 — And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Col 3:16 — Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Col 3:17 — And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Applying what Paul says here to forgiveness, we are to forgive in the name of the Lord Jesus, He who forgave us we are to attribute our forgiveness to Christ. Think about this powerful circle, God forgives us, we forgive others in Christ’s name, which draws others to the forgiveness of God and then the whole cycle can repeat. This is a portion of doing our part in God’s plan of salvation, the part God has carved out for us if we are willing. And not only are we to do this but we are to give thanks to God that we can forgive others.
Think about that, forgiving others is something we should be thankful for!!
Science is only recently catching up with God’s Word in this regard. There is much to be thankful for when we forgive.
In his book Forgive for Good, Dr. Frederic Luskin, Director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project (2003), writes “Not only is forgiveness good for the soul, but it also has positive benefits on our mental and even physical wellbeing (Luskin, 2003).”
Forgiveness provides vital benefits to your mental and physical wellbeing, summarized as follows (Luskin, 2003):
A reduction in:
· Depression
· Anger
· Stress
· Cardiovascular disease
· Pain
Increases and improvements in:
· Hope
· Compassion
· Self-confidence
· Immune response
So not only spiritually but physically we are heathier and happier when we forgive. We know this but God’s way works because He designed us. We are designed, even if it isn’t in our nature, we are designed to forgive. Just like humility, thankfulness, love, joy and all the character traits of God, if we forgive as we are called to we will be better for it in this life and the next.
So we know that we are called to forgive, that it is a salvation issue and that it must become part of our nature just like it is part of the nature of God and Christ. But there are a few other important things we need to understand about forgiveness.
Paul in his letter to the Romans in the section which in my bible is called “Marks of a Christian”, writes
Rom 12:17 — Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
Rom 12:18 — If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Rom 12:19 — Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.
When we truly forgive someone, we completely surrender the right to get even. We give that vengeance over to God to repay when, how and if He decides. Then Paul continues and says:
Rom 12:20 — Therefore “IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD.”
Rom 12:21 — Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
So not only are we to surrender our right to get even we are to do good to those who we forgive. Even if they are an enemy. Now I will note that there are times especially in abusive relationship where while you should forgive it is better to cut off the relationship vs continue in the abuse. Forgiveness is not a command to stay in an abusive or harmful relationship. This is where wisdom and discernment come in, but in these cases you still don’t wish harm on the person, you leave it in God’s hands and you remove yourself.
Woman caught in adultery
Joh 8:1 — But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Joh 8:2 — Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
Joh 8:3 — Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,
Joh 8:4 — they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.
Joh 8:5 — Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
Joh 8:6 — This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
Joh 8:7 — So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
Joh 8:8 — And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
Joh 8:9 — Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
Rediscover our humanity and the humanity of the wrongdoer. This is a core lesson God wants us to learn. It is the same one that Christ repeated multiple times when he says “we must forgive to have our sins forgiven”. God has extended us a gift so wonderful, so precious that it should change the way we live and we should be so thankful to God for His gift of forgiveness that we are compelled to offer that same gift to others. It is an acknowledgement of fundamental truths that sin is sin, wrong is wrong, there is no relative nature to it yet, God’s love, and by extension our love, if we let it, is powerful enough to cover it all such that it is as if it never happened.
Joh 8:10 — When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
Joh 8:11 — She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Forgiveness, if you do it or God does it, is not a license for that person to continue in the wrong, the sin that they are doing. Godly forgiveness gives the freedom to the sinner to move on and not be held back from the guilt that sin produces. It is freedom to live a Godly life, not freedom to continue in sin.
Paul explores this in the context of the Church and shows us the importance of forgiveness as a body not just to the person who is forgiven but to those who forgive. I am sure we know the overview of the books of 1st and 2nd Corinthians. In the first book Paul rebukes the Corinthians for allowing sin to persist in the body of Christ. Then in 2nd Corinthians the original sinner had repented but instead of welcoming that person back into the body they kept him outside. And so Paul admonishes them again but this time because they didn’t forgive and all that should have comprised of as we will see:
2Co 2:5 — But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe.
2Co 2:6 — This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man,
2Co 2:7 — so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.
2Co 2:8 — Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.
2Co 2:9 — For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.
2Co 2:10 — Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ,
2Co 2:11 — lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Satan will use our lack of forgiveness against us. It is one of the major ways that Satan drives wedges between God’s people.
And that takes us to what perfected forgiveness looks like. We know throughout our lives we will constantly be done wrong. Some intentional, some unintentional, some we will be done wrong when the person intended to do good. That is how this messy life works. But through it all we are to standfast in our ability to forgive.
Peter wanting to make sure he really understood forgiveness asked Christ:
Mat 18:21 — Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Mat 18:22 — Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
70 x 7 is not an actual tally you should be taking but symbolizes the limitless nature of God’s forgiveness and what perfected forgiveness looks like in us. Again this is not a license to sin as much as we want but it is a unlimited freedom back into God’s Way of Life when we have sinned.
Mat 18:23 — Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
Mat 18:24 — And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25 — But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.
Mat 18:26 — The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
Mat 18:27 — Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18:28 — “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
Mat 18:29 — So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
Mat 18:30 — And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
Mat 18:31 — So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
Mat 18:32 — Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
Mat 18:33 — Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’
Mat 18:34 — And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
Mat 18:35 — “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
Constant forgiveness of others must be part of our walk with Christ. It is an acknowledgement of the much greater forgiveness that God has given us. Perfected forgiveness is not that each act of forgiveness is perfect, we are still human and have human nature to battle against but in this life God asks us to never stop forgiving, to have seventy times seven forgiveness, unlimited forgiveness.
Let’s go back to the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph had a lot to forgive his brothers for, especially for that 13 years of slavery and imprisonment but he did it he demonstrated that seventy times seven forgiveness that Christ talked about.
Let’s see the completeness of Joseph’s forgiveness by fast forwarding about 17 years into the story after the brothers reunited and their father Israel had just died. Joseph, the other brothers and an entourage of Egyptian leaders go back to the promised land to bury Israel in the cave where Abraham and Sarah were buried. When
Gen 50:15 — When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.”
The brothers knew what they had done and they knew that Joseph could have gotten even with them for what they had done. Even after 17 years they were not confident that Joseph had really forgiven them. On the one hand this is almost unbelievable. You could imagine over those 17 years how much good Joseph had done for them. No matter Joseph’s actions the brothers could not fully believe that Joseph would have forgiven them so completely. Is that not though sometimes what we do with God? We think how could God not repay us for all the evil we have done to him? It is
Gen 50:16 — So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying,
Gen 50:17 — ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.” ‘ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Joseph knew the completeness of his forgiveness of what they had done and he wept that they could not see it also.
Gen 50:18 — Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
Gen 50:19 — Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20 — But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
Gen 50:21 — Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
The power of forgiveness, Joseph is comforting those who had done a great evil to him. How many people put in Joseph’s position would have done the same. Think about his story. He was done a great evil, sold into slavery and stayed there for about 13 years and then he was put in a position of power over those who had done him evil and instead of getting even he not only doesn’t get even with them he does continuous good for them. It is an amazing example of how God’s way works.
Now we will probably never have a story with the lows and highs of Joseph. We will probably never have to forgive someone for selling us into slavery having 13 years of our lives taken from us, even though some have, and we will probably never become the second in command of a great nation saving the known world in the process to see that God is able to turn evil into good into our life. But we are called just like Joseph to show limitless forgiveness in our lives. To those closest to us and to the random stranger we encounter. We are called to like God have our ability to forgive something that set’s us apart, we are to be ready to forgive, forgive so completely it is like the offense never happened from a relationship perspective.
So brethren as it says “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. “
I find it interesting that while Hebrew is a “word poor” language in that it has relatively few words compared to many other languages, that there are 5 words that can translate into forgive, forgiven or forgiveness. Greek as well has 4 words that translate as forgive, forgiven, forgiveness. We won’t go in depth into a word study today but some of the literal definitions of these words include: To cover, To lift, Freedom, to send forth, to free fully, to grant as favor. This gives us a sense of what forgiveness does.
H3722 – kāp̄ar – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) H3722 kâphar, kaw-far’; a primitive root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel:—appease, make (an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile(-liation).
The KJV translates Strong’s H3722 in the following manner: atonement (71x), purge (7x), reconciliation (4x), reconcile (3x), forgive (3x), purge away (2x), pacify (2x), atonement…made (2x), merciful (2x), cleansed (1x), disannulled (1x), appease (1x), put off (1x), pardon (1x), pitch (1x).
H5547 – sᵊlîḥâ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) çᵉlîychâh, sel-ee-khaw’; from H5545; pardon:—forgiveness, pardon.
The KJV translates Strong’s H5547 in the following manner: forgiveness (2x), pardon (1x).
H5545 – sālaḥ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) H5545 sālaḥ, saw-lakh’; a primitive root; to forgive:—forgive, pardon, spare.
The KJV translates Strong’s H5545 in the following manner: forgive (19x), forgiven (13x), pardon (13x), spare (1x).
H5546 – sallāḥ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) H5546 çallâch, saw-lawkh’; from H5545; placable:—ready to forgive.
H5375 – nāśā’ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) H5375 nâsâʼ, naw-saw’; or נָסָה nâçâh; (Psalm 4:6 [7]), a primitive root; to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative:—accept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable ( man), lade, lay, lift (self) up, lofty, marry, magnify, × needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive, regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, swear, take (away, up), × utterly, wear, yield.
The KJV translates Strong’s H5375 in the following manner: (bare, lift, etc…) up (219x), bear (115x), take (58x), bare (34x), carry (30x), (take, carry)..away (22x), borne (22x), armourbearer (18x), forgive (16x), accept (12x), exalt (8x), regard (5x), obtained (4x), respect (3x), miscellaneous (74x).
G859 – aphesis – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv) G859 áphesis, af’-es-is; from G863; freedom; (figuratively) pardon:—deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission.
The KJV translates Strong’s G859 in the following manner: remission (9x), forgiveness (6x), deliverance (1x), liberty (1x).
G863 – aphiēmi – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv) G863 aphíēmi, af-ee’-ay-mee; from G575 and ἵημι híēmi (to send; an intensive form of εἶμι eîmi, to go); to send forth, in various applications (as follow):—cry, forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let (alone, be, go, have), omit, put (send) away, remit, suffer, yield up.
The KJV translates Strong’s G863 in the following manner: leave (52x), forgive (47x), suffer (14x), let (8x), forsake (6x), let alone (6x), miscellaneous (13x).
G630 – apolyō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv) G630 apolýō, ap-ol-oo’-o; from G575 (means off/away) and G3089 (means loosen); to free fully, i.e. (literally) relieve, release, dismiss (reflexively, depart), or (figuratively) let die, pardon or (specially) divorce:—(let) depart, dismiss, divorce, forgive, let go, loose, put (send) away, release, set at liberty.
The KJV translates Strong’s G630 in the following manner: release (17x), put away (14x), send away (13x), let go (13x), set at liberty (2x), let depart (2x), dismiss (2x), miscellaneous (6x).
G5483 – charizomai – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv) G5483 charízomai, khar-id’-zom-ahee; middle voice from G5485; to grant as a favor, i.e. gratuitously, in kindness, pardon or rescue:—deliver, (frankly) forgive, (freely) give, grant.
The KJV translates Strong’s G5483 in the following manner: forgive (11x), give (6x), freely give (2x), deliver (2x), grant (1x), frankly forgive (1x).
In Hebrew and Greek alike, forgiveness means to cover, to lift, to set free, to send forth. These are not passive words. Forgiveness is an active release. It is the act of handing the debt over to God, absorbing the cost ourselves, and choosing to see the other person through the lens of God’s own mercy rather than through the wound they caused.
As Joseph said to his brothers across the span of 40 years: “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” That is the testimony of a man who had truly forgiven. He no longer saw the offense. He saw the hand of God working through it.
That is the goal. Not a forgiveness that merely tolerates, but one that transforms. A forgiveness so complete that, like God’s own, it is as if the offense never happened.
Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:25).