All of existence rest upon forgiveness. While it was not created to be this way, due to the fall it has inevitably become this way. Everything is in its fallen state and no longer how God intended it to be, thus without forgiveness, everything, including you and I, decays into nothingness. The forgiveness of sins, of our fallen state, is really the only hope that we have. For without forgiveness there is no communication with God, which is exactly what hell is.

”Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” Acts 10:43

As Christians one of the biggest concepts that we teach upon is the forgiveness of sins. It is essential for without forgiveness there is no salvation. Yet as important as it is, it is highly misunderstood. Some Christians will take forgiveness too lightly and treat it as a “sin for free” card. Others will enslave forgiveness and grace and make it only available for those willing to work for it. To do works in order to cleanse their sins. With these extremes out there we must meet somewhere within the middle and discover exactly what forgiveness is to us and how we should practice it.

Fist and foremost we must realize that forgiveness is available to all peoples (Luke 24:47). There is no person on this earth that God cannot forgive. This point is stressed within the Bible as a mass murderer of Christians is turned into one of the greatest Christian evangelist of all time. A murdering adulterer is called a “man after God’s own heart”. A strong willed and hardheaded fisherman is made one of the highest disciples. A cold-hearted young boy is turned into the disciple Jesus loved. All of this came about due to forgiveness. All are forgiven at the foot of the cross. Some teach that there are sins so terrible that they cannot be forgiven. This is a lie that must be ignored. We must also realize that this forgiveness comes through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (Matthew 26:28). Without the sacrifice of Christ and the confession in this (reference Acts 10:43 up top) blood offering, then there is no forgiveness. Without Christ’s sacrifice we would still be practicing the Old Covenant, which is by sacrificing animals. We know that a blood offering is needed for forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). This blood offering is found in Christ.

Therefore, what exactly can we draw from this? What is the importance of forgiveness? As we have seen, it is essential for salvation. However God forgives two ways. The first way is for salvation (Acts 10:43). Once we accept Christ, our sins past, present, and future are automatically forgiven and placed under the blood of Christ. As Philip Yancey states, “When God looks upon my life graph, he sees not jagged swerves toward good and bad but rather a steady line of good: the goodness of God’s Son captured in a moment of time and applied for all eternity.” However, when we sin, we can disrupt the fellowship (friendship) that we have with God. We know we cannot communicate with Christ until we confess our sins to Him (1 John 1:9). Without the forgiveness of sins we are unable to have a fellowship (communication) with the Father. Imagine a pipe through which water flows. The pipe is the salvation, the connection between man and God. The water represents the communication of man to God. If a clog occurs in the pipe then water cannot get through, thus the pipe because practically useless. Likewise, if we continue to sin and do not ask for forgiveness, the communication between man and God becomes clogged and non-existent, which effectively renders the Christian useless.

Yet, there is a more important aspect of forgiveness that is often overlooked. If we are unwilling to forgive the trespasses against us then how can we effectively communicate with God (Mark 11:25)? Based upon the previous analysis of the two types of forgiveness (Salvation and Relational) this obviously shows that if we harbor any hatred or enmity against a brother in the Lord than Christ will not work in us. By harboring hate we are automatically sinning, thus Christ’s work is rendered void in our lives until we forgive those that have trespassed against us. Some ask, “But what if someone continues to hurt me?” Luke 17:4 shows that no matter how many times a person sins against you, as long as they come back asking for repentance you are to forgive them. Now, some already see a loophole and go, “Ah, but I only have to forgive if they ask for it!” While this would be nice, it is not the truth. The passage goes on to tell of the ungrateful servant, who was forgiven of a massive debt, but unwilling to forgive a fellow servant of a miniscule debt. The second servant is thrown into a prison because he cannot pay money to the other servant. This represents what happens when we do not forgive a person, in that we place a wall of separation between the un-forgiven person and us. Had the forgiven servant forgiven his fellow servant, then the problem would have been solved. In fact, Matthew 6:14 would show us that in order to, once again, have fellowship with God, we must forgive somebody of what they have done to us regardless of if they asked for it. Bottom line on this, no matter how often someone sins against you and no matter how often they say, “I’ll never do it again”, you are still to forgive them, there are no limits. This is what Christ has done with us (Colossians 3:13). No matter if someone gossiped against you, broke up with you, cheated you in any way, you are to forgive them regardless. This does not mean you have to trust them, but it does mean you can harbor no ill will towards them.

We need to first realize that salvation forgiveness comes through Christ. We cannot be forgiven until we have accepted His salvation. We must realize that His forgiveness extends to all nations and tribes, to all people of background. Drug addicts, launderers, whores, murderers, fornicators, gossipers, backbiters, cheaters, etc. All of these people have had this forgiveness offered to them; it is free for the taking.

What we must also realize is that in order to obtain a steady relationship with God and to be able to restore ourselves to God, we must not harbor any hate or hard feelings towards another Christian or even a human being. By holding on to this we refuse to let God work in our lives. If we also sin and do not confess it to God and instead try to hide it from Him, He will not bring us to repentance and thus will not restore the broken fellowship until we do confess. So confess your sins and forgive the sins done against you.