Forgiveness: What You Need To Know

The concept of forgiveness is something we all struggle with, especially as Christians. We often question whether God truly forgives us, and when we inevitably sin again, we may try to hide from Him, thinking there’s no way He could forgive us again. However, forgiveness is integral to life, and we must learn to accept it.

Acts 13:38 tells us that the forgiveness of our sins is proclaimed through Jesus, and in him we are redeemed by the richness of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:7). Prophets throughout the bible testify this (Acts 10:43).

Now you may be thinking It is all very well knowing that we need a relationship with Jesus to forgive our sins, but how do we know if God truly forgives us?

Well, first, we’ll consider what we know of God. Is He honest? Yes. Has He kept His promises? Always. Would He lie to us? No. God is truth incarnate, the only being we can genuinely trust, so when we doubt His promises and deny the fact that when we genuinely repent, we are not forgiven, how do you think that makes God feel? By doing this, we reject Him, even if it is not intentional.

When we truly repent and confess our sins to God, we can trust that we are forgiven, just as it says in 1 John 1:9.

‘if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9).

Perhaps you still feel unsure whether you are forgiven or not. There are some signs that may indicate God has forgiven you.

One such sign is inner peace. When you are forgiven, all the guilt and shame you felt will be washed away and replaced with calmness, and you will be content because you are no longer condemned.

‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit’ (Romans 8:1).

Another sign is inner happiness. With all that shame gone, you will feel lighter and be filled with the joy of the Lord. If you’ve got your bible nearby, I would suggest you open it to Luke 7 and read from verses 36 to 50 because it is the woman in this story I would like to talk about. This woman had been a sinner all her life, and even the men in the room were judging her for it but not Jesus. Jesus forgave her for all her sins while pointing out that her actions showed her love and that she had shown more respect to Jesus than the men had since he arrived. How do you think that woman felt when she was forgiven? I bet she was not only overwhelmed with peace but with joy that all her sinful actions were considered forgotten in the eyes of God and that she could start again thanks to God’s mercy.

I’m just going to mention one last sign before moving on, which is a desire to be more holy. I’m sure you’ve heard the story of Zacchaeus, but if you haven’t, he was a tax collector and not very well-liked. Jesus came to dinner at Zacchaeus’ house one night, and Zacchaeus repented and was saved. Zacchaeus then declared he would give half of his money to the poor and pay back four times what he cheated others out of (Luke 19:8). Not only did Zacchaeus right the wrongs that he did, but he chose in his desire to be more holy, to give to the poor.

Giving to the poor is just one example of what you could do to be more holy; you may do many other things, but one of the most important is forgiving others.

Matthew 6:14 says, ‘If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.’ In the same way, Ephesians states, ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you’ (Ephesians 4:32).

As God’s children, we must live the way He tells us. Colossians 3:12 tells us we must be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient and clothe ourselves with these things every day. But above all, we need to ‘put on love’ because it ties it all together (Colossians 3:14). I include this because these things help us forgive others and forgiveness, in turn, helps us ‘get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice’ (Ephesians 4:31) which God commands us to do.

It was Peter who first asked how many times we should forgive someone in Matthew 18:21-22 and ‘Jesus answered “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times’ or in some translations, it says seventy times seven which is four hundred and ninety.

There should be no limit to how many times you forgive someone; everyone deserves a second chance, a third, or a fourth…. You get the idea. After all, God forgives us more times than we can count, so we should show that same love to others. Do be aware that just because you forgive someone does not mean there will be reconciliation.

We know to confess our sins and forgive others in return, but there is one thing that hasn’t been mentioned, and that is sharing the truth of forgiveness with those who haven’t been forgiven. Luke 24:47 states, ‘and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations’. We who know the power of forgiveness should preach to others of its power and beauty. We should not keep it to ourselves, for God does not want that. God wants us to share everything about Him with the world and for us to go out and share it (Matthew 28:19).

I hope that this post has been of some help to you. If it has, please share it with others so it may help them too.