What does the Bible say about forgiveness?
Forgiveness runs through the whole Bible: God forgives freely through Christ, and forgiven people learn to forgive. What it is, what it is not, and how to begin.
The Bible’s teaching on forgiveness has two halves, and they belong together. The first half is that God forgives sinners fully and freely, not because they deserve it but because he is merciful, and he does this through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The second half is that people who have been forgiven that much are called to forgive others in the same way. Forgiveness in Scripture is not a feeling that arrives on its own. It is a decision to release someone from the debt they owe you, to give up the right to pay them back, and to hand the matter to God. It does not mean pretending the wrong never happened, and it does not always mean the relationship goes back to what it was. But it is not optional for a follower of Jesus, and it is one of the clearest ways the world sees what God is like.
What the Old Testament shows
Long before the cross, God described himself to Moses as a forgiving God. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, this is what he heard:
6 Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, 7 maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
— Exodus 34:6-7 (BSB)
That self-description became the heartbeat of Israel’s worship. Notice that it holds two things at once: God forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, and yet he does not simply wave guilt away. The Old Testament never explains fully how both can be true. The answer waits for Jesus.
The Psalms celebrate forgiveness with some of the Bible’s most memorable images.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
— Psalm 103:10-12 (BSB)
East and west never meet. That is how far God has removed the sins of those who fear him. David, who knew forgiveness after serious sin, called the forgiven person blessed, someone whose iniquity the Lord no longer counts against him (Psalm 32:1-2). The prophet Micah pictured God treading sins underfoot and hurling them into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:18-19), and Isaiah heard God promise that sins like scarlet could become white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).
The Old Testament also gives us a story of one person forgiving another. Joseph’s brothers had sold him into slavery. Years later, when they stood before him in Egypt, terrified, he said this:
19 But Joseph replied, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people. 21 Therefore do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.” So Joseph reassured his brothers and spoke kindly to them.
— Genesis 50:19-21 (BSB)
Joseph did not deny the evil. He named it. But he refused to take God’s place as judge, and he saw a larger purpose behind his suffering. That combination of honesty, humility, and trust in God’s providence is the Old Testament’s model of human forgiveness.
What Jesus taught
Jesus put forgiveness at the center of prayer. In the Lord’s Prayer he taught his followers to ask for forgiveness of their debts as they forgive their debtors, and then he added a sober explanation:
14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.
— Matthew 6:14-15 (BSB)
This is not a bargain in which we earn God’s pardon by our own. It is a warning that an unforgiving heart has not really understood what it has received. Jesus made the same point through a parable in Matthew 18. A servant was forgiven an impossible debt, then went out and choked a fellow servant over a small one.
32 Then the master summoned him and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed. 35 That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
— Matthew 18:32-35 (BSB)
The parable answered a question Peter had just asked: how many times must I forgive? Seven? Jesus told him seventy-seven times, which is another way of saying stop counting (Matthew 18:21-22).
Jesus also linked forgiveness to repentance. In Luke 17:3-4 he told his disciples that if a brother sins, they should rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, even seven times in one day. Forgiveness in Jesus’ teaching is not silence about sin. It can involve honest confrontation. But the door must always stay open.
Above all, Jesus practiced what he taught. As he was being nailed to the cross, Luke records his prayer:
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.
— Luke 23:34 (BSB)
No one has ever had more right to hold a grudge. Instead, he asked the Father to forgive the people who were killing him.
And in the parable of the lost son, Jesus showed us the Father’s heart. The father sees the boy in the distance, runs to him, and embraces him before he can finish his apology (Luke 15:20). That is what God’s forgiveness looks like.
What the apostles wrote
The apostles tie the two halves of forgiveness together in a single sentence.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
— Ephesians 4:31-32 (BSB)
The order matters. God forgave you in Christ; therefore forgive each other. Paul says the same to the Colossians: forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13). Christian forgiveness is always an echo of something bigger.
John explains how God’s forgiveness reaches us now:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
— 1 John 1:9 (BSB)
Confession is not a way of persuading a reluctant God. He is faithful and just, and Christ has already paid. The apostles understood the cross as the answer to the puzzle in Exodus 34: God forgives sin and punishes sin at the same time, because Jesus bore the punishment for those who trust him.
Paul also addresses the hardest part of forgiving, the desire for the other person to pay.
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
— Romans 12:19 (BSB)
Forgiving someone does not mean deciding that what they did was fine. It means trusting God to be the judge instead of appointing yourself.
What the Bible does not say
The Bible does not say that forgiveness means forgetting. God chose not to count our sins against us, but Scripture records them in detail. You can remember a wrong and still refuse to hold it over someone.
The Bible does not say that forgiveness and trust are the same thing. Joseph forgave his brothers; he also tested them carefully first. Forgiveness can be given in a moment. Trust is rebuilt over time, and sometimes it is wise not to rebuild it.
The Bible does not say that forgiving someone requires staying in a dangerous situation. If you are being harmed, forgiveness does not mean silence, and it does not mean staying. Please tell someone you trust and get help. If you are in danger, contact your local emergency services; if you are in crisis, you can call or text 988 in the US or Canada, Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find a line in your country at https://findahelpline.com. Seeking safety is not a failure to forgive.
The Bible does not say that forgiveness will always feel finished. Many people forgive the same wrong several times as the memory returns. That is not failure; it is what seventy-seven times looks like in practice.
How to begin forgiving someone
Forgiveness usually starts long before it feels natural. Here is a way to move toward it.
Start with what you have received. Read Psalm 103 slowly and ask how much God has forgiven you. Forgiveness flows more easily downhill from the cross.
Name the wrong honestly. Joseph said plainly that his brothers meant evil. You do not have to shrink the offense to forgive it.
Give up the debt in prayer. Tell God that you release this person from what they owe you, and that you are handing the matter to him, the just judge.
Pray for them. It is very hard to keep hating someone you are asking God to bless. This was Jesus’ own practice on the cross.
Decide what wisdom requires. Ask a pastor or mature friend whether the relationship can be restored, and how. Forgiveness is your part; reconciliation takes two.
Repeat as needed. When the memory returns, forgive again. Do not be discouraged by the need to do it more than once.
Where Christians differ
All Christians agree that God forgives through Christ and that believers must forgive. They differ in some details. One question is whether forgiveness should be offered before the other person repents. Some point to Luke 17:3 and say full forgiveness follows repentance, while an attitude of readiness to forgive should be there always. Others point to Jesus’ prayer on the cross and say we should forgive whether or not the other person ever asks. Both sides agree that bitterness has no place in a Christian heart. Churches also differ on the role of confession to a priest or pastor in receiving God’s forgiveness. Catholic and Orthodox Christians practice sacramental confession; most Protestants hold that confession directly to God is sufficient, while still valuing confession to one another. This site leans toward the latter view, but all these traditions confess that it is Christ, not the minister, who forgives.
Forgiven and forgiving
If someone’s name came to mind as you read this, that is probably where to begin. Bring that name to God in prayer today, even if all you can honestly say is that you want to want to forgive. Read Matthew 18 and Psalm 103 this week. And do not try to do this alone. A local church is a community of forgiven people learning to forgive, and there is no better place to practice.
For more on how forgiveness shapes our relationships, see what the Bible says about anger and what the Bible says about marriage.