Shepherds College: Systematic Theology, Lesson 25

A Symphony of Salvation 2026 March 26 Mountain View Christian Church Lesson 8 Forgiveness Salvation, saved “The freeing of a person from guilt and its consequences, including punishment; usually as an act of favour, compassion or love, with the aim of Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014). How the Covenants Differ In the Offer of Forgiveness Justification and Righteousness Old Covenant: Hebrews 9:22 Leviticus 4:27–31; 5:17–18 New Covenant: Matthew 26:27–28 John 1:29 Ephesians 1:7–8 Colossians 2:13–15 Regeneration, and the New Birth How We are Assured of Forgiveness Adopted Deliverance, rescue Redemption, Ransom Forgiveness means that a debt is no longer expected to Reconciliation Forgiveness Atonement Dead to sin Converted Honour Sanctification Victory In Christ Clean restoring a broken personal relationship. Forgiveness can involve both the remission of punishment and the cancellation of debts.” — Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies (London: Martin Manser, 2009). “Forgiveness is the release, on the part of the creditor or offended party, of any expectation that a debt will be repaid or that an offender will receive punishment for an offense. When describing the removal of an inappropriate offense in this way, the removal does not condone the behavior or suggest approval for the offense.”—J. David Stark, “Forgiveness,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham be repaid, so that the debtor is free from obligation to pay. Forgiveness is in the Nature of God Exodus 34:5–7 Numbers 14:17–20 Nehemiah 9:16–17 Psalm 103:1–18 Isaiah 43:25 Micah 7:18–20 1 John 1:8–9 God Promises Forgiveness to His People Jeremiah 31:31–34 2 Chronicles 7:14 Isaiah 55:6–7 Hebrews 8:8–12 People Need Forgiveness Psalm 51:1–5 Isaiah 6:1–5 Romans 3:9 Romans 3:23 1 John 1:8-9 Psalm 51:7 Psalm 103:8–12 Psalm 130:3–4 Proverbs 28:13 Isaiah 1:18 Acts 2:38 James 5:13–16 1 John 2:1–2 The Forgiveness of Jesus Jesus declared that sins were forgiven through faith in Him: This Ministry was foretold: Matthew 1:20-21; John 1:29 Jesus Forgave: Luke 23:33-34 Jesus has authority to Forgive Sins, and this caused offence: Matthew 9:1-8; Luke 7:36-50 Parables of Forgiveness: Matthew 18:23-35; Luke 15:1132 Jesus gave the church the ministry of forgiveness: Acts 2:38; 13:38; 26:15-18 Page 2 A Symphony of Salvation Forgiveness Applied Pray for the forgiveness of God’s people: Nehemiah 1:4-11 Pray for those who are lost: Genesis 18:20-33 Pray for those who persecute: Matthew 5:43-44; Acts 7:5960 Pray for forgiveness: Matthew 6:12 “We have peace with God as soon as we believe, but not always with ourselves. The pardon may be past the prince’s hand and seal, and yet not put into the prisoner’s hand. “ William Gurnall, 1617-1679 Examples of forgiveness: Psalm 32:1-5; John 8:3-11 Forgive: Luke 6:37 Forgive within the church: Colossians 3:12-13; Ephesians 4:32; 1 Peter 3:8-9 Forgive your enemies: Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:20 The limits of forgiveness: Matthew 18:21-22 Examples: Acts 7:59-60; Genesis 50:1521 Word Study Forgiveness (noun): In the NT, the noun (aphesis), “forgiveness” is fairly rare, only occurring 17 times, and only two times in Paul’s writings (Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14). Forgiveness (verb): The verb (aphiēmi) which is often translated, “to forgive” is found 143 times in the NT but it does not always mean “to forgive.” Sometimes it is translated as leave, leave behind, divorce, neglect, allow, let, consent, leave alone, permit, to abandon, give up, send away. Each of these terms make sense when considering “forgiveness,” because when forgiveness occurs, guilt and obligation are left behind by the one who was sinned against. Forgiveness and forgiving is when the offended one “lets go” or “abandons” the sins of the sinner. Out of 143 times, this word is translated “forgive” only 59 times. It is interesting to note that the apostle Paul only uses the verb “to forgive” five times, three of those are in 1 Corinthians 7:11-13, and are translated “divorce.” Twice it occurs in Romans (1:27, 4:7) and only the second time is it translated “forgive,” and that is an OT quote. In both places where Paul uses the word “forgiveness,” it is linked to “redemption.” This is interesting, because redemption is a free from slavery, and one of the ways a person becomes enslaved is by incurring debt; a person could be sold, or sell themselves, to pay off a debt. Redemption is when a debt is paid by another, and in this case, it is Christ who has paid the debt for the sinner! It is, therefore, quite natural that Paul would link redemption and forgiveness. A similar idea is in the Lord’s prayer, Matthew 6:12. It is a debt that is owed, which is an obligation, or something owed. When forgiven, it is no longer an obligation, and it is no longer owed. Another NT word for forgive is “charizomai,” which means to grant, to give, to cancel (as a debt), to bestow. We can see that the idea of forgiveness means that a debt is cancelled and no longer held against a person. This is the word used in the parable greater and lesser debts: Luke 7:41-50 Paul uses this term more often (see Ephesians 4:12; Colossians 2:13, 3:13). “In the OT, the most direct words for forgiveness are (sālaḥ, “forgive”) and (sĕlîḥâ, “forgiveness”). Forgiveness can also be expressed by stating that one will not “remember” (zākar) the offense or “count” (ḥāšab) the offense against someone. Where such mental acts are negated for a debt or offense, the result is a kind of forgetfulness concerning the debt or offense. Forgiveness may be motivated by or result in the demonstration of compassion (raḥămîm). . . . forgiveness may be compared with physical removal (nāśāʾ, “lift up”; ʿābar, “pass over”), covering (kāsâ, “cover”; kāpar, “atone”), and cleaning or repairing (rāpāʾ, “cure”; māḥâ, “wipe”; ṭāhēr, “be clean”).” —J. David Stark, “Forgiveness,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014). The main thing to remember about forgiveness is that it is a removal of obligation and debt: God forgives us this way, and this is the way we are to forgive others. Other terms of salvation are legal, like justification, righteousness, etc., forgiveness is personal!