Bible Teaching and Verses About Forgiveness

As Christians, which we are expected to also called believers of Christ, we are tasked to emulate our Savior Jesus by this single act of forgiveness. We learned that Christ came into this world just to come and take over sins and nail it to the cross. And He also gives us the grace to seek for forgiveness wherever we err. What a privilege we have? But Christ want us to acknowledge our sins before Him by the act of confessing all our sins before in sober reflection.

Since Christ can forgive our wrong we confess before Him. He is just to forgive, who are we that we cannot forgive our fellow who has done us wrong.

Also Read: Bible Quiz Questions

Forgiveness to fellow men gives free of mind, happiness and joy. We are encouraged to forgive and forget. How can we forgive and forget? We can forgive and forget by, when someone wrong us, and if we know that he/she has wrong us, we can approach him/her before the person approach us. If we forgive that person, we can also forget by, though we remember, we don’t have any negative thought towards that person again. Rather we can embrace such person with a brotherly love of Christ our Savior.

We give You the glory, our Savior Jesus Christ for giving us the grace to seek for forgiving of our sins whenever we go wrong. It is You only that can forgive all my sins.

Our Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:12 says, “Our Father can only forgive our sins if we forgive our fellow being. So if you don’t forgive your fellow being, you are automatically telling God not to forgive your sins.”

Our Father in heaven, please give the grace to forgive my fellow being whatever the gravity of the offense, in Christ name, Amen.

After going through what the forgiveness is all about, let further read from other Bible verses that can encourage us to forgive our fellow so that our Lord Jesus Christ can forgive our sins also. Here are some Bible verses, so keep reading to get you started. All the verses in this post are quoted from Amplified Holy Bible.

1. 2 Chronicles 7:14 – and My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.

2. Nehemiah 9:31 – “Yet in Your great compassion You did not utterly destroy them or abandon them, For You are a gracious and merciful God.

3. Psalm 32:5 – I acknowledge my sin to You, And I did not hide my wickedness; I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgive the guilt of my sin. Selah.

4. Psalm 51:1-4

Verse 1 – Have Mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.

Verse 2 – Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt And cleanse me from my sin.

Verse 3 – For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; My sin always before me.

Verse 4 – Against You, You only, have I sinned And done that which is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence] And faultless in Your judgment.

5. Psalm 85:5 – Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?

6. Psalm 86:5 – For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive [our sins, sending them away, completely letting them go forever and ever]; And abundant in lovingkindness and overflowing in mercy to all those who call upon You.

7. Psalm 130:3-4

Verse 3 – If You, LORD, should keep an account of our sins and treat us accordingly, O Lord, who could stand [before you in judgment and claim innocence]?

Verse 4 – But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared and worshiped [with submissive wonder].

8. Proverbs 17:9 – He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, But he who repeats or gossips about a matter separates intimate friends.

9. Proverbs 28:13 – He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But whoever confesses and turns away from his sins will find compassion and mercy.

10. Isaiah 43:25 – “I, only I, am He who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.

11. Isaiah 55:7 – Let the wicked leave (behind) his way And the unrighteous man his thought; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion (mercy) on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

12. Jeremiah 3:12-13

Verse 12 – Go and proclaim these words toward the north [where the ten tribes have been taken as captives] and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not look on you in anger. For I am gracious and merciful,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not be angry forever.’

Verse 13 – ‘Only understand fully and acknowledge your wickedness and guilt, That You have rebelled (transgressed) against the LORD your God And have scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the LORD.

13. Micah 7:18 – Who is a God like You, who forgives wickedness And passes over the rebellious acts of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He [constantly] delights in mercy and lovingkindness.

14. Matthew 6:12, 14

Verse 12 – ‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].’

Verse 14 – For if you forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15. Matthew 18:21-22

Verse 21 – Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?”

Verse 22 - Jesus answered him, “I say to you, not to seven times, but seventy times seven.”

16. Mark 11:25-26

Verse 25 – Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him [drop the issue, let it go], so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions and wrongdoings [against Him and others].

Verse 26 – [“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions.”]

17. Luke 6:37 – “Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change].”

18. Acts 2:38 – And Peter said to them, “Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

19. Acts 3:19 – So repent [change your inner self-your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God-seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day];

20. Acts 13:38-39

Verse 38 – So let it be clearly known by you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you;

Verse 39 – and through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as Lord and Savior and follows Him] is justified and declared free of guilt from all things, from which you could not be justified and freed of guilt through the Law of Moses.

21. Acts 17:30 – Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God’s purpose for their lives],

22. Ephesians 1:7 – In Him we have redemption [that is, our deliverance and salvation] through His blood, [which paid the penalty for our sin and resulted in] the forgiveness and complete pardon of our sin, in accordance with the riches of His grace.

23. Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.

24. Colossians 3:13 – bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive.

25. James 5:14-15

Verse 14 – Is anyone among you sick? He must call for the elders (spiritual leaders) of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

Verse 15 – and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

26. 1 John 2:2 – And He [that same Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins [the atoning sacrifice that holds back the wrath of God that would otherwise be directed at us because of our sinful nature- our worldliness, our lifestyle]; and not for ours alone, but also for [the sins of all believers throughout] the whole world.

You Can Read: Our Daily Devotional With Christ

Now that we have seen, read and heard some Scriptural admonishing about forgiveness, we have to pray to God always for the grace to abide by the teaching of the Bible especially on this post on how to forgive one another. We are encouraged not to read it as reading sake, but for us to practice it to the fullest. Thank You Jesus for opening my eyes to the benefits on how to forgive others. Amen.