Do you struggle with guilt or with not feeling forgiven? Maybe you think you have made too many mistakes. Perhaps you wonder if you've committed too many sins to be forgiven. On this page, I present 10 Bible verses about forgiveness from God. You'll find encouragement in the wonderful truth that the Lord is willing to forgive us of all of our wrongdoings, and that the cross of Jesus Christ is sufficient.
To slightly paraphrase, 1 John 1:9 says that the Lord is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us completely if we confess our sins.
If you're struggling with guilt over past offenses against God, 1 John 1:9 is one verse you can add to your prayers that affirm the Lord's faithfulness, justice, and willingness to forgive--that is if we confess our sins. You'll find the words, "cleanse from all unrighteousness," which clearly emphasizes the comprehensive nature of God's forgiveness.
2. Luke 23:34--Jesus prays, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
Jesus set a model for us at the cross in terms of what our attitude should be towards ones we consider enemies. By no means is this easy, but the mark of a true believer in Christ is the willingness to forgive.
Similar wording to David's prayer in Psalm 51, this verse in Isaiah affirms God as one who erases sin from our lives. If you struggle with doubt that you've been forgiven, this statement is one from God's Word that you can affirm on a daily basis.
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out...
In this Bible verse about forgiveness from God, we see that yes, He blots out our transgressions, but let's not forget the condition! We must do our parts and repent. The grace is available to us through the cross of Jesus Christ, but we must receive that gift. Repent means to turn away--change our path to one of righteousness.
How God forgets our sins is hard to understand, but this verse offers that encouragement. We trust that God no longer remembers our offenses. Regardless of how He does it, we can rest assured that our sins are blotted out, if we have confessed and turned from sins. If we stumble, we go back to the foot of the cross and receive His grace and forgiveness once again.
Christ is the perfect model to follow when it comes to forgiveness. Of course, as mentioned above, Jesus' prayer at the cross reflects what our attitudes should be toward those considered our enemies.
In addition to the above Bible verse about forgiveness from God, I also want to mention the following passage from Matthew, in chapter 18 and verses 21 and 22: Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times! If we are to forgive as Christ forgave us, then take the instruction by Jesus to Peter as implying that He also forgives people over and over. So should we--no matter how many times they wrong us.
As far as the east is from the west--that is how far God has removed our transgressions from us.
Once again, it's hard to understand how God works in terms of ridding our lives of sin. However, we trust that He is able to remove our sins far from us--in His own divinely unique way. I think of how long of a flight it takes to get to the Far East from the East Coast of the United States. The flight is over 20 hours. We can trust that in God's version of east and west, He removes our sins light years from us.
Forgive others and Christ will forgive you.
To have an open line of communication to God and receive answers to prayer, it's important to forgive whoever we need to of offenses committed against us.
When you pray, if you have anything against anyone, forgive them, so that you receive Christ's forgiveness for your sins.
In one of the articles on this site, I mention how confession is an important aspect of prayer...
How to Effectively Pray (encouragementscriptures.com)
One of the important areas to evaluate is our relationships with others and whether we've truly forgiven those who have offended us. Mark 11:25 makes clear that to receive Christ's forgiveness for sins you've committed, the prerequisite is forgiving others.
If we humble ourselves, pray, and repent, God will hear from Heaven and send forth healing. This verse can apply to a nation, and I believe this verse contains a message for us personally as well. In order for God to hear our prayers, we need to approach Him humbly and in an attitude of repentance, both individually as well as corporately.