Bible verses about forgiveness
Forgiveness runs through the whole Bible. From the psalms of David to the letters of the apostles, Scripture speaks of a God who is holy and yet ready to pardon, who does not keep His anger forever and takes no pleasure in holding our sins against us.
This forgiveness is not cheap. The New Testament shows that it rests on the death of Jesus Christ, who bore the punishment for sin, and that it is received by those who turn to God and honestly confess what they have done.
God’s forgiveness also changes the way we treat others. People who know how much they have been forgiven are called to forgive in turn. These verses show how God forgives, how we come to Him for forgiveness and how we can forgive the people who have wronged us.
How completely God forgives
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Ps 103:12 · King James Version (1769)
East and west never meet. David chose the greatest distance he could picture to say that God removes our sins so far that we could not imagine them more thoroughly taken away.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isa 1:18 · King James Version (1769)
Scarlet and crimson stand for guilt as deep as bloodstains, yet God promises to make it white. The New Geneva Study Bible explains that God can remove any stain of sin without setting aside His justice, because Jesus Christ bore God’s punishment for sinners. The next verse shows that this pardon is for those who turn back and obey.
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Mic 7:18–19 · King James Version (1769)
Micah’s own name means “Who is like God?”, and the book ends with this question. What makes God incomparable here is His mercy: He delights to pardon and throws sins into the depths of the sea, where they will never rise again.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:7 · King James Version (1769)
Paul names the price of our forgiveness: the blood of Christ. Redemption means release by paying a ransom, and forgiveness of sins is its first fruit, given not by our merit but out of the riches of God’s grace.
Confessing and being forgiven
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Ps 32:5 · King James Version (1769)
David remembers how he kept silent about his sin and suffered under its weight. When he stopped hiding it and confessed it to the Lord, forgiveness came, and the psalm opens by calling such a forgiven person blessed.
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 · King James Version (1769)
To confess is to agree with God about our sin, to call it what He calls it and turn from it. God is faithful because He keeps His promise, and just because Christ has already paid for the sins He forgives.
Forgiving one another
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Eph 4:32 · King James Version (1769)
Paul gives both the command and the reason. As Matthew Henry puts it, “Mark how God’s forgiveness causes us to forgive”: we had no right to sin against God, and still He forgave us.
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Col 3:13 · King James Version (1769)
Living close to other people, we soon see their faults, and they see ours. Bearing with one another and forgiving complaints is how believers follow the example of Christ, who forgave all their sins.
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matt 6:14–15 · King James Version (1769)
Jesus added these words right after the Lord’s Prayer. John MacArthur explains that they do not mean a believer loses salvation: they speak of the daily cleansing a child of God asks for, which God withholds from those who refuse to forgive others.
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Matt 18:21–22 · King James Version (1769)
Some teachers of the day said a person should be forgiven three times. Peter more than doubled that and thought himself generous. William MacDonald notes that Jesus did not mean a count of 490 but forgiveness without limit.
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mark 11:25 · King James Version (1769)
Jesus ties forgiveness to prayer. A heart that holds on to a grudge cannot come to God freely, so before asking for mercy we are to let go of what we hold against others.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Luke 23:34 · King James Version (1769)
Jesus prayed this as He was being crucified, for the soldiers and for those who handed Him over. In this He fulfilled the prophecy that the Servant of the Lord would intercede for transgressors (Isaiah 53:12).
The forgiveness we receive at the cross is the strength by which we can forgive others.