Does God forgive?

from the old testament

• In Exodus, God revealed Himself to Moses, saying, “ ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty...” ” (Exodus 34:6b–7). God is a forgiving God. However, forgiveness does not mean that sin is ignored. How can God forgive sin while still punishing it? We start to learn the answer when we consider the sacrificial system God gave to His people, Israel (Leviticus 6:21).
• In Leviticus 17:11, God told the Israelites, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” Death was required to pay for sin. By sacrificing the animals, God could justly place a person’s sin onto the animal. The animal would die for the sin instead of the individual. In that way, God could forgive the individual while still punishing all sin with a death.
• In addition to daily sacrifices, God also gave them a yearly date called the Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur: “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins.” (Leviticus 16:29–30). On the annual Yom Kippur, the priests would make atonement for themselves and the nation of Israel (Leviticus 16:32–33). Notice that, besides the sacrifices, a key feature of this atonement is the requirement of humbleness.
• God requires humility by the one receiving forgiveness. David, after being confronted with his sin (2 Samuel 12), wrote Psalm 51 where He said, “You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; You will not be pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51:16–17). David was not saying that blood sacrifices were unneeded, but he understood that sacrifices alone are worthless. The one being forgiven must express genuine sorrow for his sin.
• God delights in forgiving. Micah, the prophet, said, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.” (Micah 7:18). Other translations translate “delights in unchanging love” as “delights to show mercy” an “delights in showing clemency.” Micah looked forward to when God would “again have compassion on us” (Micah 7:19a) by keeping His promises and casting “their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19c–d). God takes joy in keeping His promises for forgiveness.
• God “longs to be gracious to you” (Isaiah 30:18a). Though that verse is talking about Israel, it shows God’s heart for His people. He desires to be gracious to those who turn to Him for salvation.

from the new testament

• Hebrews teaches that, though there were sacrifices that temporarily satisfied God’s just wrath for sin, they were limited both in scope and effectiveness (Hebrews 10:1–2).
• The reason the Israelites needed to offer sacrifices continuously (every day), was because the sacrifices were not enough to make the person permanently clean. They covered one sin or a few sins, but then the person would sin again and again be under God’s just condemnation for sin. Being “shadow” meant that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). An animal is not equivalent to a human and, thus, there could never be enough animal sacrifices to atone for the sin of a man or woman.
• The only sacrifice that could appease God’s wrath was a human sacrifice. However, if the human had any sin of his or her own, then his or her death would only satisfy God’s wrath for his or her sin, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
• Because “there is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10), meaning there are no perfect men or women, God sent His Son (John 3:16).
• Though fully God, Jesus added on humanity to be just like us. We read that “Christ Jesus, who, although He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6–7).
• As fully God and fully human, Jesus was exactly like us except without sin. Therefore, when He became our sacrifice (Isaiah 53:6), it was not for His sin but as a substitute for all who believe in Him.
• The type of death where someone dies as a substitute to appease the just wrath of God is known as a propitiation (Romans 3:25). As a propitiation, God’s wrath against repentant sinners is permanently satisfied (1 John 2:1-2).

implications for today

God is a forgiving God, but He is also holy and just—He never overlooks sin. Either the sinner pays for his or her sin in eternity, or the sin has already been paid for by His sacrificial lamb, Jesus. A sin paid by Jesus is a forgiven sin. God counts the believer as righteous, never holding him or her accountable for that sin again.

For unbelievers, there is one take-away: God only forgives sins placed on His sacrifice, Jesus. While you remain unrepentant and unwilling to trust in Him, then when this current age ends, books listing your sins will be opened, and you will be judged, found guilty, and cast into Hell (Revelation 20:11–15). This is not because God doesn’t forgive, but because you ignored the forgiveness found through His Son. Therefore, the right response to this article is to flee the wrath to come (Matthew 3:7b). Jesus said that no one who comes to Him will be cast out (John 6:37b). All who repent of their sin and trust in Jesus (Romans 10:9) will escape the final wrath against sin (Romans 5:9). The sins for those who cling to Jesus will be forgiven, never brought up again.

For believers, we must remember what God forgave! We don’t remember our past sins to dwell on forgiven sins, but to remember just how great, kind, and gracious God is. God forgave you despite you not deserving it! Also, we need to remember that He continues to forgive. Though Jesus paid for all of a believer’s sins, past, present, and future, God wants us to grow in holiness and will discipline us when we sin (Hebrews 12:4–11). However, we are promised that every time we sin, if we confess and repent, God is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9).