No teaching of the Bible is less understood, no divine promise less experienced. Yet from this “open fountain” (Zechariah 13:1) will spring a final, worldwide, and conclusive reformation.
By Alberto Rosenthal
This article seeks to illuminate “the article of faith by which the church stands or falls” (Martin Luther)—justification by faith—by exploring the biblical meaning of forgiveness. For “pardon and justification are one and the same thing.” (Ellen White, Bible Commentary 6, 1070)
The pulpits of the Reformation brought people an understanding of forgiveness in Christ that made them free Christians. The pulpits of Laodicea no longer know this power of forgiveness. Yet this is precisely what characterizes aphesis, the word used for forgiveness in the New Testament: freedom!
The well-known Strong’s Concordance lists this as the Greek word’s first meaning. Indeed, according to biblical teaching, forgiveness and freedom form such an inseparable unity that the same word can express both. Forgiveness and freedom are understood as synonyms. Aphesis brings this out strikingly. It means the remission of the debt of sin—and therefore of the punishment for sin—and, at the same time, release from captivity: forgiveness of sin and liberation from sin. Forgiveness always includes both.
Nowhere is this clearer in the use of aphesis than in Luke 4:18. Everywhere else the word appears in the New Testament, it occurs in a phrase or context that emphasizes the forgiveness of sins; consequently, Bible translations render it as forgiveness. In the phrase in Luke 4:18, however, liberation from sin is emphasized. This passage therefore expresses the full meaning of aphesis. In the synagogue of Nazareth, His hometown, Jesus applied Isaiah’s prophecy about the work of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 61:1–2) to His own mission: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” To proclaim aphesis to the captives—liberation!
The forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ sets people free; it liberates from sin, completely and truly! The bird is released from its cage; the prison doors are thrown open for the captive. Faith in forgiveness of this kind always has this effect. A poet who recognized God’s offer of forgiveness in this way expressed the nature of true faith in these words: “Fear is like a cramped room in which a bird flutters about, desperately searching for a way out. Faith is like an open window through which the bird escapes into freedom.” Jesus embodied this faith, and everyone who approached Him with a longing for forgiveness sensed that they could trust Him—wholly and completely, freely, with childlike confidence, and at once. And it flowed from Him, continually and undiminished: aphesis—to everyone who believed.
In this very spirit, Ellen White described the nature of true forgiveness with unsurpassed clarity:
“Forgiveness has a broader meaning than many suppose. God’s forgiveness is not merely a legal act by which He frees us from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but deliverance from sin. It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David understood forgiveness correctly when he prayed: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)” (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 114)
Forgiveness—the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart! What a revolutionary insight in an age of widespread lukewarmness! In an age of forgiving while still being unable to forget! In an age when the love of many grows cold “because lawlessness will increase” (Matthew 24:12). What a contrast to the understanding and experience of forgiveness commonly found today! Here indeed is “grace that brings salvation” (Titus 2:11)! Those who experience it treat their brothers and fellow human beings in the same way they themselves have been treated, becoming once again their “brother’s keeper” (Genesis 4:9).
In its basic meaning, according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, aphesis signifies the “letting go” of sins, “as if they had not been committed.” Those who have been forgiven in this way forgive others in the same way: in spirit and heart, in their soul, deep within, with their whole being, they regard the person who has wronged them and seeks their forgiveness as though that person had never done anything against them. This is the experience of aphesis!
More than that, they now see that person as God sees us in Christ after we have been forgiven: as though that person had always been obedient and had always walked in perfect love! And more still: they feel the same way toward someone unwilling to recognize or acknowledge their guilt—with hope! Like their Master, who left us this unique and liberating example on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!” (Luke 23:34). This must be love! The love of Stephen, whose experience of forgiveness led him into a ministry of care and intercession, even unto death: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (Acts 7:60).
True, divine forgiveness does not merely remit sin but also grants freedom. At the very moment it releases us from guilt and condemnation, it plants the law of love in the heart. This is also apparent in the Greek verb charizomai, which is sometimes used in the New Testament to mean “forgive,” alongside aphiemi, the verb related to aphesis.
Charizomai comes from charis, from which our Greek-derived word “charisma” also originates. Charis is the New Testament word for grace. As Ralf Luther writes in his respected New Testament dictionary, it “never” means “mere forgiveness, but always also God’s giving of Himself.” “Where there is grace, there is divine abundance.” “Where there is grace, therefore, one can draw from that abundance.”
When Paul reminds the church in Colossae that God has “forgiven (charizomai) all your sins” in Christ (Colossians 2:13), his use of charizomai emphasizes what they received when their sins were remitted: the fullness of God Himself! Therefore, when we as Christians truly forgive one another, we encounter one another in this same fullness. We give grace! Thus the great apostle addressed these encouraging words to the church in Ephesus: “Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving (charizomai) one another, just as God in Christ forgave (charizomai) you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
By the end of the first century AD, the Christian church in Laodicea in Asia Minor had almost completely lost the faith that produces such a precious fruit of forgiveness. Its faith is reflected in God’s end-time church. True faith, however, can experience what Ellen White again describes with unsurpassed clarity:
“The faith of Jesus means more than the forgiveness of sins; it means that sin is taken away and the virtues of the Holy Spirit fill the void. It means divine illumination and joy in God. It means a heart freed from self, happiness through the abiding presence of Jesus. When Jesus governs the soul, purity and freedom from sin prevail there. The radiant, fulfilling, and complete gospel finds expression in the life. Acceptance of the Savior brings an atmosphere of perfect peace, perfect love, and perfect assurance. The beauty and fragrance of Jesus’ character are revealed in the life and testify that God has indeed sent His Son into the world as Savior.” (Christ’s Object Lessons, 419; compare Bilder vom Reiche Gottes, 342)
Biblical forgiveness fills the heart with a joy that is not earthly in nature. The heavenly Friend wishes to give this joy to every human being—and to be that joy for them! It is no coincidence that charis is closely related to chara—joy. Both share the same root. God’s grace grants this joy: a joy that grows from a cleansed heart through the gift of forgiveness! And so the prophetess of the end times writes:
“Christ’s grace purifies as it forgives and prepares a person for a holy heaven.” (That I May Know Him, 336)
Source: hoffnung-weltweit.info
