A Closer Look at Biblical Forgiveness

By Vee Chandler

The Bible gives several different pictures of what forgiveness accomplishes: carrying (away) a burden, covering up or blotting out a stain, canceling a debt, and giving a gift. All involve the removal of sin; however, these different metaphors describe the meaning and significance of forgiveness from different points of view. For the wrongdoer there is release from the burden of sin (guilt feelings) as well as the remission of debt. For the forgiver, forgiveness is a gift given in spite of pain, a gift that eliminates the offense as a barrier to reconciliation. From the viewpoint of the moral community, the significance is the erasure of the stain of sin. Each of these metaphors speaks of a different aspect of forgiveness and brings out features of forgiveness that might otherwise be overlooked. An understanding of each image is essential to understand the practice of forgiveness. Any account of the Christian practice of forgiveness should accommodate all of the images presented in these metaphors. Each of these metaphors will now be examined more closely.

Lifting a Burden and Bearing It Away

First, the biblical model of forgiveness involves lifting a burden and bearing it away (Hebrew nasa: to lift up or carry away, and salach: to let go or bear; Greek aphiemi: to remit, send away, or liberate). The wrongdoer is involved in the process and is definitely affected by the action of the forgiver. This imagery focuses on the effect of wrongdoing on those who do it. Sin is pictured as a burden that weighs the guilty one down, and forgiveness brings relief from the burden of guilt. For this understanding of forgiveness to be plausible, the wrongs must be burdensome. If the wrongdoer feels no guilt, then this metaphor does not hold up—therefore the biblical practice of forgiveness would not be applicable. Forgiveness given would not accomplish its end.

What makes wrongdoing harmful to the wrongdoer? Generally, the reference is to the burden of guilt. However, it can be the punitive consequences, perhaps retaliation or prosecution. So, in addition to relieving guilt feelings, the lifting of the burden can refer to the remission of punishment, relief from the threat of revenge, or the ending of alienation or estrangement. Yet forgiveness must be distinguished from the remission of punishment, although it may sometimes involve the remission of punishment.

The Hebrew expression involved in this metaphor is “bearing sin.” The guilty one bears responsibility for their wrongdoing and its consequences. People will bear their iniquity for doing anything forbidden by the Lord’s commandments (Lev 5:17; for example Lev 5:1; 7:18; 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 19; Num 5:31; Ezek 14:10; 18:19–20; 44:10–12).121 But when forgiveness is involved, the sin is borne by the forgiver, with most references to God or to the priest bearing it on God’s behalf.

Blotting Out Sin

Second, the biblical act of forgiveness involves blotting out (removing) sin from the view of the one sinned against. There are actually several different images that convey this idea. Sin is removed (Ps 103:12), blotted out (Ps 51:1, 9; Isa 43:25; 44:22), or washed away (Isa 4:4; Acts 22:16; 1 Cor 6:11). A strong image is presented in Mic 7:19: “You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

This removal of sin means that after the victim forgives, he, like God, no longer sees the offense when he looks upon the one who harmed him. The wrong done is no longer a part of his relationship with the offender. This is only possible and is even actually reasonable because the offender has repented. The offender has, through his apology and demonstrated repentance, rejected in himself that which caused the offense; therefore, the one sinned against can now correctly view him in a different way. The barrier to restored relationship is truly removed. Having committed a crime, “it can never, being once true, cease to be true” that the crime was committed, but is the offender forever a liar or thief? No. Repentance effects an alteration in his essential self. Therefore the sin may be reasonably and justly “blotted out” from view. Psalm 32:1–2 says, “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.” The fact of the offense is not removed, rather, the offense is no longer counted against the guilty one because the offender has become one “in whose spirit is no deceit.” He does not hide or deny his guilt and need for forgiveness, and as a result he is blessed (v. 1). Just as Ps 32:1 equates forgiveness with sins being covered or removed from view, the NT speaks of forgiveness in this same metaphorical way (1 Pet 4:8; Jas 5:20).

Remission of Debt

Third, biblical forgiveness is metaphorically pictured as the remission of a debt. When it comes to financial transactions, the meaning clear. The term forgiveness is used in such cases, for one is said to forgive a debt. Scripture speaks in the same way. God does not “reckon sin” (“count against” NIV) wrote the apostle Paul (Rom 4:8), quoting the psalmist (Ps 32:2). One may incur debt, but God in forgiveness blots out the debt column of his life.

In what way is the wrongdoer indebted to the victim of his actions? The victim is entitled to retribution as satisfaction (payback), which symbolically is a kind of currency against which the harm done is balanced. The forgiver makes a choice to waive this debt, this right to insist on retribution, the desire to even the score. The choice to forgive is based on the debtor’s asking for debt cancellation. “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9); “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3–4 NASB). His request for forgiveness clearly acknowledges a debt (as a metaphor for sin). Once again both the victim and the wrongdoer are involved in the practice of forgiveness as it is presented in this biblical metaphor. Forgiveness is not unilateral.

Giving a Gift

In the remission of debt metaphor, the offender receives a gift in that his debt is canceled. From the perspective of the forgiver, a gift is given. In the act of forgiving, the victim not only declines to exact what is owed, he actually extends something positive to the wrongdoer. This gift metaphor emphasizes the elective and gracious nature of forgiveness. Forgiveness is a gift because no obligation to forgive exists. Like forgiveness viewed as the remission of a debt, the gift metaphor demonstrates that both the forgiver and the offender are involved, for if a gift is to be given, the gift must be received. The giver should forget what he has given, but the receiver should remember what he has received. “Thus the giver’s pride is banished [and] the . . . recipient’s gratitude is retained.” “To forgive is to give wrongdoers the gift of not counting the wrong against them,” which presupposes that a wrong has been done and condemned.

Again, recognition of wrongdoing and confession is essential for this to take place, for without repentance the wrongdoer does not even recognize forgiveness as a gift. Therefore this gift metaphor, involving canceling a debt (not counting a wrong) and lifting a burden (guilt feelings), does not hold up in the absence of repentance.

The gift metaphor emphasizes that when one forgives he is not primarily seeking his own good but the good of the wrongdoer who receives this gift. One does benefit from forgiving just as one benefits from giving, for it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Forgiveness brings inner peace and freedom. But just as one gives for the benefit of another, one should forgive for the other’s benefit and not for selfish reasons. Emotional healing is desirable, but it is not the main reason to forgive. To forgive means to forgo a rightful claim against someone who has done wrong. As the biblical metaphor emphasizes and as Miroslav Volf says in his book Free of Charge, “[Forgiveness] is a gift we give not so much to ourselves as to the one who has wronged us whether we are emotionally healed as a result or not.”

— Vee Chandler has taught Bible courses in public schools, community college, and church for many years. Her study and research on the topic of forgiveness flowed naturally from her PhD dissertation on the subject of atonement theory. Her second book, Victorious Substitution, is a revised edition of that dissertation and was published in 2025.

image: The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau

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Excerpted from Biblical Boundaries of Forgiveness: A Biblical and Ethical Study of Forgiveness as It Relates to Repentance, Reconciliation, and Justice by Vee Chandler (Wipf and Stock, 2021). Used by permission.

In this well-researched study, Vee Chandler combines insight gathered from the writings of scholars and Christian philosophers with personal observations and biblical perspectives to examine the nature and value of forgiveness, and help those struggling with the concepts of repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

Chandler begins by exploring key questions such as, When does God forgive and not forgive? and, What is God’s wrath and mercy? and then attempts to answer these questions by first defining terms according to their scriptural usage. She then examines the relationship between repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation according to the biblical model.

In the second section, Chandler exegetically scrutinizes scriptural texts related to interpersonal forgiveness as well as passages concerning how God’s people should relate to their enemies and to evil persons. Finally, Chandler examines the ethics of forgiveness from a moral and philosophical point of view, and ultimately establishes a model for forgiveness and reconciliation based on the biblical pattern and defended from a logical and ethical perspective.

Biblical Boundaries of Forgiveness embraces the contribution of Christian philosophers while examining the nature and value of forgiveness from spiritual and moral viewpoints.

“This is a careful, thorough book that looks at all the biblical texts on forgiveness. Every page gives evidence of the author's judicious judgments, pastoral insights, and wise engagement with others’ opinions. The book blends academic insight with realism and honesty about forgiveness. Hard questions are not ignored, and trite answers not offered. Christian pastors and ministers should read this book for themselves—and encourage their congregations to read it too.”

— Anthony Bash, author of Forgiveness and Christian Ethics

“In this book, Vee Chandler provides us with a detailed and perceptive analysis of the Christian concept of forgiveness and the role it plays in overcoming our estrangement from God and from one another. She also extensively explores the biblical basis of her analysis. In an age of individualism characterized by estrangement between people and nations, this book is very timely and more than welcome.”

— Vincent Brümmer, author of Atonement, Christology, and the Trinity

Find Biblical Boundaries of Forgiveness at Amazon, Christianbook.com, Wipf and Stock, and Bookshop.org.

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