No teaching of the Bible is understood less, no divine promise less experienced. And yet from this "open source" (Zachariah 13,1:XNUMX) a final, universal and final reformation breaks out. By Alberto Rosenthal

This article seeks to open up “the (faith) article by which the church stands and falls” (Martin Luther) – justification through faith – with a view to the biblical meaning of forgiveness. For: "Forgiveness and justification are one and the same." (Ellen White, Bible Commentary 6, 1070)

The pulpits of the Reformation brought a forgiveness in Christ to the people that made them free Christians. The pulpits of Laodicea no longer know this power of forgiveness. And yet that's exactly what aphesis, the word for forgiveness used in the New Testament, denotes: Freedom!

The well-known Strong's Concordance is the first to assign this meaning to this Greek word. In fact, according to biblical teaching, forgiveness and freedom form such an inseparable unit that one and the same word can stand for both. Forgiveness and freedom are understood as synonyms. Aphesis brings this to bear in a striking way. It is remission of the guilt of sin - and thus the punishment for sin - and at the same time release from captivity: forgiveness of sins and liberation from sins. Forgiveness always includes both.

Nowhere is this more evident in the use of aphesis than in Luke 4,18:4,18. Everywhere else the word appears in the New Testament it is in a phrase (or statement) that emphasizes the forgiveness of sins; which is why the Bible translations render it with forgiveness. In the word combination in which it occurs in Luke 61,1.2:XNUMX, however, the liberation from sin is in the foreground. This text therefore expresses the full meaning of aphesis. In the synagogue of Nazareth, his hometown, Jesus interpreted the prophecy from Isaiah XNUMX:XNUMX about the work of the coming Messiah to his own commission: »The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor ; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the pleasant year of the Lord.” to proclaim to captives aphesis - Liberation!

The forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ sets free, it frees from sin, completely and real! The bird is set free from its cage, the prison doors are thrown open for the prisoner. Belief in such forgiveness always works out in just that way. A poet who thus recognized the divine offer of forgiveness was able to poetically express the essence of genuine faith: “Fear is like a narrow space in which a bird flies about, desperate for a way out. Faith is like an open window through which the bird flies to freedom.” Jesus embodied that faith, and anyone who approached him seeking forgiveness felt that he could be trusted, utterly, totally, and freely , childlike and equal. And it flowed from him, persistent and undiminished: aphesis - to everyone who believed.

It is in this spirit that Ellen White unsurpassedly described the essence of genuine forgiveness:

“Forgiveness has a broader meaning than many realize. God's forgiveness is not just a legal act by which he frees us from damnation. It is not only forgiveness of sin, but deliverance from sin. It is the outpouring of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the right understanding of forgiveness when he prayed: Make in me, O God, a pure heart and give me a new steadfast spirit. (Psalm 51,12:XNUMX)" (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 114)

Forgiveness - the outpouring of redeeming love that transforms the heart! What downright revolutionary knowledge in the age of general lukewarmness! In the age of forgiveness and yet not being able to forget! In the age when love is growing cold in many "because lawlessness abounds" (Matthew 24,12:2,11). What a contrast to the understanding and experience of forgiveness that is so prevalent today! Here is truly "salvific grace" (Titus 1:4,9)! Those who experience it do to their brothers and fellow men in the same way that happened to them, becoming again their "brother's keeper" (Genesis XNUMX:XNUMX).

"Basically," according to Thayer's Greek Lexicon, aphesis means "letting go" of sins "as if they had not been committed." Anyone who has been forgiven in this way does not forgive in any other way: with spirit and heart, in his soul, in his inner being, with all his soul, he looks at his neighbor who has owed him and seeks his forgiveness as if he had never done anything against him had. This is the experience of aphesis!

What is more, he now sees him as God sees him in Christ after he has been forgiven: as if he had only ever been obedient before, and ever walked in perfect love! And even more: He feels the same way towards those who would neither recognize nor want to acknowledge their guilt – in hope! Like his Master, who left us this unique and liberating example on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing!" (Luke 23,34:7,60) This must be love! The love of Stephen, whom the experience of forgiveness had placed in an office of care and intercession right up to his death: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" (Acts XNUMX:XNUMX)

The fact that true, divine forgiveness not only forgives sin, but also gives freedom, that it plants the law of love in the heart at the very moment when it frees one from guilt and damnation, is also clear from the Greek saying charidsomai shows that next to the action word belonging to aphesis aphiemi sometimes used in the New Testament to mean "forgive."

Charidsomai derives from charis from which, for example, our word »charisma«, borrowed from the Greek, goes back. Charis is the New Testament word for grace. "Never," as Ralf Luther writes in his treasured New Testament Dictionary, means "mere forgiveness, but always God's self-giving." "Where grace is, there is a divine abundance." "Where grace is, one can draw from the full."

When Paul reminds the church in Colossae that in Christ God "forgives them (charidsomai) has all sins” (Colossians 2,13:XNUMX), he emphasizes through the use of charidsomai bring out what was given to them when their sins were remitted: the fullness of God himself! So when we truly forgive one another as Christians, we encounter one another in that fullness. We give grace! So the great apostle addressed the encouraging words to the church in Ephesus: »But be kind to one another and tender and forgiving (charidsomai) one to another, as also God forgives you (charidsomai) has in Christ.« (Ephesians 4,32:XNUMX)

The Christian church in Laodicea in Asia Minor had almost completely lost the faith that produces such a precious fruit of forgiveness by the end of the first century AD. Their faith is reflected in God's end-time church. Genuine faith, however, may experience what Ellen White testifies to in an unsurpassed way:

»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 vacuum. It signifies divine enlightenment and joy in God. It means a heart freed from self, happiness through Jesus' abiding presence. When Jesus governs the soul, there is purity and freedom from sin. In life, the bright, fulfilling, and complete gospel comes into play. Accepting the Savior bestows an aura of complete peace, love, and assurance. The beauty and sweetness of Jesus' character are evident in life and testify that God really did send his Son into the world as Savior.« (Christ's Object Lessons, 419; see. Pictures of the kingdom of God, 342)

Biblical forgiveness fills the heart with a joy that is not earthly. This joy the heavenly friend desires to give and be to every human being! It's no coincidence either charis closely with the word Chara – joy – related. Both have the same root. God's grace gives that joy. A joy that comes from a cleansed heart - through the gift of forgiveness! And so the prophetess of the end writes:

»Christ's grace cleanses while it forgives and prepares man for a holy heaven.« (That I May Know Him, 336)