Forgiven already. – 7th May 2007

Can we forgive sins committed against other people?

And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." John 20: 22-23

Does this mean that if we choose to forgive anyone then they are sinless? How can anyone do that except God himself? What’s Jesus actually saying here?

Fortunately we are blessed with trained clergy who are able to delve a little deeper than the simple interpretation of the words. As David Brown explained “The tricky thing is translating the Greek, a very obscure tense (perfect passive indicative 3rd person plural)….” [Editorial note – the reality is more like As David Brown read from an English/Greek Commentary!!]

Perhaps a good paraphrase would be ‘if the Holy Spirit guides you to declare someone’s sins are forgiven then they have already been forgiven’. So it’s a recognition and declaration of the work that God has already done rather than we ourselves forgiving the sins.

So what does this mean in practical circumstances?

Suppose a friend is so weighed down with their past faults that they really don’t think they are good enough for God, but the Holy Spirit within us discerns that they actually want to be reinstated with God. We are now able to declare that God is ready to welcome them, and that as they come to Jesus their sins have been forgiven.

We could say something like, “John, God knows all about you. He knows what you have done, and he longs for you to come back to him. Talk to him, and when you do you can be certain that he has already forgiven you for all the bad things that you have done and stands with open arms waiting for you. The cross is proof of his forgiveness and love; by dying such a painful death he has bought you freedom from your past. He has already taken the punishment that you deserve – that’s how much he loves you. All you need to do now is to accept that gift of forgiveness and freedom.“

God bless