Although the concept of forgiveness plays a major role in the language used in Christianity, the word does not appear very often in the Bible. The Greek word aphesis (G859), which is translated as forgiveness, is found 17 times. Only twice with the apostle Paul. Below are both Scriptures:
Ephesus 1
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.
Colossians 1
14 In Him we have redemption, even the forgiveness of sins.
forgiveness?
It sounds nice that we have forgiveness of sins in Him, but as so often happens when we study God’s word, we are even richer than we thought. Forgiveness is remission, and remission certainly falls within the scope of the Greek aphesis, but it is much more. We see this when we examine another text:
Luke 4
16 And He (=Jesus) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17 And the book of Isaiah the prophet was given to him; and when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written:
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; He has sent Me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted,
19 To proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty the oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
liberation
Aphesis literally means: to let go. We find the word aphesis twice in verse 18. It is translated as realease and liberty. And that is much more than remission. Aphesis is letting go, liberation! And that also sheds light on the other texts, such as the two I brought up earlier. Not only are our sins forgiven, but we are set free from sin. Freed from what held us captive. The power of sin is broken. God frees us from sin, we are dead to sins (Rom.6:11). Sin would therefore no longer play any role in our lives: so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for them (2 Cor.5:15).
Ephesus 1
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the liberation from trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.
Colossians 1
14 In Him we have redemption, even the liberation from sins.
Deze blog in het Nederlands lezen (read this blog in Dutch).