3 Examples of forgiveness in the Bible that you should know

In this article we will show you through some examples of forgiveness in the bibleHow great is the love of God. All of them are biblical references that we must follow to please the heavenly Father.

Examples of forgiveness in the Bible

The great mystery of God in the Bible is the establishment of the church of Jesus Christ in the world, to conform to his universal people. But, it is in the love of the creator through the forgiveness of sins that the universal people of God is born.

This is the greatest and greatest of all examples of forgiveness in the bible. Being the key verse of God's forgiveness towards humanity in the Bible:

John 3:16 (DHH): -Well God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son., so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

Because the first man, Adam, allowed sin to enter the world as a result of his disobedience to God, and the wages of sin from then on would be death. But God in his infinite love and mercy reserved for us a second man, Christ, who would pay for all our sins with his life.

1 John 1:7 (NIV): But if we live in the light, just as God lives in the light, we will remain united as brothers and God will forgive our sins through the blood of his Son Jesus.

The most important thing to keep in mind with this example is that we receive God's forgiveness without having done anything to deserve it. God also shows us others examples of forgiveness in the bible, forgiving men who in our understanding did not deserve it.

Let's take these examples as an experience for our life, so that we can forgive and not act with bad intentions. Holding a grudge against someone who has done us some wrong or offense:

Psalm 32:1-2 (ESV): 32 Happy the man whose faults and sins have been completely forgiven. 2 Happy the man who is not ill-intentioned and whom the Lord does not accuse of any fault.

Three men of God who are examples of forgiveness in the Bible

In the Bible we can find different cases of men and women who committed great iniquities. But also in these cases the mercy of God could be seen manifest in forgiving them.

In this opportunity we will talk about three of these cases, where their protagonists are men of God. Whom God forgave after having failed him by disobedience and acted wrongly.

When we act in a wrong way and in disobedience, we fail because we are not accepting the will of God, despising his word. Learn more about this topic in the article: Accepting the will of God In our life, which is good, nice and perfect.

The three cases of men forgiven by God serve as a examples of forgiveness in the bible. Let's look at these examples below:

King David

David was a young shepherd of sheep anointed and chosen by God to be the second king of Israel, for having a heart according to Him. Unlike the first king of Israel, Saul, who had a heart according to men.

David loved, worshiped and feared God, knew his commandments and obeyed them. That is why the Lord loved him very much and was always with him.

David's love for God is evident in all the psalms he wrote and that can be found in the Bible. The psalms are songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.

These praises were sung by the Jewish people of all times and even today by Christian communities around the world.

The story of David takes place in the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles in the Old Testament of the Bible. The life of this man loved by God went through many situations with hits and misses.

He courageously faced being very young against the giant Goliath, achieving victory through his great faith and trust in God, know this biblical battle by entering here: David and Goliat, a biblical duel that made history. In this war the Philistines took the giant Goliath to the battlefield, but God sent his beloved David to defend his people Israel.

With this victory he won the admiration of many, but also the antipathy of King Saul, from whom he had to flee and go into exile. David previously anointed by God through the prophet Samuel, ascends to the throne of Israel after the death of Saul.

An achievement of David's government was to return the ark of the covenant to the city of Jerusalem, for which he received great blessings and promises from God.

David sins against the commandments of God

With all these successes, there comes a time when David makes a big mistake in his life. Him committing adultery with a married woman and would later violate another commandment of God by killing Bathsheba's husband. God admonishes and confronts David through the voice of the prophet Nathan, God's messenger.

David's prayer of repentance

After this admonition from God, David realizes the serious sin committed against Him, then plunges into great pain, repenting of having failed the Lord. Pain that David manifests when writing a prayer of repentance, which is captured in Psalm 51:

Psalms 51:1-4 (KJV 2015): 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your mercy. By your abundant compassion erase my rebellions. 2 Wash me more and more of my wickedness, and cleanse me of my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, against you alone have I sinned and done evil in your sight. May you be recognized just in your word and considered pure in your judgment.

David with this prayer of repentance was acknowledging his guilt before God. And so he cries out to the Most High to give him the restoration that comes from his forgiveness.

King David trusted in the promises of his Lord and that the forgiveness he was asking for, God would grant. That is why he exclaims in the same Psalm 51:

Psalms 51:17 (NKJV 2015): 17 The sacrifices of God are the broken spirit. You do not despise a contrite and humiliated heart, O God.

But we also see in the scriptures how God expresses himself about David, knowing that he had a heart according to his. That is why God knew that even when he failed him, David would recognize his failure, seek forgiveness and He in his mercy would restore and forgive him.

Acts 13:22 (KJV 2015): – After removing it, he raised David as their king, of whom he gave testimony saying: –i found david son of Jesse, man after my heart, who will do all my will-.

Paul or Saul of Tarsus, example of forgiveness in the Bible

Saul of Tarsus was a Jew, the son of a Jew, educated in one of the most rigorous rabbinical schools, that of the Pharisees. And in it, his mentor was Rabbi Gamaliel, a renowned Pharisee and doctor of the law, he was also a leading member of the Sanhedrin in the middle of the first century after Christ.

So Saul grew up in the rigidity of the Jewish law and, believing himself to be faithful to it, he became one of its main defenders. This erroneous belief led him to commit great crimes against God, persecuting and murdering Christians.

On one occasion Saul witnessed and perhaps also participated in the murder of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, a Jewish convert to Christianity. From this event, in Saul there was a greater zeal for his beliefs, which were correct for him.

Acts 8:3 (NIV): 3 Meanwhile, Saul was persecuting the church, going from house to house to drag out men and women and send them to jail.

However, God had already chosen Saul as a useful instrument for the cause of the gospel of Christ. Saul after Esteban's death and with the information that the message of the Way (Christ) was spreading more and more.

He addresses the Jewish Sanhedrin and asks them to officially authorize him to persecute and capture Christians in the cities surrounding Jerusalem. While on the way to Damascus, the risen Lord Jesus Christ appears to Saul and transforms his life, going from persecutor to becoming one more Christian to being persecuted.

God knows the true heart of Paul

God in Saul, who would later call him Paul, did not see in him the hard and unforgiving heart that the world saw. Rather, he saw in him a passionate, obedient and diligent heart to fulfill what his faith dictated.

That thirsty heart to fulfill the commandments of the law, was what God saw in Paul. He forgave him his sins committed in ignorance, because when he committed them, the truth that is Christ Jesus, the true way, had not yet been revealed to him.

Paul is restored in the faith

After his encounter with the risen Jesus Christ, Paul was never the same. God completely transformed his life, even giving him a new name.

Paul would become one of the most faithful servants of God for the sake of the Lord Jesus. The same passion and diligence that he brought to his Christian persecution, he used to preach the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Paul himself was a living testimony of a transformed life in Christ Jesus. And through him many were converted to the faith of Christ, especially those who professed their old religion, the Jewish.

Paul one of the examples of forgiveness in the bible, once restored by God he became a great servant. He undertook several missionary journeys, planting churches for Christ in every region he visited.

The Bible also teaches us the persecutions, prisons and sufferings that Paul suffered for the cause of Jesus Christ:

Philippians 1:29-30 (NIV): 29 For because of Christ, you not only have the privilege of believing in him, but also of suffering for him. 30 You and I are in the same fight. You saw before how I fought, and now you have news of how I continue.

Acts 14:19 (ESV): Some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived at this point and changed the minds of the people; so they stoned Paul and, thinking they had killed him, dragged him out of town.

The transcendence of the restoration of God in Paul was such that he wrote by revelation of the Holy Spirit 13 epistles of the New Testament of the Bible. Letters with great doctrinal content for the foundation of Christianity, making the world know the Savior Jesus Christ.

Simon Peter, another great example of forgiveness in the Bible

Jesus when he begins his public life to do what God his Father entrusted him to carry out on earth. He calls upon the first disciples of his, among them was Simon, also called Peter:

Matthew 4:18-20: 18 As he walked by the Sea of ​​Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting the net into the sea, because they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them: –Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Peter went from being a fisherman from the town of Bethsaida to becoming one of the twelve followers of Jesus. He was a clumsy man and his impulsive character can be seen in several passages in the canonical gospels of the Bible.

Learn more about them by entering here, The gospels: Origin, canonical, apocryphal and more. These New Testament books of the Bible narrate the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Learn in this article when its origin took place, in addition to finding out about the types that exist and which ones are accepted by Christian doctrine.

Pedro's impulsiveness made him act or speak without thinking or reflecting on what he was going to say or do. Still, Peter became one of Jesus' closest friends, sharing crucial moments in his life with his teacher and his Lord.

On several occasions Peter exercised the function of speaking on behalf of the twelve disciples. A relevant occasion was when he recognized Jesus as the Christ:

Matthew 16:15-16 (RVA 2015): 15 He said to them: - But you, who do you say that I am? 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God! -.

Peter denies Jesus three times

On the occasion of Jesus sharing the last supper with his twelve disciples, they engage in a debate to find out which of them was the most important. Listening to them, Jesus tells them: The most important among you must be the least important of all, and the one who believes he has authority among all must serve all others.

All this is taught by Jesus as an example of service in his kingdom. Then he turns to Peter to announce to him as a prophetic word that he would deny him three times:

Luke 22:31-34 (RVA 2015): 31 – Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked me to sift you like wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And you, when you return, confirm your brothers. 33 He said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you even to prison and to death.

34 But he said, “Peter, I tell you that the rooster will not crow today before you have denied three times that you know me.

Jesus in his divine nature knew what was about to happen, so he prays to God for Peter so that he may be strengthened in his faith. And that once strengthened he could be an example for the other disciples.

Well, when the time came, it happened as Jesus had announced, Peter denied it three times before the people.

Peter's Restoration

After Peter had denied Jesus three times, he felt great pain for having failed his master. But God knew the purpose that he had for Peter, so after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we find one of the most beautiful examples of forgiveness in the bible: The restoration of Peter.