Understanding Forgiveness in the Greek: A Deeper Insight

Send it away!

The word forgive (ἀφίημι aphiēmi;) in the Greek means many things.  (leave 52, forgive 47, suffer 14, let 8, forsake 6, let alone 6, misc 13)

1 to send away A. to bid going away D. to let go, give up a debt, forgive,

I John 1.9 Our 1conversation takes on a brand new dynamic when we take sides with what God believes about us. So, instead of telling God about the detail of your sin, you remind yourself about the detail of your redemption. God doesn’t need the information, you do. God’s faithfulness and righteousness is the basis of our 2forgiveness and 3cleansing from every distortion. Jesus removed every bit of condemning evidence against us. (The word traditionally translated “confession” is the word 1homologeo from homos, the same, and logos the Word. The context of verse 7 suggests that we say what God says about us. The word translated forgiveness, or remission is the word 2aphiemi, from apo, away from, and hieimi an intensive form of eimi, I am; thus forgiveness is in essence a restoring to your true ‘I-am-ness.’ The injury, insult, shame, hostility or guilt would no longer define the individual. The words, αφη aphe, from aphiemi [to forgive] and καθαριση 3katharitse, from katharitzo, [to cleanse from every stain] are in the Aorist Subjunctive, which indicates a definite outcome that happens as a result of another stated action.) Mirror Bible

1 John 1:9 (ESV) 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ESV

The word forgive also means, to let go, let alone, let be and most importantly to send away

To forgive is not rocket science, it’s laid out perfectly. What I noticed this morning though is that he is faithful and just to send away our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

God has sent it away! But the bigger question is have you sent it away or are you still holding on to it? I believe sometimes we have to forgive ourselves for something we have done or believe. Maybe a distortion or a lie we believe about ourselves.

I am redeemed