Her husband had just been assassinated. The wound was fresh. The cameras were rolling. And instead of rage, bitterness, or vengeance, she spoke one word the world cannot comprehend—forgiveness.
Everyone expected anger. What they heard was grace.
And immediately, the objections came rushing in:
- “She can’t truly forgive—it’s too soon.”
- “She’s acting like she’s offering absolution of sins.”
- “Only God forgives sin. What does she think she’s doing?”
- “I doubt her sincerity. She’s just saying what people expect her to say.”
But Scripture—not emotion, tradition, or public opinion—must have the final word. Let’s put these objections to rest once and for all.
Forgiveness According to Scripture
Forgiveness is not a vague feeling, nor is it rooted in psychological relief. Forgiveness is a decisive, God-centered act of obedience, grounded in the Gospel of Christ. It is vertical before it is ever horizontal.
Vertical: Only God forgives sins. “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isa. 43:25). That eternal pardon is only found in Christ’s finished work at the cross.
Horizontal: Believers are commanded to extend forgiveness to others, as an act of obedience to the Lord who has forgiven them. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32).
This doesn’t erase justice or consequence. Forgiving an offender doesn’t cancel courts, trials, or prisons. But it cancels the personal debt we are tempted to hold onto in bitterness and vengeance.
Common Misunderstandings
1. “She’s offering absolution of sins.”
When people hear someone say, “I forgive,” they sometimes confuse it with the act of absolution—as if the person is claiming divine authority to wipe away sin. That’s not what Erika Kirk did. She never claimed to remove guilt before God, nor did she assume God’s prerogative.
The Bible is clear: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7). Only Christ, by His death and resurrection, offers pardon before the throne of heaven. Yet Christians are commanded to forgive one another on the horizontal plane, reflecting God’s forgiveness toward us (Eph. 4:32).
When Erika proclaimed forgiveness, she wasn’t offering divine pardon. She was obeying Jesus. Like Christ, she chose to release the debt of personal vengeance.
2. “It’s too soon.”
This objection is rooted more in human reasoning than in the Word of God. People assume forgiveness requires the passing of time, the cooling of emotions, or the completion of grief. Scripture gives no such timeline.
Jesus prayed for His executioners while the nails were still in His hands: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Stephen forgave those who were stoning him to death while the rocks were still striking his body: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).
Forgiveness doesn’t wait until “it feels right.” Forgiveness is an act of the will, empowered by the Spirit, grounded in obedience. Erika followed her Savior’s pattern—extending forgiveness even when the wound was fresh.
3. “Only God forgives.”
This objection contains a half-truth. Yes, only God forgives sins in the eternal, judicial sense. No man or woman can clear the guilty before God—that’s the glory of the cross alone. But this truth doesn’t cancel the horizontal call to forgive others.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He included: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). Paul echoed: “Forgive each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col. 3:13).
God’s forgiveness and our forgiveness are not identical—but they are inseparably connected. Erika’s act of forgiveness was not a rival claim to God’s authority. It was a reflection of His mercy.
4. “She must not mean it.”
Skeptics question sincerity, assuming public words of forgiveness are for show. But Scripture reminds us: obedience isn’t validated by public perception—it’s validated before the Lord. Jesus didn’t say, “Forgive, but only if people believe you really mean it.” He commanded His disciples to forgive: “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matt. 18:22).
Forgiveness can be spoken through tears, mingled with ongoing hurt. But sincerity is not judged by outsiders. It’s judged by the God who knows the heart.
Forgiveness as Both an Act and a Process
When Erika said the words “I forgive,” that was a powerful and obedient first step. Forgiveness begins with a decision of the will—choosing not to hold on to bitterness or vengeance. But Scripture also shows us that forgiveness is a process God works in His children over time.
Paul writes: “As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col. 3:13). That command requires a decisive response in the moment. Yet every believer who has walked through deep wounds knows this: the initial act of forgiveness must be carried forward daily. Jesus told Peter to forgive “seventy-seven times” (Matt. 18:22), because our hearts need constant surrender when old pain resurfaces.
So Erika’s proclamation does not mean her grief is finished or that the struggle of forgiveness is behind her. It means she has planted the seed of obedience. Over time, through tears, prayers, and reliance on Christ, God will water that seed and grow the fruit of forgiveness in her heart.
Forgiveness is both a moment and a journey. The moment proves obedience; the journey proves endurance.
Forgiveness and Justice
Forgiveness does not erase the call for justice. Scripture holds both together. “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God… for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Rom. 12:19; 13:4).
Forgiveness releases personal vengeance, but it does not cancel accountability. Courts may still prosecute. Laws may still punish. Justice still matters. Forgiveness and justice are not enemies—they meet perfectly at the cross. There, God punished sin fully while also pardoning sinners completely.
A Long Line of Witnesses
Erika’s obedience places her in a long line of Christians who chose forgiveness in the face of unspeakable evil. Corrie ten Boom forgave a former Nazi guard who once stood watch at the concentration camp where her sister died. Elisabeth Elliot returned to minister among the very tribe that killed her husband.
What unites these testimonies is not human strength but Christ’s power. As Paul says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Erika’s words of forgiveness stand in that same stream of costly obedience.
The Danger of Bitterness
Scripture not only commands forgiveness—it warns against its opposite. “See to it that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled” (Heb. 12:15). Bitterness poisons the soul, spreads like wildfire, and destroys families and churches.
Forgiveness, though costly, guards the heart from that corruption. Erika’s choice to forgive was not only obedience—it was protection from bitterness’s deadly grip.
The Power of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is one of the clearest demonstrations of the Gospel in action. It silences Satan’s schemes, it confounds a watching world, and it reminds the Church that vengeance belongs to God, not to us.
Erika’s act of forgiveness does not minimize the evil done to her family. It magnifies the grace of the God who forgives us an eternal debt we could never repay.
Closing Counsel
If you doubt her words, look in the mirror. Who do you need to forgive? Have you obeyed Christ’s command to forgive those who wounded you? Are you waiting until it “feels right”? Are you confusing forgiveness with excusing evil?
If you have never received the forgiveness of Christ yourself, start there. You cannot give what you have never received. At the cross, God’s justice and mercy meet. Repent of your sin, trust in Jesus, and know what it means to be forgiven forever.
Forgiveness is not weakness. It is spiritual warfare.
Erika’s proclamation does not end the grieving process, nor does it eliminate the demands of justice. But it does declare something the world desperately needs to hear: forgiveness is both an act and a process. The act plants the seed. The process waters it with tears, endurance, and faith.
And in that seed lies resurrection power—the power that raised Jesus from the dead, the power that overcomes evil with good, the power the world still cannot understand.
By Virgil Walker serves as a Teaching Pastor at Redeemer Bible Church in Gilbert, Arizona, co-host of the Just Thinking Podcast and a popular commentator who explores a wide array of cultural issues through the lens of a Biblical worldview.
POSTSCRIPT:
Erika's testimony has inspired others to imitate her example.
For instance, actor Tim Allen posted that for decades, he has struggled to forgive the drunk driver who killed his father when Tim was only a boy. Compounding the trauma, Tim was in the car himself. After watching Erika’s speech, he was able, finally, to let his anger go.
Another man posted a TikTok video saying he was stirred to do the same for a man who killed his brother in a drunk brawl. (Impossibly, someone then left a comment on the video that allowed them to meet and reconcile in person.)
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