Two different kinds of forgiveness are found in the Scriptures, and if we are going to be careful students of the Word, we must learn to distinguish them. To put it very simply, judicial forgiveness is the forgiveness of a judge and parental forgiveness is the forgiveness of a father . The first term is taken from the courtroom and the second from the home . First let us go to the courtroom. God is the Judge and sinful man is the person on trial.
Man is guilty of sinning, and the penalty is eternal death.
This is what the Savior did on the Cross of Calvary. As soon as the man puts his faith in the Savior, he receives judicial forgiveness of all his sins. He will never have to pay the punishment for them in hell, because Christ has paid it all. So now we move into the home for an illustration of parental forgiveness. God is the Father and the believer is the child.