In a moment of national grief, the words of Erica Kirk at her husband’s memorial service shocked many. Instead of demanding vengeance on the man who took Charlie Kirk’s life, she spoke forgiveness. To some, it was unthinkable. Yet as Pastor Jack Hibbs recently explained, forgiveness is not weakness. It is strength, and it is the biblical way of breaking free from the power of evil.
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“Forgiveness, of course, the whole topic comes out of the assassination of my friend and your friend Charlie Kirk,” Hibbs said. “And then of course the remarkable and just spine of steel handling of it all through Erica Kirk.” He went on to say her act was nothing short of a testimony that “God is using… and opening up the eyes of people who are in cults to consider this forgiveness as well.”
Emotional Reactions vs. Biblical Truth
Hibbs drew a sharp line between human emotion and biblical teaching. “Most of the world operates off of an emotionally based theology which always leads to error,” he warned. While some people wanted to hear Erica condemn her husband’s assassin to hell, Hibbs reminded believers that true forgiveness does not mean excusing sin. “When Erica said I forgive him, it doesn’t mean that he’s been absolved of his responsibilities. He’s a murderer. He’s an assassin. He’s committed murder.”
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What her forgiveness did mean was handing the man over to God. “I forgive you because Jesus Christ has forgiven me so much,” Hibbs explained. “You assassin are no longer going to have any control or power over my life or the life of my family or the relationship between me and my God. I give you up. I release you to God.”
Forgiveness in the Church
Within the body of Christ, forgiveness is not optional. Hibbs pointed to 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He explained that John’s letters were written “only to believers, not unbelievers,” meaning forgiveness in this context is about fellowship with God and one another. “We are commanded to forgive our brothers and sisters,” Hibbs said. “We are to strive to keep the unity of the faith among one another.”
This is how believers “rip Satan off,” Hibbs said, by forgiving quickly and refusing to let division take root.
Justice, Mercy and Grace
Forgiveness does not erase justice. Hibbs made clear that Scripture teaches capital punishment for murder. “If a human murders another human, the justice system must take that human’s life. Life for a life. That is justice.” Yet God’s justice is always balanced by mercy and grace.
Hibbs praised the old English practice of giving condemned murderers two weeks of daily gospel preaching before execution. “That person would die by justice but would immediately enter paradise in heaven because he had been forgiven,” he said. “That’s mercy. That’s justice. And there’s no contradiction in the word of God.”
The Power of Forgiveness
The heart of Hibbs’ message is that forgiveness is a gift from God meant to set His people free. “God grants you and I as the believer the power to forgive those who have sinned against us so that we release them from the control that they have over our lives,” he said. “We communicate them to his justice and to his grace and to his mercy and we get up and we live our lives free.”
Hibbs urged believers not to cling to bitterness or to find satisfaction in the thought of someone rotting in hell. “You cannot know God and revel over the damnation of a human soul for which Jesus Christ died for,” he said. Instead, he pointed back to the cross, where Christ offered forgiveness to all who would repent and believe.
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We live in a world quick to demand revenge, yet Erica Kirk’s decision to forgive stands as a radical act of faith. It is the same kind of faith Pastor Jack Hibbs called every believer to embrace. Forgiveness is not about denying justice. It is about refusing to let hatred take hold of the heart. “What Satan meant for evil is going to be destroyed by good,” Hibbs declared. That is the power of forgiveness, and it is the path to true freedom in Christ.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
