Tag Archives: forgive us our debts

HE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Continued

Christian Life, ,

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Continued

So, God has given us…

5. THE KEY OF FORGIVENESS

Preserving relationships in the kingdom.

Of all the keys Jesus could have highlighted in the prayer He taught His disciples about life in the kingdom of God, He enlarged on only one…

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors….”

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Matthew 6:12, 14-15 NIV

Forgiveness touches our lives in many ways.

A. God’s forgiveness through Jesus is the foundation of our restored relationship to Him. All sin, the big barrier between God and us, is removed forever giving us free and bold access to Him.

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

Hebrews 10:19-22 NIV

B. God’s forgiveness releases us to forgive those who sin against us. Since, through His death, Jesus made forgiveness possible, we forgive others not because we must but because we may.

2 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ​ Ephesians 4:32 – 5:1

C. God is passionate about restoring broken relationships. Forgiveness is the only way to heal rifts between offended brothers and sisters in Christ. We forgive others because Jesus paid their debt as well as ours.

D. We can only be free from the ill-will that separates members in God’s family when we let go of the debt that they owe us.

E. Forgiving others mirrors God’s mercy towards us. We forgive freely when we recognise how great God’s mercy is towards us.

Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18:33-35

F. To forgive is to maintain an attitude of humility towards others since we all stand on level ground before God.

G. Forgiving others sets us free from all the emotions that accompany unforgiveness and keep us in bondage to ourselves, especially the killer-emotion of self-pity.

6. THE KEY OF REPENTANCE

Maintaining fellowship with the Father

Repentance is the key that opens the door into new life in Christ.  We must understand that repentance is not an emotion but a decision. Repentance means that we recognise the truth of God’s word and choose to believe what He says. We let go of false beliefs by embracing the truth.

“Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Romans 12:2 NLT

A. Repentance is not a once-off decision but a lifestyle of repenting that leads to gradual transformation into the image of Jesus.

B. The old nature with its rebellion against God and thoughts and behaviour that result from rebellion, has been crucified with Christ. It is dead. It cannot be changed but…

C. God has given us a new nature, His own nature characterised by love, submission and obedience. It is our new nature that we nurture through the process of repentance and transformation.

THE LORD’S PRAYER – FORGIVE AS WE FORGIVE

Christian Life, ,

THE LORD’S PRAYER – FORGIVE AS WE FORGIVE

 “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors…” Matthew 6:12.

“Cancel the debt of sin I owe you in exactly the same way as I cancel the debts of those who have sinned against me.” This is the only part of the prayer on which Jesus comments. Apart from blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, unforgiveness is the only sin for which a believer will die unforgiven. This has serious implications.

Matthew 18 expands on this issue of forgiveness. Any sin, whether against God or another person, which is ultimately against God (Psalm 51:4), incurs a debt which demands payment to be made by the debtor. Once payment has been made, the debt is written off and no-one can demand payment a second time. The king forgave the servant’s greater debt which should have fostered such gratitude that he would have shown mercy to his fellow servant. The fact that he did not have mercy showed that he had not understood his master’s generosity towards him.

Why do people find it so difficult to forgive those who have offended them?

Offenses often trigger emotions that resurface from old hurts which makes our struggle to forgive an emotional issue. We think that we must feel that we have forgiven before it is effective in the other person’s life. However, our painful emotions arise from the faulty beliefs we gather over years of misinterpreting our life experiences. Those emotions can only be replaced by God’s peace when we correctly understand and embrace God’s truth about the matter. We cannot change the way we feel about the other person until we have understood what is true rather that what we feel to be true because our feelings arise from what we believe.

Let’s examine some or our faulty thinking.

We do not understand the greatness of God’s mercy towards us.

We refuse to forgive because the other persons’ offense makes us think we are better than they. We consider ourselves above God because, although He has freely forgiven our sin because of Jesus, we are not obliged to forgive our debtor because we have been wronged and we think we have the right to hold on to our resentment or bitterness.  We become our own idols because we think we know better than God.

Refusal to forgive is a misunderstanding of God’s grace. Jesus’ death on the cross paid all the debt for all people for all time. Any debt that someone incurs by offending us has already been paid and refusal to forgive is an illegal demand for payment to be made again – to us.

Unforgiveness sabotages unity because it breaks relationships, disrupts fellowship, and fosters an attitude of bitterness which cuts us off from fellowship with God and people. 

Refusal to forgive is a reversal of all that God’s name means, which are the characteristics of kingdom citizens, humility, generosity, and mercy.

This prayer invites God to treat us in the same way as we treat others.

DID YOU KNOW (4)…THAT TRUE FORGIVENESS FLOWS FROM COMPASSION

Christian Life, ,

DID YOU KNOW (4)

…THAT TRUE FORGIVENESS FLOWS FROM COMPASSION

Many, if not most people struggle to forgive. Some even refuse to forgive the offense of another, choosing to allow bitterness to destroy them and all their relationships rather than to let go and be free.

Someone once said that harbouring unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

In His model prayer, Jesus highlighted two things that will destroy us. The first is the refusal to forgive.

And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matt. 6:12).

Forgiving our debtor is the only thing that will free us from being eaten alive from the inside out by our bodies’ response to bitterness. Our bodies, souls, and spirits function as a unit. Our emotions which come out of what we think and believe, produce physical reactions which, if sustained over a long period of time, will gradually destroy our organs and shorten our lives.

God designed our bodies to functional optimally when our hearts and minds are at peace and we can only have sustained peace when we have no issues with God or other people. Jesus took care of our issues with God, removing the barrier of sin and reconciling us to the Father through His shed blood. He also took care of the barrier between us and other people in the same way.

 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Jesus. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups (Jew and Gentile) one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in His flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which He put to death their hostility (Eph. 2:13-16).

He has given us the right and privilege of forgiving our debtors because He has already forgiven all the debt of sin, ours and theirs. When we choose not to forgive, we are punishing them again for the sin that has already been punished.

The second thing that will destroy us is our self-centredness and all the ramifications of selfish living.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one (Matt. 6: 13).

Unfortunately, misunderstanding this Scripture has led us to believe that the devil is our main problem. He may influence us towards evil, but we are actually our own worst enemies. We are not Satan’s victims unless we allow Him to control us by believing His lies. Jesus exposed His deception and defeated him at the cross. Our own selfish pride, not the devil, causes us the most trouble. Living in dependence on the Father, not by our own wisdom and wits, will keep us walking in humility and freedom from the destruction we cause ourselves by our arrogant independence.

Let’s go back to the issue of forgiveness. In response to Peter’s question, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus told a story about a king who called his servants to account for the debts they owed him (Matt 18:21-35).

 Peter thought he was being magnanimous by forgiving his brother seven times for the same sin. Jesus pointed out that it was not how many times he forgave his brother that was important but how he felt about his brother.

In the story, one servant owed the king such a vast sum of money that he would never be able to repay him in his lifetime. The king demanded payment or he, his wife and children and all his possession would be sold to repay the debt. The servant pleaded for time and promised to pay what he owed.

Imagine the scenario. A servant owed his master more money than he could earn in a lifetime and yet he promised to repay his debt! How would the king react? Would he close his heart to the servant’s plea and make his wife and family also pay for the servant’s folly? The entire story hinges on the next verse.

The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go (Matt. 18:27).

Perhaps for a moment, the king put himself in the servant’splace. Enslavement for the rest of his life was a horrible alternative. Instead of anger and revenge, his heart was filled with compassion. The servant’s wellbeing meant more to him than the money he owed. He responded to the compassion he felt by forgiving the servant, cancelling the debt and setting him free.

The same servant met a fellow servant who owed him a paltry amount. Instead of responding with the same compassion and mercy the king has shown him, he demanded immediate payment and refused to forgive as his master had forgiven him. Imagine the king’s outrage when he found out what the servant had done. Not only did he recall the debt but he also had the servant jailed and handed over to be tortured until he could pay.

What a terrible end for a man who refused to show mercy! The end to Jesus’ story is a chilling reminder of what happens to those who refuse to forgive.

This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart (Matt. 18:35).

Jesus was not only talking about the consequences of unforgiveness in the life to come. Torment begins now, in this life in many different ways, the physical, emotional and spiritual outcome of holding on to offenses. 

The key issue is: How much do you value God’s mercy towards you? If you refuse to forgive, how can He show mercy to you? He must treat you in the same way as you treat others. You cannot expect one standard for God and another for yourself. You set the measure of grace you receive from Him by the way you choose to show grace to others. How do you feel about the one who has harmed you? Jesus shows us how to evaluate people who offend you:

Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23: 34).

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.