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THE LORD’S PRAYER – FORGIVE AS WE FORGIVE

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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.

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM – CONTINUED

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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.