Divine Forgiveness for a Forgiving People (Matt. 6:12)

In this petition, Jesus focuses on a particular area of Christian family life, the need of forgiveness. It has a corporate dimension because the Saviour uses plural pronouns: ‘Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those trespass against us.’ While this does not mean that we cease to pray as individuals, it does mean that we do not pray only as individuals. 

Another detail to note about this petition is that it is the only one about which a solemn warning is given in the context: ‘For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’ 

The presence of the conjunction

There is another detail in the context which may be worth noting. Arthur Pink observes that this is the first petition in the Lord’s Prayer that is preceded by the conjunction ‘and’. He then proceeds to say that there is a connection between praying for daily food and praying for the forgiveness of our sins, and mentions several possibilities regarding the connection: (a) without pardon of our sins, all the good things of life will benefit us nothing; (b) our sins are so numerous that we do not deserve any provision from God; (c) our sins are the great obstacle to receiving favours from God; (d) if we trust God to meet our needs in providence, we should also trust in him to meet our need of pardon. In this regard, we should say with Thomas Boston, ‘A pardon is the best seasoning to any meal.’ Perhaps Andrew Murray was right when he said, ‘As bread is the first need of the body, so forgiveness is for the soul.’

 

The basis of forgiveness

With regard to this point, I would mention two aspects concerning the basis of forgiveness. In answer to the question, ‘Why is a Christian forgiven?’, the answer is that he is pardoned because of the atoning work of Jesus on the cross. If we change the question by one word and ask, ‘When is a Christian forgiven?’, one answer is that he is forgiven completely at the moment he initially repents of his sins and trusts in Christ. This aspect of forgiveness is related to the standing he or she has as a sinner before God as judge. God, in marvellous grace, forgives all the sins of the penitent sinner.  

 

Yet there is another answer to this question, which is that a saint is forgiven his sins when he comes for pardon from his heavenly Father. If he does not do so, then there will be a barrier between God and him as far as fellowship is concerned. In the words of Peter Lewis, this petition is concerned with closeness to God, cleanness before God, and communion with God.

 

These two experiences of forgiveness may seem contradictory because they do not fit in with our limited logic. Instead we are to acknowledge that both are true: I can rejoice that my sins have been forgiven and my salvation is secure; I must also confess my sins to God daily. They may seem illogical, but not after we practice them.

 

The bankruptcy of sin

In Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, ‘Forgive us our debts.’ When he taught the prayer on another occasion, as recorded by Luke, he said, ‘Forgive us our sins.’ No doubt, the meaning of the two terms is similar. Nevertheless, his usage of debts is a reminder that unconfessed sin bankrupts to some extent those who hold on to it.

 

It is easy for us to see how this is the case with regard to an unconverted person. Because he refuses to repent of his sins and confess them, he does not even have a heavenly bank account. He has not begun to store up treasures in heaven. Instead he is heading for prison because he cannot pay his debts to God and he will not be released until he pays the complete amount (which, of course, he cannot do).

 

Perhaps it is more difficult for us to see how unconfessed sins can impoverish us as Christians. Here is a Christian who has lived a devoted life for the Lord, a devotion that included confessing his sins daily. One day he commits a particular sin and refuses to confess it (in the context, it would be the sin of failing to forgive another person). He persists in his attitude. What happens to his heavenly reward? His failure to confess his sin will deplete the degree of glory that could have been his. 

 

Surely this is a reminder to us to take sin seriously. We should be drawing near to God as often as possible and asking for his forgiveness. Believers in the past spoke about keeping short accounts with God. In other words, they aimed not to have a long list of debts against their name. The amazing reality is that the Banker, the heavenly Father, removes all the debt as soon as we confess our sins. We move from being impoverished to those who are laden with wealth. 

 

Therefore, we should pray to God in the words of the Psalmist, ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting’ (Ps. 139:23-24). Once he points out sin to us, we should not sit down and say, ‘I’m very surprised that fault was there,’ and attempt to justify ourselves. Instead our souls should run to the heavenly Father and plead, ‘Father, forgive me of this and many other sins.’

 

In response to the objection that, since it is not possible for us to know all our sins, it is meaningless for us to plead for forgiveness for all our sins, we should note that God looks at the desire rather than our knowledge of what we are guilty. Do I want all my sins to be forgiven? Or are there some that I wish to hold on to? While we can only mention verbally a few of our sins, in order for our confession to be genuine there must be present the desire to be free of all our sins.

 

This petition is a reminder that confession of sin is a life-long feature of prayer. It is the petition that marks our crossing the threshold into God’s kingdom, it is the petition that marks any service we perform for God in the church, it is the petition that covers every area of our lives, and it is a petition that is suitable for us at the end of the journey. The reason for this is that original sin has affected every action that we perform, every prayer that we offer, every commandment that we obey. 

 

The evidence of forgiveness

Sometimes we ask the question, ‘What are the signs that a person is forgiven his sins?’ Several answers can be given: a changed life, new interests, desire to please God, brotherly love and many others. Jesus here gives another, and perhaps unexpected evidence of conversion: the willingness to forgive those who have wronged us.

 

Obviously, we should see that this attitude is Godlike. It is how God the Father deals with us, as we have been thinking about already. There are many biblical verses that describe the forgiving heart of God. 

 

Here is one: ‘Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea’ (Mic. 9:17-18). 

 

Here is another: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases’ (Ps. 103:2-3). 

 

Or this one: ‘I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin’ (Ps. 32:5). We are most like God when we forgive.

 

And it is Christlike. Who is not moved by his petition for the cruel soldiers who nailed him to the cross, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do?’ 

 

This is one effect of his exaltation: ‘Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins’ (Acts 5:31). 

 

It is the prominent feature of the gospel, as Paul states it in Acts 13:38: ‘Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins.’ We are most like Jesus when we forgive.

 

Jesus makes it quite clear that God will not forgive us if we are unwilling to forgive others. He does not mean that our forgiveness of them earns God’s forgiveness of us. Our attitude is not a cause of our receiving forgiveness, but it is a condition of receiving it. I wonder whose faces come before us as we think about this. Perhaps people against whom we have a grudge because of something they did or said to us or said about us. One of the most solemn of Jesus’ parables is the story of the unforgiving servant. He had been forgiven a great debt by his Master (God) but refused to forgive a trifling debt owed him by another servant. The Master’s response was to punish severely the unforgiving servant.

 

I suspect that the presence of a forgiving spirit is evidence that we also possess compassion for lost sinners. We are to see people not primarily as to how they relate to us but how they relate to God. They are perishing irrespective of how they treat us. We should desire intensely that they receive divine forgiveness.

 

The presence of a forgiving spirit is also evidence that we love all the children of God. It is easy to have good thoughts about those who agree with us or who are good towards us. What about those who are not good towards us? Obviously they need to repent of their sins. Yet that is not the aspect that Jesus mentions here. In our prayers for them, we should ask Jesus to give them a spirit of repentance and also ask him to maintain within us a spirit of forgiveness. 

 

Our attitude should be that expressed by Paul in Colossians 3:12-13: ‘Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.’

 

I think it is fair to say that willingness to forgive indicates where we are spiritually. If I am unwilling to forgive others, my attitude suggests I don’t realise how important my wrong attitude is in the sight of God. As long as it exists, it will deprive me of spiritual blessings because my prayers will not be heard.