Forgive Us As We Forgive Others
Pastor Chad A. Miller
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· 220 viewsReflection: Ephesians 4:31-32 // As long as we have unconfessed sins in our lives, we will lose fullness of joy and intimacy in our communion with God. Thus the petition, “Forgive us our debts” is simply our pleading to God to cleanse us moment by moment when we confess our sins to Him. Evidence that we are Forgiven is that we are Forgiving!
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9 After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
REFLECTION TEXT:
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
I THOUGHT WE WERE FORGIVEN! If I stand forgiven in Christ, why is Jesus telling to ask for forgiveness daily?
We’ll answer that this morning before we go.
Forgiveness is such a monumental experience to think through. Just as we need daily bread to live - Forgiveness is indispensable to the life and and health of our soul!
The whole verse is in 2 parts this morning…Our forgiveness AND our FORGIVING
PATHWAY:
I’d like to touch on this dirty / four-letter word: DEBT
We’ll think through the thought, “I thought we were forgiven…why do I need to ask for forgiveness?”
Then we’ll look at the evidence of our forgiveness.
Forgive Us Our Debts?
I think we all know we need forgiveness when we “blow it”.
When you slip up and say something incredibly hurtful and mean-spirited.
If you consciously lie.
When you are meditating on things (rolling them over and over in your mind) that you know are wrong.
When you lash out, blow it…etc.
But what do we make of this sense of “debt” that Jesus uses?
Of all the descriptions the Bible gives to sin:
lawbreaking
deviation
shortcoming
rebellion
pollution (dirt)
missing one’s traget
ONLY the Lord’s Model Prayer views it is that of “unpaid debts”.
Jesus’ thought is that we owe God total, tireless loyalty—zealous love for God and men, all day and every day, on the pattern of Jesus’ own life and ministry—and our sin is basically failure to pay.
BIG PICTURE: SALVATION BRINGS FORGIVENESS
BIG PICTURE: SALVATION BRINGS FORGIVENESS
We all need forgiveness to begin a right relationship with God!
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
- We Need Forgiveness. We all have rebelled against God.
- We Need Forgiveness. We all have rebelled against God.
We are guilty; without plea; with no means of reparation or satisfaction. This is true of all men and women. We have all sinned. We are sinners by birth and by choice.
We are all condemned; and without forgiveness, we all must perish.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
- Only God Can Forgive.
- Only God Can Forgive.
He is the lawgiver. It is His authority we have rejected. We are Rebels to Him. Enemies to Him. Only He dispenses life or death. Human forgiveness would avail nothing.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- God Provides for the Forgiveness of Sin.
- God Provides for the Forgiveness of Sin.
But God appointed His only Son as a sacrifice for sin. God Punished sin to the utmost, when He laid our sins upon Him (Isa. 53:6). Jesus took our sin and died, that we might have a full remission/pardon of them:
47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
The Holy Spirit begins to do a work ON your “heart” showing you as guilty and in need of forgiveness. Your salvation both transacts and manifests by repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ:
- God WILL Forgive.
- God WILL Forgive.
God is ready to forgive sin, however deep the stains—however enormous—however aggravated—however long-continued. He is ready to forgive all sin, and every sinner .
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
He is ready now to forgive. NOW!
2 For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Seek the Lord while He may be found…call upon Him while He is near...before sin proves our ruin. RUN TO JESUS!
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
The Christian lives through forgiveness. This is what justification by faith is all about.
The Christian lives through forgiveness. This is what justification by faith is all about.
ARE YOU AMONG THE “US”? HAVE YOU BEEN FORGIVEN?
BIG PICTURE: CHRISTIANS STILL NEED FORGIVENESS
BIG PICTURE: CHRISTIANS STILL NEED FORGIVENESS
REMEMBER, THE “US” here is…us, the church of the Living God!
After we’ve asked the Lord:
to make His name holy through us
to establish His Kingdom
accomplish His will
provide for our needs, not our greeds, as the ultimate provider and Father
we need to fact the fact that (as one writer puts it) “our feet are dirty. As long as we have unconfessed sins in our lives, we will lose the fulness of joy and intimacy in our communion with God.”
Judge / Father
Judge / Father
FORGIVEN OR NOT?
A problem arises here. If Christ’s death atoned for all sins, past, present, and future (as it did), and if God’s verdict justifying the believer (“I accept you as righteous for Jesus’ sake”) is eternally valid (as it is), why need the Christian mention his daily sins to God at all?
(Stott contends) The answer lies in distinguishing between God as Judge and as Father, and between being a justified sinner and an adopted son.
The Lord’s Prayer is the family prayer, in which God’s adopted children address their Father, and though their daily failures do not overthrow their justification, things will not be right between them and their Father till they have said, “Sorry” and asked him to overlook the ways they have let him down.
What’s the big deal?
From one standpoint, Christians’ shortcomings offend most of all just because we have most reason (the love of God in Christ) and most resources (the indwelling Holy Spirit) for avoiding sinful ways
A Continual Need
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
A Continual Answer
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Unless Christians come to God each time as returning prodigals, their prayer will be as unreal as was that of the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable.
ARE YOU HARDENED / ISOLATED…That’s not Bible!
Alone with God Confession is Good for the Soul
John Stott says, “One of the surest antidotes to this process of moral hardening is the disciplined practice of uncovering our sins of thought and outlook, as well as word and deed, and the repentant forsaking of them” (Confess Your Sins [Waco, Texas: Word, 1974], 19).
BUT NOW - let us come to where the rubber meets the road. Where the word becomes flesh…that is, where FORGIVEN morphs into FORGIVING...
BIG PICTURE: FORGIVEN CHRISTIANS FORGIVE OTHERS
BIG PICTURE: FORGIVEN CHRISTIANS FORGIVE OTHERS
Notice this incredible epilogue to the Lord’s Prayer:
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Apart from the wonky word tenses in the English - it’s still quite a startling text/challenge. This is not in relation to our personal salvation - then we’d be talking about works. Rather, this is proper fellowship between the child and his Father.
Since we are forgiven, we forgive!
If we are struggling to forgive, we are threatening our intimacy with our Father
If we are actively, consciously resisting forgiving others; our soul may be in jeopardy.
Praying the Lord’s Prayer Only the Forgiving Are Forgiven
This is not a matter of earning forgiveness by works, but of qualifying for it by repentance
The word here for forgive (in both places) is the word to “HURL AWAY”
UNFORGIVING CHRISTIANS BRAND THEMSELVES AS HYPOCRITES OF THE HIGHEST AND MOST VULGAR ORDER!
Look at the incredible illustration from our Lord, Himself in Matthew 18.21-35.
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Alone with God Forgiving Others is the Ultimate Test
Matthew 6:15 captures the essence of this parable and its meaning for believers: “If you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” The sin of an unforgiving heart and a bitter spirit (Heb. 12:15) forfeits blessing and invites chastening.
Every believer must, by the help of the Holy Spirit, endeavor to forgive like Joseph in the OT:
19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
…like Stephen in the NT:
60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
…ultimately like Jesus Himself as ambassadors of His forgiveness and reconciliation:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
To receive pardon from the perfectly holy God and then refuse to pardon others when we are sinful ourselves is (as one writer writes), “the epitome in abuse of mercy/privilege.”
13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 6
Forgiveness results in forgiveness. Since God has forgiven members of His kingdom, they must forgive others.
HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE!
FREE PEOPLE FREE PEOPLE!
Offering radical forgiveness is not easy. It is not easy to forgive everyone for everything, to forget as well as to forgive, and to keep on forgiving over and over again.
If we have been forgiven, we can and we must forgive others as well as we can. We can forgive because God—who has forgiven all our debts in Jesus Christ—gives us the grace to forgive. We must forgive because it is vital to our own spiritual health. Forgiveness brings great joy, not only to the forgiven, but especially to the forgiver.
The Greek term for “forgiveness” (aphiemi) comes from a word that means “to let go.” Forgiveness is a release, a letting go of self-destructive feelings such as anger, bitterness, and revenge. Those attitudes poison our intimacy with God and our harmony with other human beings. The only antidote for them is forgiveness.
The Christian writer and missionary Richard Wurmbrand once met a man who had experienced the divine release that comes through forgiveness. Wurmbrand was in a Communist prison in Romania at the time, lying in a cell reserved for those who were dying. In the cot on his right was a pastor who had been beaten so badly that he was about to die. On his left was the very man who had beaten him, a Communist who was later betrayed and tortured by his comrades.
One night the Communist awakened in the middle of a nightmare and cried out, “Please, pastor, say a prayer for me. I have committed such crimes, I cannot die.” The pastor feebly sat up and called for another prisoner to help. Slowly he stumbled past Wurmbrand’s cot and sat at the bedside of his enemy.
Wurmbrand watched as the pastor begin to caress the hair of the man who had tortured him. Then he spoke these amazing words: “I have forgiven you with all of my heart, and I love you. If I who am only a sinner can love and forgive you, more so can Jesus who is the Son of God and who is love incarnate. Return to Him. He longs for you much more than you long for Him. He wishes to forgive you much more than you wish to be forgiven. You just repent.” There in the prison cell the Communist began to confess all his murders and tortures. When he had finished, the two men prayed together, embraced, and then returned to their beds, where each died that very night.3
The pastor had learned how to forgive from Jesus, who first forgave the pastor his own debts and then taught him to forgive his debtors.
{Ryken, Philip Graham. The Prayer of Our Lord (pp. 78-80). Crossway. Kindle Edition. }
“Forgive our sins as we forgive,”
—you taught us, Lord, to pray;
But you alone can grant us grace
To live the words we say.
How can your pardon reach and bless
The unforgiving heart
That broods on wrongs, and will not let
Old bitterness depart?
In blazing light your Cross reveals
The truth we dimly knew,
How small the debts men owe to us,
How great our debt to you.
Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls,
And bid resentment cease;
Then, reconciled to God and man,
Our lives will spread your peace.
RESPONSE
The questions from the text this morning are not complex:
Do you stand forgiven by the Righteous Judge? Have you been made new by the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you come to Jesus for the cleansing flow, are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
My dear Sister / my brother is there unconfessed sin between you and your Heavenly Father? That relationship you were made to have, that you can have…you do not have fully with unconfessed sin in your life. You have broken the lines of communication…you need to be broken under the weight of the offense of that sin.
You stand forgiven in Christ...
You need to honor your Heavenly Father by walking in the Holy Spirit, not the desires and passions of the flesh. Stop acting like a Pagan while claiming to love Jesus!
Confess your sins to Him this morning. Confess your sin to a covenant brother or sister. Be held accountable. That’s what church is for.
Are you harboring unforgiveness toward anyone? Someone outside the church…a family member…coworker. Don’t make them ask about it - forgive them.
TRANSITION TO PRAYER
Forgive US…as a church for
any delay in living out the great commandment: loving you with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength
anything hindering our fulfilling the Great Commission…making disciple-making disciples of all nation
Forgive me…as a disciple
If I’ve ever made a mockery of being forgiven by not FORGIVING
MOVE TO COMMUNION