Matthew 6:14-15 Amplified Bible
14 For if you forgive [a]others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
A New Teaching?
Why have I titled this post as a new teaching?
It’s because back in verse 12, Jesus took the Jewish prayer to a higher level than had been traditional.
Most devout Jews prayed daily, asking God to forgive them their debts.
Now, adds Jesus, you need to pray God will forgive you just as you forgive others. The new teaching is that forgiveness from God depends upon our willingness to offer forgiveness to those who sin against us.
We do not forgive easily, especially if the hurt is deep and ongoing.
To pray daily that God forgives us as we forgive others is to remind ourselves of our need to forgive; it is to acknowledge our fallen, frail human nature.
Jesus makes a promise here.
If you forgive others, the Father will forgive you.
Of course, we understand that there must also be repentance, faith, and also renewed obedience.
When our hearts are soft to forgive others, then God can see that our hearts are soft toward Him as well.
Think about it.
Hold anger and resentment in your heart, purposely and with malice, and see what it does to your relationship with the offender, and with God.
Jesus also makes a rather threatening statement:
But if you forgive not. . . .
If we knowingly, purposefully withhold forgiveness, then we do not meet the qualifications to receive forgiveness from God.
Do you desire mercy and grace from God?
Then show mercy and grace to those around you, even when they have offended you.
There is no escaping the clear message of these two verses.
Withhold forgiveness from others, you will not receive forgiveness from God.
I lift the following words out of Matthew Henry’s Commentary in One Volume:
“Christ came into the world as the great Peace-Maker, not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another. It is great presumption and of dangerous consequence, for any to make a light matter of that which Christ here lays such a stress upon. Men’s passions shall not frustrate God’s Word.“
Faith—Forgiving As Forgiven
Jesus taught his followers this prayer, and it is often called “The Lord’s Prayer.”
But it is a prayer that Jesus didn’t need to pray.
He had no debts or sins for which he needed forgiveness. His disciples did, though, so he taught them this prayer.
We also need this prayer, don’t we?
Acknowledging that we need forgiveness is not easy. But look at the last part of this request: “. . . as we also have forgiven our debtors.” I sometimes wonder,
“If God were to forgive us as we forgive others, how forgiven would we be?”
Contagious Forgiveness?
Jesus’ teaching here at the end of the Lord’s Prayer might be confusing.
It almost sounds as if we have to earn God’s forgiveness by forgiving others.
But we also know that through faith in Jesus, we are already forgiven by God (Acts 2:38; Romans 3-8).
So we need a different kind of thinking here.
Think of an old kitchen sponge that hasn’t been used for a long time.
When you put it under the tap, the water runs right over the sponge.
But if you set the sponge in a bucket of water for a few minutes, it softens and becomes usable again.
Our hearts can be like that too.
When we hold onto our resentments and bitterness, nursing our anger, we can become as hard as a rock, God’s grace will be like water running over a rock.
It doesn’t soak in.
But when we are open to forgiving others, we become soft like a moistened sponge.
The Lord’s grace soaks in and saturates our hearts, and we become available to share his grace.
Just as a wet sponge moistens other things when it touches them, we can share grace, helping to wipe others’ dirt away as we forgive others.
As Colossians 3:13 puts it, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Dying to our accumulated resentment, anger, and bitterness softens our hearts to receive God’s indelible truth, amazing grace and share it freely with others.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
Praying,
Psalm 130 Amplified Bible
Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of [a]Ascents.
130 Out of the [b]depths [of distress] I have cried to You, O Lord.
2
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
3
If You, Lord, should keep an account of our sins and treat us accordingly,
O Lord, who could stand [before you in judgment and claim innocence]?
4
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared and worshiped [with submissive wonder].
5
I wait [patiently] for the Lord, my soul [expectantly] waits,
And in His word do I hope.
6
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
More than the watchmen for the morning.
7
O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
8
And He will redeem Israel
From all his sins.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 