The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 6 Part 7 Praying For Forgiveness And Being Forgiving

Learning how to pray as Jesus taught His disciples to pray.

Matthew 6:9-11  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. 

We are studying the pattern of prayer given to Christians by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus provided a beautiful and meaningful structure so that we know what things we ought to bring to our Father in prayer.

It is a simple pattern containing seven simple yet profound petitions given to us to guide how we pray so that we might think about the words we are praying.

We pray to our Father in heaven, that His name might be hallowed on earth, in our individual lives and in our church life.

We pray for the kingdom of God to be established on earth so that the will of God is universally implemented in heaven and in our world.

We pray for our daily bread, seeking our Father to supply both physical necessities and spiritual food for our inner man.

Receiving forgiveness from our Father and being forgiving to those who wrong us. 

Matthew 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

This is another petition that portrays sin as a legal debt that is owed to another party and seeking forgiveness of that debt by our Father.

The word translated "forgive" means to depart from one and leave him to himself so that all mutual claims are abandoned.

This word means to forgive or remit any debt so that there is no further claim upon the one who owed the debt.

The Greek word translated "debts" literally means that which is justly or legally due, a debt. 

However, this word is also used here as a metaphor for debt to help us understand sin as an offense against holy God.

The word is plural in form referring to many debts because our sins are many.

Each person is guilty of committing many sins are are subject to the consequences.

Romans 3:10-12  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11)  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12)  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 

Romans 3:19  Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 

Paul exposited the gospel of Christ to the church at Rome and these are the Spirit guided indictments of all mankind.

People are born sinners and lack righteousness.

People do not understand the depravity of our sin nature and do not naturally seek God.

People have abandoned the right ways of God and do evil things rather than doing any good for others.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, thus all people are under His judgment for their sins.

All humanity in every generation has failed to meet the righteous demands of God's law. 

We all have violated its obligations. 

We all are exposed to its penalty, for the wages of sin is death.

We all are guilty before God, and only God can forgive the debt of our sins against Him.

Thus, the picture in this petition reminds us that only the “creditor” can forgive a person who owes him money.

In this context, the word “debts” means “sins,” or offences against God which only He can forgive.

Repentance and confession of sin opens the door to receive forgiveness from the Father.

Psalm 32:1-5  A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2)  Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3)  When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4)  For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5)  I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. 

Who better to teach us about receiving forgiveness from Jehovah than King David.

David loved and served God and had a heart after God's own heart (See 1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22).

The Bible records one glaring moral failure on David's part in 1 Samuel 11 & 12.

He should have been fighting battles but instead of lingering at his palace and saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof of another dwelling.

He brought her to himself and fathered a child, but she was married to Uriah.

David eventually had Uriah killed in battle in an effort to cover up his sin, but God sent the prophet Nathan to confront the king.

When confronted David immediately acknowledged his sin and confessed it to the Lord.

David wrote two Psalms about confessing his sin and how God was merciful to forgive the king.

David could say with all his heart how blessed it is to have our sins forgiven by the Father and to receive full pardon. 

We are blessed when God forgives us and does not impute our sins to us, because of our repentant faith in Christ.

What is it like for a believer who does not confess his sins?

His heart is heavy with sins' guilt and shame. He has no peace with God and his strength goes away from him.

What happened when David confessed his sins to God? He was forgiven and restored to the God whom he loved.

Matthew 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

This petition requires acknowledging and confessing our sin and our inability to atone for it.

This petition emphasizes the vital truth that only God can forgive it, and that He will for Christ's sake, because of His blood, sacrifice, and propitiating work for us.

As cleansing and forgiveness is needed each day, so our petition seeking forgiveness and cleansing from our Father should be a daily practice.

Receiving forgiveness and salvation through faith in Christ places the expectation that we will forgive others because the Father forgave us.

God fully forgives us for our sins and He expects us to extend forgiveness to others.

Ephesians 4:32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 

Colossians 3:12-13  Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13)  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 

Jesus also spoke to us through His apostles. 

Paul emphasized what Jesus taught about receiving forgiveness and having a spirit of forgiveness.

Believers in Christ are commanded to be kind to each other by maintaining a tender heart that is ready to forgive.

Our motivation is because the Father forgave us for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.

If the Father fully forgives us and fully pardons us from our sins, how can we fail to forgive a brother or sister who sinned against us?

Our Father offers infinite grace, mercy, and forgiveness from sin when we repent and trust Christ.

Psalm 103:10-12  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11)  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12)  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 

Our Father has every right to judge and condemn us for our sins and to sentence us to eternal condemnation.

Instead, His Son, Jesus Christ became our substitute Lamb who took away the sins of the world by His shed blood and death on the cross.

Christ suffered for us, bled for us, died for us and rose from the dead for us.

Thus, we are not rewarded with the punishment that our sin merits. Instead, our sins are swallowed up and covered by the infinite mercy and grace of God.

East and West are complete opposites. If I walk around the earth's equator going East, I will always be traveling East.

What a beautiful picture of our Father's infinite forgiveness of our sins.

Leviticus 16 describes the purpose of and function of the two goats. One goat is slain at the altar for the sins of the people, so that their sins are covered.

This goat is a sacrifice for the LORD.

The other goat has the sins of the people symbolically placed upon it by the hand of the high priest. 

This goat is called the scapegoat and it is taken far from their camp and released into the wilderness alive, carrying away their sins so that they are never remembered.

It is a glorious picture of Christ's redeeming work on the cross for us.

Therefore, we are to daily seek forgiveness from the Father who promises to forgive us when we sin.

At the same time, He expects us to be forgiving to those who wrong us.

It would be hypocrisy so seek and receive forgiveness from our Father and then refuse to forgive a brother or sister who sinned against us.

May these glorious truths guide our praises and our prayer time.

Bob