The Forgiveness of God

Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

This text is a classic example of why context is so important in rightly interpreting Scripture.

Earlier in this same portion of Christ’s teaching we’re told that as part of our regular prayer we be doing two things regarding forgiveness.

Asking for forgiveness in prayer to the Father

And forgiving others as we pray to the Father

The flow of the text is clear in v12... “and forgive us our debts, AS we also have forgiven our debtors”

The two acts are connected as we go to the Father in prayer. The problem is in the attempt to separate them, which we are inclined to do.

Practically, what does this look like?

Well, let’s keep it in the context of going to God in prayer.

You might go to the Father to confess, having sinned against your spouse, your kid,your neighbor, your parent… And you, as His disciple, go to Him because He is rich with forgiveness, and is truly able release me from your debt. But with this, will you not in your heart also release your debtors and show them the same grace?

See how they’re to be connected?

The “as we forgive” is so important for us.

The Father model’s it for us.

Forgiveness is to be given by those who are forgiven.

It’s interesting that this is the only section of the Lord’s model prayer that he comes back to with further comment.

v14 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.

What was previously stated only in the positive sense, “forgive as you’re forgiven”, is now a warning…If you do not forgive, your Father will not forgive you.

This presents a problem with our minds in light of the Gospel of free grace, and unmerited, unearned salvation.

What’s happening in this context of Jesus’ teaching?

He’s teaching them a model for prayer, but this is in the midst of three examples he’s already given on hypocrisy. When we look at it like this, in context…we begin to see just how important this is to Christ.

They very claim of Christian faith hinges on this. What is the claim of Christianity?

That God sent his Son into the Word to save the world by forgiving sin and sinners. That’s what it’s literally all about.

Of course, there is much that can be said about it all, but when you boil it all down...

To be forgiven by God is absolutely everything.

Those of us who have experienced forgiveness in this life have a small taste. And the greater the offense you’ve been forgiven, the closer we get to understanding this.

A young child commits sin over and over, and parents forgive that child. Most of the time there’s not a real sense of guilt though. It’s patterns of wrong and rebellion that parents are right to have forgiveness in their heart before they ever express repentance. But when the offense increases, the ramification of the offense…as the circle of damage gets greater, inevitably it becomes harder to forgive. Not in theory, but in practice.

Most Christians have a basic understanding that we are to be the forgiving type, don’t be vengeful, don’t hold grudges, etc.., but what does it really mean to forgive?

The word used in Matthew 6 is the Greek word, aphiēmi. It’s used in a few different ways in the New Testament.

Here are a few places…see if you can spot the same word that is translated to forgiveness in Matthew 6.

Matthew 5:40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

Matthew 4:20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Mark 1:31 and he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

Here’s a tricky one… KJV

1 Corinthians 7:12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

So, forgiveness is like putting something away, to leave, to let go.

It can mean to dessert, or to give something up.

But what are we to do this with exactly?

In the Lord’s model prayer, we see the word, debt. This is what is owed to someone. It can mean money, or can be metaphorical of what someone owes you because of their offense. But we understand financial debt, don’t we? Which is why Jesus uses that metaphor in the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. We will save that for when we get to it.

But let this inform how you think about forgiveness.

Picture your greatest financial debt, and suddenly you get a call from your creditor saying, we’re forgiving your debts...letting it go…all of it…you don’t have to worry about paying it any longer!

You might ask them, why? and they might say, we reviewed your request for financial relief and you, guess what...qualify. No creditor would ever consider such a thing. Why? Because creditors don’t love people. This analogy falls apart there.

We can get a little closer if you make it a friend. You own a friend or family member a large sum, you cannot pay it, and you have no job, and they decide out of love for you, and to release you of the burden to just let it go. Why? you might ask…well _______, we considered your application… NO! It’s because we saw your situation, had compassion on you, and decided to show you mercy.

You are filled with tears of gratitude, but what happens, you still feel guilty, because it seems impossible to get past the feeling that you still owe something, and the greater the debt, the harder it is. The analogy still falls short.

What can even compare to the forgiveness we have through Christ?

There is no application to Christianity. You cannot be found worthy of a debt consolidation program with the God of Heaven.

The purer the person or, or the the relationship, the greater offense the sin is. The more base the act, the deeper the wedge is driven.

So when we consider comparison a sin of name calling between two young friends can be quickly forgiven and forgotten.

That same young boy back talks his mother, and because his mother was given to Him by God and the family is a holy institution, that sin if far more serious. When the boy feels in his heart the weight of that offense against his mother, repents with sorrow, and mother forgives him, there is a relief that can’t really be explained with words.

Expand this out to people of greater and greater power and authority. You break a city ordinance, that’s a nuisance. Break a state law, it’s worse, and the fines increase. Break a federal law, far worse with greater fines and punishments. Break a moral law, or a commandment of God, now you’re not just an offender of men, but a sinner and transgressor of God’s holy law. How can it get worse? It cannot, because there’s no higher being, nobody more pure, more holy, more lovely and benevolent than God.

It will offend nobody to fling mud at a pile of manure in the field. It’s not out of place there and there is no offense. …but you take that same mud and smear it across brides pure white wedding dress on her wedding day, and the offense is great because that bride and gown are set apart and holy compared to that field of dung.

How set apart is God? How serious then is the smallest sin in our heart, and we didn’t just sin with actions against him, but the very nature of humanity is born with the sin our our parents…How GREAT IS THE DEBT WE OWE.

Look at this fresh in your mind today. Let’s walk obediently in these two graces…The grace of God’s forgiveness FOR us, and the grace of God’s forgiveness THROUGH us.

Because the truth of this text is this…If you are truly forgiven by God, you will bear the heart of God for others and forgive what others have done to you.

Those forgiven of the greater offense, will forgive what is lesser by comparison.

My smallest sin committed against God is greater in its depth of offensiveness, hatred toward God, and filth and is far more unworthy of forgiveness than what any human could ever do to me.

And so it is only by looking there, and believing the Gospel of Christ, that we find forgiveness from our sins.

“You will never make yourself feel that you are a sinner, because there is a mechanism in you as a result of sin that will always be defending you against every accusation. We are all on very good terms with ourselves, and we can always put up a good case for ourselves. Even if we try to make ourselves feel that we are sinners, we will never do it. There is only one way to know that we are sinners, and that is to have some dim, glimmering conception of God.” -Dane Ortland

As much as it can pain us to do so, the Lord’s model prayer teaches us about the regular confession of personal and corporate sin, that leads to full pardon, so freeing, that we no forgive the sins of others.

But we also understand that genuine confession and true forgiveness go hand in hand, and this is true both with God, and other people. Genuine confession frees up the guilty conscience…loosens the dirt so to speak that will at once get washed away under the forgiveness.

Psalm 32 1-5

1  Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

2  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3  For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

4  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

5  I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Let me bring to the surface a few truths that are clearly seen in this psalm, which clearly…and what I want you to do is listen, engage with with it in your heart and mind, and pray for the faith to believe and trust.

Whether one or many, sin can be forgiven and covered.

There is a reality in which a person can live with a free conscience and without guilt.

Hiding our sin from God is futile, and only adds to the burden we bear.

Don’t ignore the hand of the Lord that presses upon you, even afflicting you in your sin. He’s calling you to repentance.

The first step toward forgiveness is acknowledging the sin that separates us from God. Once we do this, and we do so with faith in Jesus, who alone has the power to forgive sin, we will soon find the guilt of sin removed from our hearts, and replaced with the peace of God.

In Jesus there is covering, in Jesus there is forgiveness, and in Jesus alone there will be no sin counted against us, but instead, the righteousness he imputes to those who put their faith in His finished work on the cross.

Some of you here this morning needed to hear this in a special way different from the rest of us. Hear this…The Father sent His only Son for you. He died for sinners like you. He conquered death by His resurrection. No more hiding, no more running, no more willful sins. Come to him with your burden, for the Scriptures say...

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”