Forgive Us Our Sins

Luke 11:1-4

-We are creatures of habit. A study found that it takes some individuals as little as 18 days to form a new habit, on average it takes a person 66 days. We all there are good habits and bad habits. One area that we all make a habit is perhaps the things in which we say. Even the things we say as we pray. Now this can be a problem in that we say words out of habit but not out of a desire for God to be glorified or to do a work. One of the most habitual prayers we pray: forgive me for any way I have failed you, forgive me of my shortcomings, forgive me of my many sins.

We must be careful to remember that prayer is our communication to God. So far we have studied this model of prayer taught by Jesus Himself. When we approach our Father, we pray that His name is honored, that His Kingdom would come, that He would provide our basic physical necessities and now that He would forgive us our sins.

Forgive means to leave, let go, pardon

The Holy, righteous, all-powerful God. When we think of the holiness of God it should led us to a place of confession and repentance. Isaiah is a prime example of this in Isaiah 6 - as in the vision He saw the Lord it led him to confess I am a sinful man.

But why are we to pray: Father, forgive us our sins?

1 Recognize our Spiritual Depravity

We first must recognize that we have a great spiritual need. Jesus had already modeled in the prayer how bread meets the physical need. Our Father is the One who provides what we need physically. We also have a great spiritual need because of sin.

We find throughout Scripture that we are all sinners.

Psalm 14:1–3 ESV

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

Ephesians 2:1 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We recognize that we are spiritually bankrupt. Jesus made this point clear at the forefront of the beatitudes

Matthew 5:3 ESV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Martyn Lloyd Jones explained it this way:

There is a mountain that you have to scale, the heights you have to climb; and the first thing you must realize, as you look at that mountain which you're told you must ascend, is that you cannot do it, that you're utterly incapable in and of yourself, and then any attempt to do it in your own strength is proof positive that you have not understood it

We pray to our Father because He alone can do something about our sin condition.

2 Rest in the Forgiveness in Christ

Our Father had a plan before the foundation of the world to remove our sin

Jesus, the Son of the Godhead was the planned Savior and it is in Christ alone that we are granted forgiveness

Acts 2:38–39 ESV

38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Forgiveness is in the Lord Jesus Christ

1 John 1:7–10 ESV

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Paul explained the gospel in the book of Ephesians, especially as we look into chapter two: we were dead in our sins and the only way out of our dead state is what Christ did on our behalf, by grace we are saved through faith - it is not our own doing

So why should we continue to pray Father, forgive us our sin? If we are forgiven in Christ then why the need to continue to pray for forgiveness?

Even though we are in Christ and His sacrifice is sufficient to completely pardon our sin, we still are affected by sin.

Every one of us is tempted to sin. So when we pray Father forgive us our sins,

We should not get any inclination that this means we could lose our salvation.

John makes this clear in 1 John 1:7

1 John 1:8 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

The Christian does not live in sin, but is still affected by sin. We are to live in a constant state of confession and repentance

3 Realize that only God could Sanctify Us

This really is a prayer of sanctification. We are asking that the Father would help us to repent of our sin and to be holy as He is holy.

We see this focus in the New Testament, not long ago we saw how Paul addressed it to the Ephesians in chapter 4, he instructed them to take off sin the way of the Gentiles, falsehood and slander, and to put on godliness, things that would build up the church

The way to be sanctified is to be in the truth of God’s Word, what a great picture in Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17. Jesus is praying and He prays that His followers would be sanctified notice John 17:17

John 17:17 ESV

17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

The way in which our sins are exposed is through the Word of God. The more we are in the Word the more God will deal with the deep sins in our hearts. We then turn to the Father and pray, Father forgive us of our sins

John Calvin put it this way -

John Calvin - I think, he has profited greatly who has learned to be very much displeased with himself, not so as to stick fast in this mire and progress no further, but rather to hasten to God and yearn for him, in order that, having been engrafted into the life and death of Christ, he may give attention to continual repentance.

We don’t want to wallow in the mire, but we need to see the sin within our lives so we may cry out to our Father for forgiveness and help.

May we not lose sight for our continued need of being molded into Christ