Our Debts

Introduction

Tonight, we are going to talk about sanctification. . . DEFINE. . . and when I think about the process of sanctification it reminds me of spider-man.

Spider-man, transformed through radioactive spider bite, but still struggles with an identity crisis of who he is and what he has become. . . decides to embrace his super powers and fight against his fear.

We are the same, we have been transformed by the Spirit through faith in Christ, yet, we still struggle daily with our sin and forget who we are in Christ.

Therefore, the Christian life is a daily battle to wage war against sin and pursue becoming more like Jesus. . . and Jesus will teach us tonight that one of the best ways weapons we can wield to fight against sin and grow in holiness is daily confession and repentance of our sins.

Key Points:

Confession and repentance of sins are not a one time thing, but should be a daily practice for a disciple of Jesus.

We will forgive others based on the extent of the knowledge that God has forgiven us.

Just as we need God to daily provide for our needs, we also have sins that we daily need his forgiveness.

Daily confession connects with asking for our daily bread, because it reminds us that we need God to mortify and kill the indwelling sin that still lives within us. Through the Cross of Christ, we have have been cured from sin’s disease, but it has not been eradicated from our lives. . . and won’t be this side of glory.

Matthew 6:12 ESV

12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Asking Forgiveness From God

Debts: What we Owe God.

Matthew uses the word debt instead of the general word for sins to communicate how our sins create a debt against us that we must pay back to God.

Sins of Omission vs. sins of Commission.

What happens if you don’t pay your check when you eat out a restaurant?

It is the same thing with God. As his creation, and being made for his glory, we owe him everything, all our love, all our praise, all our delight, etc.

When we don’t give him the praise he alone is worthy of, we are guilty of sins of omission (things we should do that we don’t do).

Surely we are guilty of sins of commission (things we do that we shouldn’t), but when we realize how we have sinned before God, we should start with sins of omission.

For example, we should ask, have I loved God with all my heart, soul, and mind. . .

The word debt also communicates guilt because when we owe someone a debt, we are guilty of not paying what we owe. . . and we remain guilty until our debt is paid.

Paul picks up on this idea of debt, and pulling from God’s words in Genesis 2:17, he says in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death.

Therefore, the debt we owe God, is a perfect, holy, and spotless life, and since this is something that we cannot pay, we must forfeit our life. . . again, the wages we have earned for our imperfect and wicked lives is death.

LOOK AT TIME. . . IF AT 20 MINUTES OR LESS. . . MAKE FORGIVENESS SECTION ONE OR TWO SENTENCES.

Forgiveness: What We Need From God.

Since we cannot pay our sin debt to God and survive, we must need someone else to take our place and pay it for us.

We need a perfect human who can represent us and die in our place.

This is why Jesus came to earth, to save us from our sins. Jesus perfectly loved the Father, he perfectly obeyed all of his commands, and never committed sins of omission or commission.

Jesus not only lived a perfect life in obedience to God, but he also paid our sin debt that made us guilty before God.

Paul says in Colossians 2:13-15 that God nailed our sin debt to the cross of Christ and cancelled it through Jesus’ death in our place.

When a criminal was accused of a crime there was an inscription written on a note that was nailed to the cross to signify the debt a person owed to the state and why they were being killed. Our note of debt (our sin) was nailed upon Jesus’ cross and he paid our sin debt with his blood! Hallelujah, what a savior!

Confession and Repentance: What We Need to Practice Daily

The result and response to the forgiveness God has given us in Christ should be a daily practice of praise, confession, and repentance.

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, we need to remember that he was teaching them in the context of the principles of life in the kingdom.

So, he was not teaching them they need to pray daily for forgiveness to made right with God daily (justification), but instead, they needed to pray daily for forgiveness to restore their fellowship with God (sanctification).

LOOK AT TIME, IF 18 MINUTES OR LESS. . . SKIP ASPECTS OF SALVATION

We must understand that there are three aspects of our salvation.

Justification: One finger: Not Guilty!

Sanctification: Two fingers: Siccors cutting sin out and growing in holiness, measuring up.

Glorification: Three fingers. . . Holy, holy, holy-sin is gone, we are perfectly holy with glorified bodies.

The problem for us is that we only think of salvation in terms of Justification and glorification and skip sanctification.

“I have been saved and I know I will be in heaven when I die.”

Hole in our holiness -Kevin DeYoung

This leads us to thinking that “repentance and faith in Jesus” is only for people who are “not saved.”

Not so fast my friend!

Jesus knows we commit sins of omission and commission every day, and we need to ask God to forgive us of our daily debts so we can enjoy fellowship with him and so he can hear our prayers (Isaiah 59:2).

If we say we have no sin, we are a liar, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:10).

Jesus wants us to relate to God, not just as our judge, but as our Father.

Example of me being a Father to Graysen and Emersyn, loving them always, but displeased at times with their actions. I don’t want them coming to me in fear of judgment to apologize but to ask forgiveness because they love me and know they have hurt me. I want them to ask forgiveness to restore our relationship with one another.

It is the same with us. We have no condemnation in Christ. We ask him to forgive us our debts because we love him and want to please him. So, to restore our fellowship with him when we sin, we confess our debts to him and ask for his forgiveness .

Psalm 51: Model Prayer of Confession and Repentance.

Use the Ten Commandments and Beatitudes as tests to help you see sins of omission and commission.

First, we need to cry out to God and be honest with him about our sin:

Psalm 51:1–2 ESV

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

Second, we need to make our appeal for forgiveness on the basis of what Christ has done for us. . . we must look to the cross and see the beauty of Christ!

Psalm 51:7 ESV

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Third, we need to pray for God’s ongoing work of sanctification in our lives:

Psalm 51:10–12 ESV

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

NEED TO BE AT 14 MINUTES OR MORE. . . IF NOT, SHORTEN WHAT FORGIVENESS IS NOT.

Offering Forgiveness for Others

Jesus teaches that being forgiven by God implies that we will naturally forgive others.

The phrase “as we also” communicates emphasis in the Greek and indicates that God will forgive us as we have forgiven those who have debts against us.

Jesus says we cannot expect God to forgive our sins if we refuse to forgive the sins of others.

Matthew 6:14–15 ESV

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.

Jesus taught this principle throughout his ministry, but we see it highlighted in his parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35.

Notice how there is a connection between confessing our sins to God and forgiving others.

When we pray this prayer, we are asking God to treat and forgive us just as we treat and forgive others.

We cannot be in right relationship with others if we are not first in right relationship with God.

Those who harbor bitterness or an unforgiving spirit bear strong witness to the fact that they have never repented of their sin and experienced forgiveness in Christ.

By confessing our sins to God, we will also forgive the sins of others.

Therefore, by being reconciled to God in Christ, we will also seek reconciliation with others. Loving God and loving people go together. Matthew 6:12 demonstrates that these things cannot be separated.

So we know that forgiving others is a natural fruit from experiencing God’s forgiveness. . . and we know we are supposed to forgive others. . . but what does it practically mean to forgive others?

Just as God has forgiven us of our debts. . . in that he no longer requires from us what we owe him, in forgiving others, we no longer require from them what they owe us.

Colossians 3:13 ESV

13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

For example, If someone gossips about you, forgiving them would mean that you do not require them to go around and tell others what they said about you wasn’t true. By forgiving them, you cancel the moral obligation that they owe you and leave the judgment up to God, trusting that he will rightly judge them in his time.

When we forgive someone, we must show forgiveness in our. . .

Thoughts.

Words.

Deeds.

This raises a question. . . Do we wait for the person to confess and repent of their sin to us before we forgive?

Forgiveness at times with others can be a two-stage process.

Attitude of forgiveness

We must first have an attitude of forgiveness toward the person and forgive them before the Lord if they have not repented and asked for our forgiveness.

Grant Forgiveness

When they do ask for our forgiveness, the second stage is that we actually grant them forgiveness.

What forgiveness is not. . .

The absence of consequences.

Moses was forgiven but did not see the promise land.

David was forgiven but his son still died.

When we forgive, it does not mean we will be best friends again automatically. It may take time for trust and that relationship to grow. . . that may be one of the consequences of one’s actions.

A Feeling

Forgiveness is not about our individual feelings, but rather, it is an act of the will. . . it is a decision.

God calls us to walk in obedience and forgive others, even if we don’t feel like it. We don’t need to wait until our feelings change, but rather walk in obedience to what God has commanded, and ask for his grace to forgive the person.

When we forgive someone, we are making a decision to. . .

Not dwell on the incident.

Not bring up the incident again and use it against the person.

Not talk to others about the incident.

Not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship.

Forgetting.

Forgetting is passive, but forgiveness is active.

It is not that we cannot remember someones sins against us but we are actively choosing not to hold them against the person any more.

Forgiveness is more than just absolving anger and resentment, but it is seeking reconciliation with the other person.

Excusing

We don’t simply say “its ok” or “what you did was not wrong.”

If forgiveness is needed, it proves what the person did was wrong and inexcusable.

Instead forgiveness deals honestly with sin, calls it what it is, but grants it grace.

So, thats what forgiveness is and that is what its not. . .

but what if we are still struggling to forgive someone because we have been hurt so badly???

Five Ways to Overcome Unforgiveness from Ken Sande Peacemaker

Confirm Repentance

Renounce sinful attitudes and expectations.

Assess Your Contribution to the problem.

Recognize That God is Working for Good.

Remember God’s forgiveness and rely on God’s strength.

Response

Ask daily for God’s forgiveness through Christ.

Forgive others as you have been forgiven in Christ.

What would it look like if God treated you in the same way that you treated and forgave others?

Forgiving someone does not minimize the sin and not make it a big deal. . . It is a big deal. . . but the debt that God has forgiven you in Christ is much bigger. . . the cross is bigger. . . God’s grace is greater. . . so don’t focus on what they owe. . . instead focus on how much Christ has forgiven you. . . and forgive them through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Close having the students pray for these two things.

Asking God’s forgiveness through Christ

Ask: Are you keeping or hiding your sins from God when you should daily lay them at his feet?

Forgiving others as you have been forgiven in Christ

Ask: Are you demanding from others what God has not demanded from you?

Call students to confess and forgive people right now in this room if necessary.