Forgive Us Our Debts

Introduction

Tonight’s theme is one of the biggest struggles in our lives. It is the theme of forgiveness. How many of us really have a grasp of forgiveness. What does it mean to forgive. We definitely have an understanding of what it looks like to not be forgiving. The person who seems to live in the past...a past of hurts and wrongs. Things said to us, maybe to our face, but many times behind our backs.

There is a story of a young man named Rusty who sat on death row in a South Carolina prison—dirty, broken, and convinced he mattered to no one. He had been sentenced to die for a brutal murder. When a Christian man named Bob began visiting him, Rusty at first barely responded. But over time, as Bob spoke to him about the love of Christ, something changed. One day, Rusty broke down in tears, repented and embraced Christ.

From that point on, he was a different man. He clung to the love of God—amazed that someone like him could be forgiven. But one thing deeply troubled him: the pain he had caused the victim’s family. He longed not only to be forgiven by God, but by them.

In time, something remarkable happened. The brother of the woman Rusty had murdered became a Christian. After wrestling for years, he wrote Rusty a letter—not of hatred, but of forgiveness in Christ. And when they finally met, they embraced—not as enemies, but as brothers.

Here were two men: one guilty of a great debt, the other deeply wronged. And yet, because of the love of Christ, forgiveness was given, and a barrier that seemed impossible was removed.

This is one big example of the picture of forgiveness. But what about the picture of God’s offer of forgiveness for you and for me. What about the picture in your life, day by day, year by year, with all the multitude of ways that you are offended and wronged, yet Christ calls upon you and me to forgive. With the use of our passages tonight, this is not a message on the theology of forgiveness, but a look at God’s very poignant call to us to rest in His forgiveness and in so resting in it, to extend it to others around us. That may be to parents, siblings, children, and even spouses.

Why is forgiveness important to pray for? Why is forgiveness important that we are to extend it to others? As we consider this petition from the Lord’s Prayer this evening, we will look at two things: first, the foundation of our forgiveness—God’s forgiveness of us in Christ—and second, the fruit of that forgiveness, as it is worked out in our lives toward others. And so we come before our Father this evening and pray:

“Forgive us our debts...and teach us what it means to pray that - not only with our lips, but from our hearts.”

The Foundation of Our Forgiveness

Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

One of the most important things for every Christian is to have a sure foundation. And here is one of the central realities of the Christian life: every day we live, every time we fail, every time we sin—we live in the forgiveness of a gracious God. And how often we must come before Him and say, “Father, forgive us again. Forgive us for what we have done… what we have thought… what we have failed to do.”

But that raises an important question: what is the foundation of that forgiveness? Our culture often speaks of love as a feeling—something sentimental, something that rises and falls depending on circumstance. But when the Bible speaks of love, it speaks very differently. Listen to John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son…”

God’s love is not merely something He feels—it is something He does. It is a gracious action of a holy God toward an unholy people. He gives His Son. He sends His Spirit. He draws sinners—people like you and me—to the Righteous One. And even after we are brought to Christ, we continue to struggle. We continue to sin daily. Yet God, in His mercy, continues to forgive, continues to restore, continues to bless.

That is why one of the most important things we can do as God’s people is to remain in His Word, that our minds may be renewed. Because if we lose sight of this foundation, we will misunderstand the Christian life itself.

So why do we pray, “Forgive us our debts”?

There are some who say, “If Christ died for our sins, then forgiveness has already been accomplished—so why ask for it?” But that confusion comes from not understanding the difference between our standing before God and our daily walk with Him. Yes, our sins are fully atoned for at the cross. We are justified by grace alone through faith alone. But the Christian life does not end there—it begins there. From that point forward, we are called into a living relationship with a holy God. And in that relationship, we still sin. We still fall short. We are called to walk in the light, and yet we so often return to the darkness. And so we continually turn back to God—Saying,

“Lord, restore us. Cleanse us. Draw us back into sweet fellowship with You.”

That is why we pray for forgiveness. Not because Christ’s work was insufficient, but because our relationship with God is ongoing. And yet, so often we take that forgiveness for granted. We lose sight of how serious our sin really is. We fail to see how offensive it is to the One who is perfectly holy and has called you into communion with Himself.

Think again of Matthew 18:21–35. A servant owed his master an unpayable debt—ten thousand talents. A debt so massive it could never be repaid in a lifetime. The servant knew it. The master knew it.

That servant is you.

That servant is me.

And how often we forget it. How often we live as though our debt were small. And so we must pray,

“Lord, show us our sin… that we may see the greatness of Your mercy.”

What is the debt that we owe to God? Not just over the course of our lives—but each and every day? It is far greater than anything we could ever repay.

And yet what do we find? Grace. A debt not demanding to be repaid, but freely forgiven. Wiped away. That is why Christ came. The righteous One bearing the penalty for the unrighteous. Paying the debt we could never pay. Our sins against God are one-directional—we sin against Him. And the cost of that sin was nothing less than the death of the perfect Son of God.

And this is the foundation of everything that follows.

Because now we return to Ephesians 4:32. This is a command: “Be kind to one another!” How? “forgiving one another.” But notice where our forgiveness of others begins: “as God in Christ forgave you.”

So let me ask you: have you ever said, “Why should I forgive them? Look at what they did to me. Look at how they hurt me.” That pain is real. That hurt is not being minimized. But here is the answer: you forgive because God in Christ has forgiven you. And so we bring that pain before God and say, “Father, you see what has been done. You know the hurt. Give me grace—not to hold on to it, but to place it into Your holy hands.”

Your foundation in forgiveness is not the worthiness of the one who hurt you. Your foundation is the faithfulness of the God who has forgiven you.

He has seen your first sin, your latest sin, and your final sin—and yet He says: “If you confess your sins, I am faithful and just to forgive…”

And if that is true—if we have been forgiven such a debt—then you and I who have received that forgiveness must begin to reflect it.

The Fruit of Our Forgiveness

And so we ask: “Lord, what does this forgiveness look like in our lives? What fruit should it bear in us?” If the foundation of our forgiveness is God’s grace toward us in Christ, then what is the fruit of that forgiveness in our lives? The answer is this: those who have been forgiven by God become a people who forgive.

What does the love of God look like? Scripture shows us that love is not merely a feeling—it is action. It is sacrifice. It is mercy. It is doing good even when it is costly. We see that most clearly in God Himself. His love means that He sends His Son to die for our sins. It means that He adopts us as His children. It means that He gives us His Spirit. It means that He disciplines us as a loving Father. And time and time again, it means that He forgives us.

Listen again to Psalm 103:

“Bless the Lord… who forgives all your iniquity… who redeems your life from the pit… who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy…”

One of the great benefits of belonging to God is this: He forgives all our iniquity.

And that love is not meant to stop with us.

The call upon those who have received this love is that it would flow outward into the lives of others. That is what we hear in 1 John 3:14:

“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.”

Forgiveness is not optional—it is evidence of life. And so we pray,

“Lord, let this be true of us. Let it be evident that we have passed from death to life—not in word only, but in how we love and forgive.”

Jesus Himself used similar language in John 4. The one who drinks of the living water will have rivers of living water flowing out from within. The grace we receive is not meant to remain stagnant—it flows outward. And what is one of the clearest ways that life flows out of us? Forgiveness.

Is there anything more powerful to bring life into broken relationships than forgiveness? We have life because we have been forgiven. And those who have received that life are called to extend it.

Think again of Matthew 18:21–35. The servant who was forgiven an unpayable debt—ten thousand talents—refused to forgive a fellow servant a much smaller debt—about a hundred denarii, only a few months’ wages. Do you see the contrast? A lifetime of debt forgiven…and yet unwilling to forgive a small fraction in return.

This is our Lord’s comparison of our debt before God and the debts others owe to us. And it presses the question: how can one who has been forgiven so much refuse to forgive so little?

Peter wanted to know the limit of forgiveness. He asked, “How many times must I forgive?” Seven times? And Jesus answered: not seven—but seventy times seven. In other words: don’t count. Don’t keep track. Forgive as one who has been forgiven. And notice—Jesus does not ask the questions we often ask:

Was the apology sincere enough?

Were the words said the right way?

Did they really mean it?

He simply commands: forgive. Forgive in a way that reflects your Father in heaven. And we see that most clearly in Christ Himself. As He hung on the cross—falsely accused, beaten, humiliated—He prayed:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

That is the pattern. That is the fruit. And so we look to Him and pray,

“Lord Jesus, form that same spirit in us. Give us hearts that reflect Yours.”

The deeper we grasp our own sin—the magnitude of our debt before God—the more freely we will forgive others. Their sins against us are real. They hurt. They wound. But they are never greater than our sin against God.

And so we are called to live in this way:

To meditate on our debt to God.

To rest in His forgiveness.

And to extend that forgiveness to others.

That is why our Lord teaches us to pray:

“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Not because our forgiveness earns God’s forgiveness—but because it reveals that we have truly received it, and bask in the joy of the Holy Spirit because of it.

Conclusion

Tonight we have seen that forgiveness rests on a sure foundation. It is not grounded in our worthiness or in the actions of others, but in the gracious forgiveness of God toward us in Christ.

And we have also seen the fruit of that forgiveness. Those who have been forgiven become those who forgive. Those who have been shown mercy are called to show mercy. Those who have been brought from death to life begin to reflect the life of Christ in how they relate to one another.

And so we come again to our Father with this petition from the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

And so we pray:

“Father, forgive us—not because we are worthy, but because Christ is worthy. And Father, make us a forgiving people, because You are a forgiving God. Soften what is hard in us. Heal what is wounded in us. And let the grace we have received from You flow freely through us to others.”

As we go forward into the week ahead, meditate upon the goodness of God to you. His mercy is everlasting. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. May our homes and lives reflect the love and forgiveness of God that He pours out upon us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.