Forgive as Forgiven

We are on our second to last Lord’s Day. We are turning our attention to the fifth petition, the forgiveness of debts. When we talk about forgiveness, it is important to consider sin.

What Is Sin?

What is sin? 1 John 3:4 give a clear definition: “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” Sin is missing the mark. The mark, according to Romans 3:23 is God’s glory. God’s glory is revealed in His law. Therefore, sin is lawlessness; going against God’s law. There are two ways we sin: First are sins of commission—doing what God commanded not to do and second are sins of omission, not doing what God commanded to do, like getting together for worship.

Sin, whether commission or omission, is serious. Romans 6:23a states “For the wages of sin is death.” The penalty for sin is death. Now, God is long suffering, he does not act immediately. He is patient with us. Psalm 103.10 teaches us of God’s patience: “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.”

The parable in our passage highlights the cost of sin. God, the King of heaven, will come to settle accounts. In this He’s like a master who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. One servant owed him ten thousand talents.

That’s the equivalent of 10 million dollars today—or about three tanks of gas. Such a debt couldn’t have been paid back. Seriously, even if this guy cleared 1000 dollars profit per week, that’s profit, after expenses and everything, if he were to pay 1000 dollars per week it would take him almost 2000 years to pay back what he owed. It was impossible, there simply was no way.

The debt we owe, the guilt of sin is so terrible, so wicked, that it requires the most precious thing we have: life. Therefore, we cannot even pay a penny, not one penny. So what is forgiveness?

What Is Forgiveness?

According to Lord’s Day 51, “forgiveness is no longer holding against poor sinners the sins and the evil that constantly clings to them.” In the parable, the ten thousand talent debt was no longer held against the servant. But the debt was paid by someone. In the first part of the parable, the debt was paid by the master. In the second half of the parable, the unmerciful servant was held accountable for all his debt.

So it is with us. We have an unforgivable debt to pay. Our debt is our sins. We have sinned against God, and we have sinned against people. We increase our debt daily. So, daily we must ask God to forgive our debts.

Christ fully paid for all our debts, sins, trespasses. Through Christ, God offers forgiveness of debt. Down to the last penny, everything paid in full. Nothing owing, not one thing.

God’s holiness, His perfection, His Truth, His Sovereignty, His goodness, cannot tolerate or permit, or leave sin unpunished. But in His plan, already before the creation of the world, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit prepared a way for God to deal with sin. They knew that human beings couldn’t deal with it.

The only way to atone for sin was to pay the penalty. The penalty is death—everlasting death. Only an eternal God can atone/pay for an eternal penalty. But for that penalty to be effective, God had to be fully human as well. That’s why the incarnation, that’s why the promise in Genesis 3:15.

Forgiveness of sins is done by God through His Son, Jesus Christ. As we remember in the celebration of communion, Jesus said, in Matthew 26:28 “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission (forgiveness) of sins.” And in Colossians 1:14, speaking of Jesus, the apostle Paul writes, “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Paul explains how this transaction, similar to that of our parable happens, in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” And consider also Romans 5:15-17 “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

God's Attitude Toward Us

So then, on account of Christ’s work on the cross, God’s attitude toward us is changed. He no longer sees us as sinners. Rather, He sees us as forgiven. As Children.

When the master forgave the unmerciful servant, a change took place in the master’s attitude. He no longer looked at that servant as the one who owed him 10 million dollars. He no longer did. He had forgiven him his debt. That’s how God the Father looks at you, and me. He sees us as debt-free, sin-free, trespass-free, on account of Christ.

If we think of it in terms of a bank account. All our debt, our negative balance, has been replaced with Christ’s glory—His righteousness, not an negative balance, not even an empty balance, but a full balance, the full positive balance of the glory of Christ.

We must never, ever forget two things: how great our sin and debt is, and how much greater our Saviour is, for He has paid for all our sins, all our debt. Or as Lord’s Day 1, answer 2 puts it, “First, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.” That is our response. We know we have sinned, we have redemption in Christ’s blood, and we live lives of joyful gratitude to God. But the question arises, what is our attitude toward others?

Our Attitude Toward Others

Our attitude toward others must always be governed by God’s attitude toward us. In as much as we’ve been forgiven by God, we also forgive.

When you pray the Lord’s prayer, do you really know what you are saying? “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” May your forgiveness be conditional to my forgiveness. In other words, do not forgive me, if I do not forgive others.

Are you willing to pray that? Do you mean it when you pray it? Of course, if you are quick to forgive others, then it is not so hard to pray the Lord’s Prayer, is it?

But what about when you’ve been really wronged? What if the trespasses against you are beyond the pale? What if you cannot bring yourself to forgiveness because the people who are against you are so stubborn, so strong willed, so blind to their error, that no amount of reason will sway their stance. What then?

What if the person sinning against you has done so frequently. They promise to change, but they never seem to do so? What then? It gets to Peter’s question. No doubt Peter thought he was being quite gracious. But Jesus turned it upside down. We are to forgive and keep on forgiving.

Please understand, we do not tolerate sin. We in no way advocate for someone to remain in an abusive or harmful situation. Rather, we exercise all effort to bring truth and reconciliation and transformation. A part of that process is forgiveness. Forgiveness is something you can do independently from the person who sinned against you. You don’t need to hear their confession, they don’t need to repent, they don’t need to do anything in order for you to be able to forgive them.

That’s what Jesus did for us. He didn’t wait for us to acknowledge our sins and turn away from them. He forgave us. Then He made the way for us to live as forgiven people.

Forgiven of his debt, the unmerciful servant leaves, and as he walks away from the court, he sees someone who owes him 16 dollars. Just forgiven of 10 million, he demands full payment of 16 dollars. He violently grabs the man, and demands repayment. Even though the man offers to pay him back in full, he needed time to gather the funds, he guy just has him thrown in jail.

The unmerciful servant was ultimately punished and thrown into jail because he failed to forgive. Having been forgiven much, he could not forgive his fellow servant.

We must be aware of our old natures, the sinful nature that is opposed to our new nature in Christ. Our old nature harbours hate, banks brutality, and invests in iniquity. For we think we have the right to justice. We who, apart from the Holy Spirit, are completely unable to do even one just thing, think we can expect it from others just like ourselves.

When Abraham saw the Promised Land, God told him he would not take it because the sin of the Amorites had not reached full measure. Instead, God allowed his people to go to Egypt and wait some 480 years for the sin to reach its full measure. But what if the Amorites, knowing of God’s mercy, had repented? Then they would have been enfolded into the nation of Israel. If any of the people had repented in Noah’s day, they would have gone on the boat.

And now, we are living some 2000 years after Christ’s amazing act of grace, glory and love on the cross. God has again demonstrated his amazing grace. He has patiently waited to bring destruction so those who have sinned might repent. He does not need to, except that it is God’s nature to forgive. So it ought to be with us, in our new natures. We ought to be merciful servants.

They say that there are two certainties in life, death and taxes, and truly no one understands either. But let me add one more certainty. We will sin, and others will sin against us.

What power do we have? Well, with the Holy Spirit we can do two things. As much as we are able, we can try to keep from sinning against God and others. Then, failing that, we can ask for forgiveness when we do sin. We can anticipate others will sin against God and us. We can point out their sin to them, if they’re slow to see it and respond to it. We can be patient and long-suffering, trusting the Holy Spirit’s work. But we must be honest and real in identifying sin.

Let us lean into the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That grace, which reconciled us to Him, that is the grace we extend to others, day in, and day out, no matter what. We trust the Holy Spirit’s work. Amen.