Forgive us Our Debts.
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So far in the prayer we have learned a lot about what Jesus ecpects from us in prayer and living.
This is prayer meant to shape the way we pray but more so than that, it is a prayer that is to shape the way we live.
We are live in light of the fact that He is our Father. What a blessing it is just to call Him ours.
But a Father is one who is above us. He is one that deserves respect. We are to fear our God. He is our father who at times comforts but often disciplines those whom he loves.
We live in light of the fact that he is in heaven.
He is our Father, which means he has entered into this world and adopted us into His family, but he is also above us.
He is the sovereign King who sits in Heaven.
By virtue of His position and His nature, He is the God above all.
Above all created things.
I love the song Above All.
He says in that Song
Above all powers
Above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began
‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Above all kingdoms
Above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what you're worth
Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
He is above all.
And His name is to be hallowed on the earth.
We are to Hallow His name ourselves, though no one around us may, we hold his name high.
We seek to take His Gospel to those who do not know his name so that they may hallow His name as well.
Why?
Because we desire that His kingdom Come.
We desire that His will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
In our lives. In our marriages. in our church.
We surrender to His will, not our.
We recognize that He is the one who gives us our daily bread. We have nothing apart from him so we live holding up everything that He has given to us and offer it back to Him.
Every aspect of this prayer is practical.
But like last week, this portion of the prayer turn very personal, because while all of the above is true, and is just as important as this part, something hasn’t been mentioned yet at this point in the prayer. Our sin.
What keeps us from having unbroken fellowship with our Father who is in Heaven.
That which opposes him in our lives.
We come to this portion of the prayer., where He deals with our sin.
Listen to what He says:
‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
So we a re going to really focus in on verse 12 tonight, and we will also mention verse 14-15 as well.
“And forgive us”
At times our English translations can do us a disservice when it comes to understanding what is being said here.
In this particular passage we have to see who is to be praying.
Jesus is teaching the Disciples how to pray.
it is his lesson on prayer to the disciples.
This prayer is more aptly called the Disciples prayer for a number of reasons.
The disciples are being taught.
Jesus has no need to be forgiven of anything.
It is absolutely clear here who is to be the prayers of this prayer.
Its those who are in relationship with God(They can rightly call Him Father) who are in it not based upon their own perfection but based upon the perfection of Christ.
This prayer is from us. In fact the plural here is used “forgive us.”
What happens when someone seeks forgiveness from another.
The offender pleads with the offended. Normally it comes through an admittance of wrong doing, and a asking that the debt be cancelled.
Forgiveness- is not repayment.
When God forgives and when we forgive, it is a cancelling of the debt we owe and they owe.
Thats what forgiveness is.
Make no mistake.
We are the offender- We have broken His law. We have done or not done according to His will. We have sinned. We have fell short of the glory of God.
So this first part acknowledge three things
Acknowledgement of WHO sinned
Acknowledgement of WHO was sinned against.
Acknowledgment that there is a debt.
Now its time to appreciate what God is doing when He does forgive us.
Because He does forgive us
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
That verse should absolutely astound us.
Not only does He forgive us, but he cleanses us from it continuously.
That comes through confession, repentance.
“Forgive us our debts”
Wouldn’t it have been easier to say Forgive our debts.
but we would miss the emphasis.
It is us who needs forgiveness and it is because of our debts.
It places the need squarely upon us.
But then it goes on.
As we forgive our debtors.
As we forgive our debtors.
Here is where it gets tough. Right?
Every body wants forgiveness. You want people to cancel your debt. But do you want to cancel theres?
Well you just don’t understand what they have done to me.
You don’t know how much they have hurt me.
Those things may be true, but what doesn’t change is this.
You have offended God way more than anyone in the world has ever offended you.
He has forgiven you. Therefore we forgive.
“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Matthew 6:14-15
This passage is not teaching works based salvation.
He isn’t saying here that forgiveness of others is going to earn your spot in the kingdom of God.
What I do believe he is saying is this.
Forgiven people forgive.
I believe this passage is speaking with regard to our fellowship with God not our relationship.
Let me explain.
Forgiving others doesn’t make or not make you a child of God.
But unforgiving people fail to have fellowship with a forgiving God.
We are not allowed to hold grudges as believers in Christ and recipients for god’s forgiveness.
If someone has repented and expressed sorrow over their sin, you are to treat them as God treats you.
SO while I do not believe that this passage in reference to salvation, I think that if one is truly a believer, walking with Christ regularly, saturating their lives with the Scripture, it would be impossible for them to continue in the sin of withholding forgiveness.
You say: i forgive Him, but…
I fogive her, but…
Thats not what God does.
So when we look at this: we see what we are to pray, but we are we to do?
I want to ask you to bow your heads with me in prayer for just a second.
Ask your self these questions:
Have you sought forgiveness from the one you have offended?
Is there sin in your life right now, that you haven’t asked God to forgive you for?
I encourage you to do that now.
Are you withholding forgiveness from someone maybe in this church or outside of the church that has repented.
Are you treating them as the Father treats you?
Have you forgiven them like that?