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First Missionary Baptist Church Handsboro

 

Wednesday Evening Bible Study
What is This Thing Called Prayer - Praying Prayers That God Answer (Matthew 6:12)

 

Jeremie Turner, Sr. – Pastor

 

  

 

Matthew 6:12 – And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

NASB, ESV, CSB and NIV: And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

 

NLT: And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.


Forgive – To send away; To remit, these being completely cancelled.                                                                                   

Debts – Metaphorically, of sin as a “debt,” because it demands expiation, and thus payment by way of punishment. It implies a guilt from unpaid moral obligations to God. Thus, because we owe God, it should be easy to forgive others.                                  

Debtors – One who owes anything to another; Used of those who have not yet made amends to those whom they have injured.

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Albert Barnes writes, “the word debts is here used figuratively. It does not mean literally that we are debtors to God, but that our sins have a resemblance to debts….Literally, there can be no such transaction between God and us. It must be used figuratively.”                                                                                                                                                                

Directions: One side of the church, please argue for Albert Barnes; The other side, please argue against Albert Barnes. Spend about five minutes in discussion, when we reconvene, let’s have a dialogue

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Background: Biblical law required the periodic forgiveness of monetary debtors (in the seventh and fiftieth years), so the illustration of forgiving debts was for them a graphic one.

 

  

To maintain intimate fellowship with God and one another, we must forgive those who sin against us.

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This verse is one of the most dangerous verses in the Model Prayer. By praying it, we can curse ourselves. We are in trouble when praying the Model Prayer if we are angry and do not forgive those who sin against us. As a result, we pronounce the same judgment upon ourselves that we hold for others.                                                                                                    

Jesus has just taught them how to pray for the resources of God, now he is teaching us to pray for repentance to God. To understand this petition, we must see the three important lessons in this portion:                                                               

  1. The importance of the petition: Forgiveness by God of our sins is one of our most important needs.

  2. The ignominy from the petition: Confessing our need of forgiveness acknowledges we are sinful and that it is humbling. Few want to admit they are sinful. But until you humble yourself about yourself about your sin, you will never obtain forgiveness of your sins from God.

  3. The imperative in petition – “as we forgive our debtors.” This is not works for salvation, but language to show the sincerity of our petition. We must come in true repentance. True repentance will not harbor unforgiveness of others.         

Through this portion of the prayer, we are asking God to do three things:

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  1. To forgive the debt of sin. One has failed God in his duty; therefore, he needs God to forgive his debt.

  2. To forgive the debt of guilt or punishment. One who has failed to pay his debts is guilty; therefore, he is to pay the consequences and he is to be punished. This is the reason he must pray, “Father, forgive my debts…”

  3. To forgive his debts just as he has forgiven his debtors. His is asking God to forgive one exactly as he forgives others. If one forgives, God forgives. If one does not forgive, God does not forgive.

 

  

Therefore, we have two duties:

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  1. To ask God for forgiveness. The good news is that He is willing to forgive.                                                                   a.  1 John 1:9                                                                                                                                                       b.  Isaiah 55:7                                                                                                                                                     c.  Jeremiah 33:8                                                                                                                                                    

  2. To forgive others

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We see two snapshot examples of forgiveness in action:

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  1. In Luke 23:34, Jesus gives us an example of forgiveness in action.

  2. Stephen in Acts 7:54-60 show us that forgiveness can be extended to others, even when it’s killing us.

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The danger of not forgiving:

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  1. It causes our prayers to die on our lips. It also keeps us out of fellowship with God, and if we cannot fellowship with God, we cannot pray effectively.

  2. It poisons our spirits, and prevents us from moving forward. Leonardo Da Vinci, in his painting “The Last Supper” had an enemy who was a fellow painter. He despised him deeply and when he painted the face of Judas Iscariot at the table with Jesus, he used the face of his enemy so that it would be present for ages as the man who betrayed Jesus. He took delight while painting this picture in knowing that others would actually notice the face of his enemy as Judas. As he worked on the faces of the other disciples, he often tried to go and paint the face of Jesus, but could not make any progress. Frustrated and confused, he eventually realized that he was wrong and that his hatred for the other painter was holding him back from finishing the face of Christ. Only after making peace with his fellow painter and repainting the face of Judas was he able to paint the face of Jesus and complete his masterpiece. However, it took him four years to complete it.

  3. It defiles you. Hebrews 12:15

  4. It demolishes our ability to love God. 1 John 4:20-21

 

But, we can overcome anger and forgive others:

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  1. Realize that the Lord works through the actions of those who hurt or offend you. Genesis 50:20

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This verse is a measure of our own forgiveness. The forgiven life should be a forgiving life. Human forgiveness should reflect our experience and understanding of divine forgiveness. We must understand that sin is a debt! This petition acknowledges our spiritual bankruptcy before God. Forgiveness, then, should be an attitude that follows from recognition of the seriousness of our sin (Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13). One with an unforgiving heart toward others shows that he or she does not take his or her own sin seriously; the result being they have not appropriated God’s forgiveness.

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Matthew 26:28 – The Greek word translated “remission” is elsewhere rendered “forgiveness.” It means to send off, or away. And this, throughout Scripture, is the one fundamental meaning of forgiveness – to separate the sin from the sinner. We are forgiven on the ground of Christ’s propitiating sacrifice. Human forgiveness rests upon and results from divine forgiveness. We ought to be willing to forgive in appreciation of our being forgiven. The gravity of it is based on the enormity of our offense against God. We were lost in a sea of sin, yet He rescued us. This prayer then, is not a plea of merit, but a plea of grace.

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We ought to appreciate:                                                                                                                                                

  1. What He has done in us

  2. What He has done for us

 

Forgiveness, then, is the evidence of a regenerate heart. In our own strength, forgiveness is not easy, but it is difficult. Before we become regenerated, we hold on to things, not willingly forgiving others. So, forgiveness, or our ability to forgive, is a mark of a Christian. If believers are unwilling to forgive those who wrong them, how can they expect to be in fellowship with their Father who has freely forgiven them for their wrongdoings?

 

 

Under grace, we are forgiven for Christ’s sake, and exhorted to forgive:

  1. Because we have been forgiven

  2. As we forgive                                                                                                                                                     a.  Mattthew 6:14-15                                                                                                                                           b.  Matthew 18:32-33                                                                                                                                           c.  Matthew 26:28                                                                                                                                                   d.  Ephesians 4:32                                                                                                                                                 e.  Colossians 3:13                                                                                                                                                  

This word “debts” is translated “sins.” These are sins, which are moral and spiritual debts to God’s righteousness. By praying over our “debts,” we are being all-inclusive of our sins. Paul says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Sin is transgression, an overstepping of the law, the divine boundary between good and evil (cf, Psalm 51:1).

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Sin is:

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  1. An act: the violation of the will of God through disobedience

  2. A state: the absence of righteousness, and

  3. A nature, enmity toward God.                                                                                                                                     

Jesus uses the word “debts” to evoke both a serious offense and a corresponding serious punishment. In the ancient world, debt was punishable by imprisonment, with Roman prisons filled primarily by debtors rather than criminals, who were incarcerated until they could pay what they owed. For Jesus’s audience, debt represented a matter of life and death, not merely the frustration and anxiety we experience today.

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Man’s problem concerning his sin debt is he is broke. Man has nothing to pay to appease the holiness and justice of God. If his debts of sin are not forgiven, they are charged against him forever, as he is absolutely bankrupt. Forgiveness, therefore, must come from the free mercy of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in debt to God’s infinite mercy.

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Jesus instructs Peter in Matthew 18:21-22 regarding how many times one should forgive another. Debtors were often thrown in prison, and with that in mind, Jesus tells us how many times we should be willing to forgive. This prayer contains a reciprocal dimension: asking God to forgive our debts just as we have forgiven our debtors – if a person forgives, God forgives; if a person does not forgive, God does not forgive. Therefore, we are to ask forgiveness from God only after having first expressed forgiveness to others.

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Forgiveness is not only repentance on the part of the one who wronged the other, but it also has the effect of restoration of both parties to the former state of the relationship. In Luke 17:3-4, Jesus gives us a warning and instructions about forgiveness. He taught that it is a duty, and that no limit should be set to the extent of forgiveness. In the text in Matthew 18, verses 34 and 35, Jesus teaches us that an unforgiving spirit is a serious sin.

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“Forgive us” expresses our awareness that we fall short in all things and must rely on a constant flow of God’s grace – and the last phrase expresses willingness to relate to others as God relates to us. Forgiveness is like a coin: It is a single unit with two sides. The attitude which enables us to accept forgiveness is the same attitude which compels us to extend it. If we are unable to forgive others, our hardness will prevent us from accepting God’s forgiveness.

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God knows all about us. He knows what we think and what is going on in our hearts. He knows especially about our sinfulness. This is why we are to seek His forgiveness.

 

 

 

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