Forgiving

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

FORGIVING

Matt 6:9-13

9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

NIV

Jesus tells us to ask for the forgiveness of our debts, or transgressions against God, or in other words, or sin. However there is a twist. We are asking him to forgive us in the same manner as we forgive people who have transgressed or sinned against us and in essence owe us the due of asking we forgive them. Yet are we only obligated to forgive them if they ask? Does God forgive us if we do not ask? Are we not told that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us?

Rom 5:6-8

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners , Christ died for us.

NIV

We would have to read the whole of that chapter in Romans to grasp the fullness of it, however we can see just from these words that Christ did in fact die for all of us, while we were powerless, still sinful, and as he died, he took all of our sin, so that it is to say that God justified himself to his creation and forgave our sin by the blood of Jesus. Now we say that if we confess with our mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved.

Rom 10:9-13

9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."   12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  

NIV

It does not say anything about confessing our sin in order to be saved, contrary to popular belief. Perhaps that is inferred in the saying or confessing that Jesus is Lord. We are told at least once that we are to repent and be baptized in order to be saved.

Acts 2:38-39

38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call."

NIV

Yet we are also told that repentance alone will bring forgiveness of sin.

Luke 24:45-47

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

NIV

In either case, as we have learned before, the word repentance or repent does not mean to ask for the forgiveness of sin, but to have a change of mind, to think differently. When we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, which is thinking differently than considering we are the masters of our own lives, that we control our destiny, that we chase after whatever suits our fancy. So then in our statement that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, he is our Lord and therefor our Master, we are accepting the forgiveness of God. But we have not said, “Lord forgive me, I confess I am a sinner”. It seems tradition dictates those words, rather than God. Some would use 1 John to make that case.

1 John 1:8-10

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

NIV

But this is not about salvation, but rather about fellowship. This act of asking for the forgiveness of our sin is about being in fellowship with God, as our sin has already been forgiven on the cross over two thousand years ago. Yet back to the words of Jesus in the pattern of prayer he gives us, he tells us  if ask we for God to forgive us, we should forgive others. So, although he has already forgiven our sin, we are reminded that we continue to sin, but that our sin is already forgiven in Christ. Therefor we need not require others to ask us to forgive them in order for us to forgive them. This would then mean we are forever in the state of forgiveness of any who transgress against us. This would agree with the teaching we are to rid ourselves:

Eph 4:31-32

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

NIV

There it is forgive each other, just as in Christ God forgave us. Therefore no need for them to ask us, we just forgive them, period. Plus, of course, we are also ridding ourselves of all bitterness, rage and anger and we are being kind and compassionate to each other. So then we must simply always be in the state of forgiving others.