If You Do Not Forgive… - Matthew 6:14-15 Series

Matthew 6:5-15 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 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.' 14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 but if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Introduction

Most of us have a kind of love/hate relationship with forgiveness and mercy. When you are on the receiving end, you think it is the highest of all virtues. You commit some horrible sin and the person has mercy on you and gives full, immediate, heartfelt forgiveness – we love that. But when you are the offended party, suddenly forgiveness no longer seems quite so wonderful. It can seem like a gross violation of justice.

The condition for being forgiven

In Matthew 6:9 Jesus said, This, then, is how you should pray… and He went on to give us an outline for prayer. It is an outline for all prayer and all Christian living, and yet it is only five short sentences. And in one of those sentences Jesus drops a bomb. He throws in an extra phrase that is a shock.

Matthew 6:12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

Forgive me like I forgive others? Have you ever prayed that (other than when you were reciting the Lord’s Prayer)? Is there anyone here who routinely prays, “Lord, please forgive me the way I forgive others”? That is a scary prayer. For many people that prayer would be signing their own death warrant. Most of us would probably be more inclined to pray, “Whatever You do, God, don’t forgive me the way I forgive others. Don’t let Your forgiveness of me be anything like the way I forgive others.”

Condition, not comparison

Why did Jesus teach us to pray that? Does it mean the forgiveness we receive from God limited to the way we forgive? My forgiveness, even at its best, is imperfect. So am I doomed to always receive imperfect forgiveness from God? No. I don’t think this means God will forgive us exactly the same way we forgive others. He does not say, “To the extent that you forgive you will be forgiven.” The point isn’t comparison, but condition. It is not that God will use your forgiveness as the standard for how He forgives, but that your willingness to offer your imperfect forgiveness is the condition for receiving God’s perfect forgiveness. God’s forgiveness is conditional. And I know that statement makes a lot of people choke, because the idea that God’s love is totally unconditional is repeated these days like a mantra (even though the word “unconditional” never appears in the Bible). What does appear in the Bible is a whole lot of conditions. Every time you see the word “if” you are looking at a condition. You cannot get a more conditional statement than

Matthew 6:14 if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Salvation by works?

One the reasons people react against that is because it sounds to some like salvation by works. It sounds like you have to earn your forgiveness by forgiving others. Is that what Jesus meant?

Whatever He meant, it is important. This is the only phrase in the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus comments on. And Jesus repeated this same principle on numerous other occasions.

Mark 11:25 when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins.

Luke 11:4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.