Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
This morning we’re in Part 2 of Part 4 of the Lord’s Prayer regarding “Forgiving Our Debts as we forgive our debtors.” This is the 20th message in our series, The Sermon on the Mount. The basis of this petition to God is the fact that He is our Heavenly Father, and we are his children, through our adoption in Jesus Christ. It is the moving from being dead in our sins to becoming alive in Jesus Christ. All of that is incumbent upon the forgiveness of our sins given to us through our faith in Jesus Christ.
The Lord’s Prayer - or Disciple’s Prayer - focuses on the Preeminence of God’s power. Without the intervention of God, our Heavenly Father, and His son Jesus Christ, there is no daily bread; there is no forgiveness, there is no leading us.
Now as we pray to our Heavenly Father, part of our petition for Him to forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. This is a petition for believers. I know some people think that once you become a Christian, you no longer need to confess your sin, nor do you need to seek God’s cleansing and forgiveness. This just isn’t the case.
“Forgive us implies that we have done something for which we need forgiveness. Debt, in verse 12, implies a sin. Trespass, in verses 14 and 15, equally implies sin. The problem here is sin. Sin [remains] a reality in the life of a Christian. When you become a Christian, you don’t suddenly stop sinning. You don’t all of a sudden lose your sensitivity to sin. The truth is that when you become a believer, you become more sensitive to sin. And as you mature as a Christian, and in your maturing experience, there is a decreasing frequency of sin and a decreasing frequency of sin, which is an increasing sensitivity to it when it does occur.” (MacArthur)
The difference is how sin affects the believer’s life. It’s not an issue of salvation; it is a relational issue. Therefore, we must take Jesus’ words to heart that the Christian life continually stands before the throne of grace, asking for forgiveness. But you say, “Wait a minute, I thought all my sins were forgiven. So if my account is settled under the blood of Jesus Christ, why do I have to go back and pray for more forgiveness? And the point is all of your sins are forgiven. Legally and judicially, you are forgiven from the penalty and power of sin in your life. We call that Judicial Forgiveness.
There is, however, a second kind of forgiveness, and that is called “Relational Forgiveness,” I’ve heard others use the term “Parental Forgiveness” based on the fact that the Lord’s Prayer begins with the phrase, “Our Father who is in Heaven.” So we are no longer dealing with God as a righteous judge for a debt we cannot pay, but instead, we are coming to God as our loving Heavenly Father.
Even though we have been legally forgiven in God’s court, we still sin. And when we sin, our relationship with God doesn’t end, but there is a loss of intimacy or closeness due to our sin in our Christian life. The relationship doesn’t end, but something exists between us until things are made right.
The relationship between a parent and child (hence the name Parental Forgiveness) is a good way to look at it. I try not to use Noah as an example in my sermons too much, but this is a perfect example. How many of you love your children, no matter what is going on in their lives? How many of you have disowned your child because they messed up? If my child does wrong or breaks the rules, I don’t throw him out of the family. There are usually consequences, and there is forgiveness.
Noah not only messes up, but like all children, he will sometimes say or do things that hurt me as a parent, sometimes out of anger or rebellion against my authority as a dad and sometimes out of ignorance. When he does, I don’t cease being his dad. In fact, a certain amount of grace automatically exists because of our relationship as father and son. However, a level of intimacy is lost because of disobedience. There is something that happens, something that is restored, when Noah says to me, “Daddy, I’m sorry; please forgive me.”
This is not an issue of heaven and hell. I’ve heard preachers say that if you sin and then die before you confess that sin, you are going to hell. That is not biblical. Daniel Doriani, in his commentary on this, said, “That would make God’s mercy—and salvation itself—a reward for our prior act (our “work”) of showing mercy to others. ...Jesus’ point is that God forgives the penitent. That is, if we understand how precious it is to be forgiven and know how much it costs God to forgive, we will forgive others. The forgiven have motives to forgive.”
In our release from the bondage of our debt and our adoption as children of God, the realization of the enormity of the cross opens our eyes to the effect on our lives and our relationship with God. The effect of sin in our life as a believer is the injury in our relationship with God and the effect sin has on our spiritual walk.
A man once went to Alexander the Great and asked for some financial help. Alexander told the man to ask his treasurer for whatever he needed. A little later, the treasurer told Alexander he was hesitant to give the man what he had asked for because he asked for an enormous amount. Alexander replied, “Give him what he asks for, he has treated me like a KING in his asking, and I shall be like a king in my giving.”
Do you remember David? His sin was adultery and murder to satisfy his lusts. The results were disastrous in his life, including the death of his child and the conflict in his house. Nathan comes to David and reveals to him the sin, to which David responds,
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. (2 Samuel 12:13)
The judicial sin was taken care of, but there was the parental sin. There was a distance that was brought between the Lord and David as a result of David’s sin. Later, David would write Psalm 51:
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7)
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:10–12)
There are many Christians who are walking around right now defeated, deflated, and spiritually hollow because they have unconfessed sins they need to bring before God. They have allowed sin to bring distance in their relationship. The enemy has deceived us into believing we can never overcome these things or that God is angry at us. This is the opposite of what God desires for us.
There was a little boy who built a sailboat. He made the sail and fixed it, tarred and painted it. He took it to the lake and pushed it in, hoping it would sail. Sure enough, a wisp of breeze filled the little sail, billowing and rippling along the waves. Suddenly before the little boy knew it, the boat was out of reach. All he could do was cry as he watched it sail away.
Sometime later, the little boy was downtown, walking past a second-hand store, when he saw his boat in the window. He immediately went in and told the store owner.
The shop owner said, "Actually, it’s my boat. I bought it from someone. If you want it, you have to buy it."
The kid rushed home and counted his pennies. He had just enough, so he went back and bought the little boat. He left the store and said, "You’re twice my boat. First, I made you; then I bought you!"
You are never too far away from God that he will not run to greet you, no matter how far you’ve gone. Like the Prodigal’s father who waited and watched and ran to greet his son, something a man in the East would never do. Yet that is our Heavenly Father, and you are His child. First, He provided us the Judicial Forgiveness to settle the debt of our sins through His son Jesus. Then as our Heavenly Father, He continually delights when His children come and say, I’ve messed up. I’ve sinned. Please forgive me. Which brings me to my next point: Our Forgiveness Requires Our Confession
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8–9)
Confessing our sins isn’t easy, but it is necessary to receive the joy of forgiveness we receive through both Judicial Forgiveness and Relational Forgiveness. When the crowds on the first Pentecost realized they needed salvation. Peter told them to Repent, which includes the confession of their sins:
And Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)
Likewise, believers are continually commanded to confess their sins before God daily. That is one reason why we have a time of silent confession during worship service. It is a time that you should be reflecting and confessing your sins before God.
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. (2 Samuel 12:13)
Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5)
But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8)
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16)
“Related to confession is repentance. Confession involves admitting what we did was wrong, but repentance involves a desire to change course. We acknowledge our sin and take steps to overcome and forsake it. Confession without repentance is only words. Most people will confess to sin when caught red-handed, but they may not intend to change. Their show of remorse is due to their actions' consequences, not the actions' sin. John the Baptist preached repentance in preparing the way for the Messiah: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8). In other words, John counseled his hearers not merely to confess their sins but to demonstrate by their actions that they had truly repented of them.” (Got Questions)
The result of our confession and repentance is that God takes our sins. The results of our admission and God’s forgiveness is that God:
1. It takes away our sin. "And you know that He was manifested in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. (1 John 3:5)
2. Covers our sin. "Then Yahweh God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
3. Blots out our sin. “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
4. Forgets our sin. “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.” (Hebrews 8:12)
The most amazing part of God’s forgiveness is the completeness of that forgiveness. When the priests offered sacrifices, they had to continually make sacrifices to God. Therefore the Bible tells us they were to stand while performing their duties continually. But look at what happens:
And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, (Hebrews 10:11–12)
Who is a God like You, who forgives iniquity And passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? He does not hold fast to His anger forever Because He delights in lovingkindness. 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will subdue our iniquities. And You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18–19)
Now, we have talked extensively about God’s forgiveness, but there is another aspect to the petition that we are going to look at: ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:12)
“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. (Matthew 6:14–15)
There are two aspects of forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer - Our need for God’s forgiveness and then our need to forgive each other. Most of us are great at receiving forgiveness, but what about being a forgiving person?
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16)
The only requirement for the unbeliever is to confess and repent of his sin and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Once a person has experienced the forgiveness of God, we now have the responsibility to forgive others:
bearing with one another, and graciously forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord graciously forgave you, so also should you. (Colossians 3:13)
The point that Jesus makes is that if God can forgive us, knowing the cost of that forgiveness, then we will willingly forgive others.
“Once our eyes have been opened to see the enormity of our offense against God, the injuries which others have done to us appear by comparison extremely trifling. If on the other hand, we have an exaggerated view of the offenses of others, it proves we have minimized our own.” (John Stott).
Sadly we let trivial offenses bother us and we make the trivial into mountains. The petition says, “Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors.” It is mandatory for us to forgive.
Instead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, and graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has graciously forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)
Jesus says, “In the same manner you show mercy and forgive others, so will our heavenly father show mercy.
“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. (Matthew 6:14–15)
What does that mean? We’ll find out next week.
Before we sing and then leave, a response is imperative for you to give this morning, not to me or the person sitting next to you, but to the Lord. You see, if forgiveness is the greatest need of a man or woman and God’s gift of forgiveness is perfected through His own Son, Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus and Jesus alone that God’s judicial and parental forgiveness is provided.
Now some of you may be sitting there, asking yourself, ‘why?’ Why could not God provide other means so there are many avenues to His forgiveness? The answer is because when God gave something as payment on your behalf for the forgiveness of your sins, past, present, and future - for the judicial payment of that debt, and the atonement thereafter - He sent the very best, His one and only son.
There is a longing in your soul today that only God can fill because that longing is a void where God should be. Instead, we try everything we can to fill that void with things. Money, sex, relationships, possessions, anger, worry, addictions, etc. What you need is to allow God’s forgiveness to replace those idols, and the way you do that is to confess to God that you are holding onto these things in your life and ask for Him to forgive you, and as He forgives, you completely let go of these things. When you do that, the Holy Spirit will invade those places where you once held the idols in your heart.
There are only two choices before you today. Will you choose to follow Jesus with his forgiveness, or will you reject his forgiveness and continue to live as you are? Moses said, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Some of you today need to receive the judicial forgiveness for your sins - you are on the path to eternal punishment. Others here today are living an empty faith because you need to come to your Heavenly Father and tell Him you are sorry.
“Well, Brad, what do I have to do?”
ABC’s of Salvation
