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Forgiveness Mat 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” This is the prayer of the Saint to our Father for our good. There are 6-petitions. Three of them are for adoring God: “Hallowed be Thy Name; Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done.” Three of them are for the purpose of blessing us: “Give us this day our bread; forgive us our debts; Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Then the benediction: “For thine is the Kingdom, power and glory for ever.” The 5th petition is what I want to focus on. “Forgiveness”– the power & privilege of forgiveness. Understanding what forgiveness is and what it does involves answering two questions: “ What does the petition request?” and “What does it require?” aphieômi af-ee'-ay-mee “to banish, to put away, to dismiss once and for all.” Three versions of this petition: (Mat.6:12; Luk.11:4; Mat.6:14-15) “Forgive us our debts…” “Forgive us our sins…” “Forgive us our trespasses…” Why the difference? 5 words for “sin” paraptoôma par-ap'-to-mah [Mat.6:14] g3900 “to slip away – to slip across the line between right and wrong.” You walk and slip accidentally. There is no fault in paraptoôma but it is still wrong. It means you had no intention of hurting or offending. But you did anyway.” It has to do with trespass. parabasis par-ab'-as-is [1 Tim.2:14] g3847 “to step across – you stop and look but you do anyway. It is deliberate sin and you know better.” anomia an-om-ee'-ah g458 “to jump across – you totally ignore what the law says and you do what you want regardless of the consequences” hamartia ham-ar-tee'-ah [Luk.11:4] g266 “aiming at the target, but always missing” – you just can’t get it right. You keep trying, but keep messing up no matter what, unless you allow the One who lives inside of you to take over. It is based on self-centeredness. You say you have love for others, but you just don’t know how to express it – you keep blowing it. Literal meaning = you fail to do it, even though you keep trying to hit it or to be what you know you ought to be. You fall short of it. You can’t measure up – especially to the glory of God. This involves every one of us without exception. opheileôma of-i'-lay-mah [Mat.6:12] g3783 “failure to pay what I owe.” Because of all that God and others have done for me, I owe a debt. Then why do we have these different versions, if it is the same prayer? In Jesus’ language (Hebrew-Aramaic, Chaldean) there was only one word used in this prayer, not three. choòb khobe h2326 So Jesus said, “Dismiss all my sins of every kind” Matthew was teaching the “legalists & the Jews” so he used these two words Luke was teaching the “humanists” so he used the word to “miss the mark.” There is no real difference in any of these because the bottom line of this prayer is this: “O God, forgive me, that I have not become everything that you designed for me to be.” It is a prayer that all of us know we desperately need. “Please, Lord don’t hold my sins against me.” Now, what is the requirement to be forgiven of our sins? “O Father, forgive us when we fall short to the degree that we are willing to forgive others who fall short.” That is the requirement if we are to have this marvelous gift of forgiveness. The key is the little word “as” – “forgive us in proportion that we are willing to forgive others.” ·As others slip and fail from time to time ·As others keep hurting us because they are mean-spirited ·As others maliciously attack us ·As others just don’t know how to do what is required ·As others use us and never give anything in return This is made clear in verses 14-15. If we don’t forgive other people we will not be forgiven. And if we do forgive people we will be forgiven. So every time we pray for the Lord to forgive us while we are holding on to others’ faults, we are literally saying to the spirit realm, “Don’t forgive me!” We are saying, “Extend forgiveness just like I do.” How forgiveness must operate: (James 1:19-20) wrath = anger, indignation, vengeance You won’t bring forth the righteousness of God if you do it in anger, indignation, or vengeance. It simply says, being “mean.” When you are “mean-acting” you cannot draw on the righteousness of God. Meanness is what you draw up from your flesh. Kindness is what you draw up from the righteousness of Christ. So if you just like to be mean you are not going to have the forgiveness of God operating in you. And all that you do spiritually is in vain. “O Father, dismiss our failures, just like we dismiss the failures of others.” [Have you ever tried to keep a record of wrongs that someone has done to you? I have tried, but the Lord convicts me every time. So I choose to pray, “Lord I forgive them, and I choose not to hold on to it nor to remember it.” It works.] We are not fit to ask the Lord to forgive us when we are holding aught(anything) towards another – no matter how devastating it may be. That is being mean-spirited and the righteousness of Christ cannot manifest. The first step of forgiveness is to get all unforgiveness rooted out of us. This is the heart of God – above all else that God does for us today is to forgive those who are willing to forgive others. “As” – not only does it mean to the degree that I am forgiving others, it also means, “while or also” “Forgive us our debts as we also or while we are forgiving those who sin against us.” The only time we are capable of being forgiven is “while we are forgiving.” Jesus goes on to say, “And if you don’t forgive you can’t be forgiven, and if you do forgive you can be forgiven.” God wants to forgive, but many times we shut the door and can’t receive it. “Whatsoever a man sows, that will he also reap.” “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” “Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together and running over, shall men give unto your bosom” – forgiveness. Forgive us, Lord, dismiss our sins, the times we slipped, the times we charged across, the times we did it on purpose, the times we tried and just kept failing, and every other time when we should have been doing something I didn’t do or we didn’t do something we should have done. -Pr. Steve February Newsletter 2004 | Forgiveness | Test of Perseverance part 2 of 2 | Pastor's Journal February 2003 Holding Truth in Humility | Keep Moving Forward | Be Not Fruitless or Barren Part 2 of 3 |
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