Studies in the Lord's Prayer By PHILIP FOSTER
Part 6: The Lord's Prayer
"As we forgive..."
All bible quotes from the NIV)
JESUS makes something very plain: "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12).
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matthew 6:14).
Then He further drives this point home in the parable of the unforgiving servant.
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just
between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that `every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to
listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my
Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, `Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?'
Jesus answered, `I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the
settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
The servant fell on his knees before him. `Be patient with me,' he begged, `and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow-servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. `Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
His fellow-servant fell to his knees and begged him, `Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly
distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
Then the master called the servant in. `You wicked servant,' he said, `I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow-servant just as I had on you?'
In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart'" (Matthew 18:15-35).
The clear and unambiguous teaching here is that:
1. If God has forgiven us our sins we MUST forgive others who sin against us.
Firstly because nothing anyone has ever done to us, however bad, can compare with what we have done against God. If we can get that
perspective clear, forgiving others should be straightforward.
2. If we do not forgive others it shows we have not been forgiven: if we knew just how much we have been forgiven, we would not act like that:
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart" (Matthew 18:35).
3. If we are the guilty party:
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23).
So holding a grudge against another who has sinned against you is sin.
Failing to go to our brother and asking for forgiveness is sin.
Now most of us I am sure have read or heard sermons about that — not that it makes it easier, but we are aware of this danger. If we do not forgive another then we are binding ourselves (and to a degree them) in a web of unforgiveness.
"Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
The consequences of our unforgiving attitude are profound. I want to underline that.
But now I want to deal with the other side of this, which I think can be overlooked.
Unforgiveness, bitterness, the holding of grudges etc is, of course, something Satan likes to tie Christians up with. If he can get us to do that then he effectively disables us. But if he can't, then he has another tactic. And, as usual, it is from the opposite
extreme.
Although we might not always put it this way, his other tactic is to
suggest that Christians must always
forgive others — whether these others have asked for forgiveness or not.
This of course sounds very impressive and very loving — but I would put it to you that this is not in the bible.
Jesus said: "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
How and when does God forgive us? When we repent! If WE do not repent, then God does NOT forgive us.
The story about the unforgiving servant also illustrates this. The other servant begged for forgiveness. The unforgiving servant refused it. The master forgave when the first servant begged for forgiveness, but otherwise was going to exact justice. Nowhere does Jesus ever suggest God is
required to forgive the unrepentant — the ignorant possibly — I'll come back to that in a moment.
But we do need to make this clear. We are NOT expected to try to forgive those who have not asked for it. God does not do it — He will not expect us to do what He does not do.
But, as I said, Satan has a wonderful time with Christians on this one. Trying to get them to work up feelings of forgiveness to people who refuse to ask for pardon. And we find it next to impossible — for good reason: it cannot be done! Forgiveness by definition requires repentance. You can't have it without. Like a `free north pole', like a one sided plate!
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that `every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
It is quite clear that the issue is that the brother will not ask for forgiveness. For him there is no answer except
eventual expulsion.
But what should our attitude be towards such people? This is important, lest we fall back into `vengeance mode'.
1. We are still to LOVE them. That is act in a loving way towards them — not emotionally, but practically.
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But we do need to make this clear. We are not expected to try to forgive those who have not asked for it.
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"But I tell you: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:44-45).
To love them and PRAY for them. Now there is nothing `new' in this teaching.
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:17-21).
Verse 20 is a direct quote from Proverbs 25:21-22.
"If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him.
If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it" (Ex 23:4-5).
By so acting God may shame them into repentance. But if they do not then GOD will repay them—we must NOT.
"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord" (Romans 12:19).
Nowhere are we told to forgive them — that is meaningless. Yet we do get so muddled about this. We try to go beyond what God has written, and appear to be super-spiritual.
Representational repentance is so fashionable today, but once you start there really IS no limit — it's a bottomless pit.
Can I apologise to the Muslims for the crusades? But that is done because people know about it — it's public knowledge through history. But for every sin that is public knowledge there are ten million, which are not,
and God is just as concerned about them — far more so in fact. ("Cleanse me from my secret faults") My great great ... grandfather may have done something wicked to your great great.. grandfather. Can I repent on his
behalf? No — for two reasons:
1. I don't even have the first idea what he did; and much more important,
2. GOD has forbidden such things.
Even if, as some try to argue, because some such as Daniel repented on
behalf of his people, it is no longer God's way. Israel were a special people who had a NATIONAL covenant but WE do not:
"In those days people will no longer say, `The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes — his own teeth will be set on edge.
The time is coming, declares the LORD, `when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,' declares the LORD.
`This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the LORD. `I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people'" (Jer 31:29-33).
"What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: `The fathers eat sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge'? `As surely as I live,' declares the Sovereign LORD, `you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.
For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son — both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die'" (Ezek 18:2-4).
Ultimately this representational
repentance is a denial of the cross of Christ. The Muslim cannot declare, "My ancestors who fought in the crusades are forgiven." Only God can
forgive sins; and only because of the cross. If they had truly put their faith in Christ then their sin is forgiven, if not, it is not forgiven.
We are trying to do what God never asked us to do — often because it makes us feel "good".
How are we to handle the hurt we feel? Once more `reckon ourselves dead to sin'. The old life is dead with all its hurts.
Let me finish this section by addressing those passages in scripture that just might suggest forgiveness without
repentance:
"While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, `Lord Jesus, receive my spirit'.
Then he fell on his knees and cried out, `Lord, do not hold this sin against them'.When he had said this, he fell asleep" (Acts 7:59-60).
He asked God to overlook this particular act, he did not as such forgive them—he could not, but He asked God to have mercy—and indeed we know there was a consequence. Indeed he was demonstrating Matthew 5:44, praying for those who were persecuting him.
"And Saul was there, giving approval to his death" (Acts 8:1).
Later Saul was to repent of his sins, because Stephen had not asked for vengeance. "When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
Jesus said, `Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing'.
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We are often hurt by someone acting in sheer ignorance. We take offence when none was intended. Here it is not a question of forgiveness ...but overlooking
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And they divided up his clothes by casting lots" (Luke 23:33-34).
Now this needs to be clarified. Who does Jesus address here? Surely the soldiers who are `just doing their job' in great ignorance. NOT the chief priests etc, for what does Jesus say about them?
"Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation" (Matt 23:34-36).
This is what I meant earlier by sins of ignorance.
Now God in His mercy will sometimes overlook ignorance:
"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:30-31).
God overlooks (in certain instances) ignorance. There is a very important lesson for us here.
We are often hurt by someone acting in sheer ignorance. We take offence when none was intended. Here it is not a question of forgiveness on our part, but straightforward overlooking.
When I was teaching in Nigeria the English of the students was sometimes ungrammatical. Teachers had to sign completed exercise books so that the student could get a replacement. One student approached me and said, "You are to sign this!" I reacted emotionally — "what a way to address a teacher" I thought, but (just in time) I realised that no offence or insolence was intended — it was merely a grammatical mistake!
We must do this a lot more than we do now!
Conclusions
Because God forgives us through what Jesus has done on the cross, we must forgive and be forgiven predicated by the respective confessions.
About
the Author...
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Appeared in Issue 14 September 2001
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3
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