VII. “And forgive us our debts,”
A. Spurgeon notes, “No prayer of mortal men could be complete without confession of sin. Prayer which does not seek for pardon will fail, as the Pharisee’s prayer did.”
B. This petitions God as supreme Judge.
1. “Us” - those currently in the body of Christ.
a) This prayer is for those who have already been absolved of their ultimate condemnation and are seeking an open walk and constant relationship.
b) This is our greatest need and should be our greatest desire, to walk in God’s righteousness through His power and forgiveness. (1 Jn.1:9)
2. “Our debts”
a) We have the debt of our sins to pay. (Rom.6:23)
b) In Judaism sins were thought of as debts to God.
(1) Old Testament - required animal sacrifice to earn God’s favor and entrance into the Holy of Holies.
(2) New Testament - requires acceptance of Jesus as sufficient blood sacrifice.
C. We must ask for forgiveness in order to properly approach God in a right relationship with Him and, as seen in the next phrase, with others.
VIII. “As we forgive our debtors.”
A. This is further explained in the verses following the Lord’s Prayer (Mt.6:14-15)
1. We are unable to receive the forgiveness of Christ if we are not first willing to allow God to be Judge over all.
2. Expresses the nature of our depravity and calls us to constant humility. (Paul is a standing example of this.)
B. This petition releases us from bitterness, a caustic nature, anxiety and the destruction of hatred and ensures our ability to manifest the fruits of the Spirit in the lives of others.
C. We forgive because we have been forgiven on account of Christ’s merits.
D. This point is further emphasized in the parable of the two debtors (Mt.18:21-35)
No comments:
Post a Comment