Matthew 6:14-15

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Sermon_on_the_Mount.htm

Forgiveness is man’s greatest need because sin is man’s greatest problem.  At the end of the prayer Jesus taught His disciples Jesus added a comment explaining the portion of the prayer requesting for forgiveness of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Jesus teaches the same truth from two different perspectives in order to clarify the content of what He just taught them in the prayer.  This adds a great deal of emphasis to this teaching and we must not ignore this truth. 

THE FORGIVEN ARE FORGIVING: God forgives us from our sin based on our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  This is a judicial act that takes away our sin and reconciles us to God for all eternity.  This forgiveness is granted to us by God’s grace and mercy because of His unconditional love for us.  It is not something we can earn and it erases a debt that is impossible for us to pay which is why Jesus had to pay it for us.  Those of us who have experienced this forgiveness are inhabited by the Holy Spirit and inherit a new nature from Him that makes us like Christ.  Since it is His nature to forgive sin it now becomes part of our nature to be forgiving.  Since we recognize our sinfulness and repent of that sin and experience the grace of God’s forgiveness it becomes a part of our new nature to forgive others.  We comprehend the sinfulness of others because we recognize it in ourselves.  We are gracious to others because we have experienced the grace of God in our own lives.  It is the only logical way for us to live.

THE UNFORGIVING ARE UNFORGIVEN: There is another type of forgiveness besides judicial forgiveness that we can call relational or parental forgiveness.  Judicial forgiveness has to do with our legal standing while parental forgiveness has to do with our fellowship in our relationships.  We must be very careful not to make this teaching contradict what other Scriptures teach about God’s forgiveness.  We must not think that God’s judicial forgiveness of our sin will be canceled if we fail to forgive others.  This would make salvation dependent upon our works and not faith.  I believe that Jesus is speaking of parental or relational forgiveness in this passage.  He simply saying that if we hold grudges and have bitterness in our hearts towards those who have sinned against us instead of forgiving them; we will not be able to enjoy fellowship with God.  Our relationship with God is strained when we sin against Him.  Unforgiveness is sin.  It does not mean we lose our salvation; it simply means we don’t experience the full joy of our fellowship with God.  It may also mean we will be disciplined by God so we will come to repentance.  God’s forgiveness should make us be forgiving of others.  Those who are unforgiving certainly have reason to examine their faith to see if they have truly trusted Christ.  It is certainly possible that those who are unforgiving have not truly experienced forgiveness themselves.

APPLICATION: Be grateful to God for His forgiveness of our sins.  Graciously extend forgiveness to those who sin against us.  Reflect on God’s grace towards us when we are tempted to withhold grace to others.  Examine our own faith when we are overcome by bitterness and are unwilling to forgive.  Place great value on our fellowship with God and demonstrate it by doing all we can to maintain fellowship with the people around us.