FORGIVE

THIS IS TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP – PASTOR RYAN LADEN

If you have been following along all week as we have been listening to the model prayer of Jesus Christ, then you might be ready to close your eyes and quote the prayer yourself.

If you are not ready for that, then pray aloud the following:

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation (time of trial), but deliver us from the evil one.’”

Matthew 6:9-13 NIV-11
(“time of trial” added by Ryan Laden)

Revisit

Today we are going to revisit the call to forgive as heard in verse 12. Many people who love the Lord and want to live out his will in their lives struggle with this call to forgive those who have hurt them in their past.

While it might be natural to struggle with forgiveness, it is not God’s will that his people should withhold forgiveness. We are clearly called by God to allow the gift of forgiveness given to us by Jesus Christ to flow through us into the lives of those around us.

We cannot pretend that our refusal to forgive is somehow excusable and acceptable in God’s eyes because the Lord has made forgiveness of others a massive priority for the believer in Jesus.

Relationship

Just following the model prayer, Jesus continued in his teaching and said the following about our relationship to forgiveness:

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Matthew 6:14-15 NIV-11

Priority

Let us be real. Jesus did not give us any wiggle room here.

Forgiveness is a priority for the Lord and by extension for us. If we are going to be people that are called by his name, filled with his Spirit, joined together in his family, called as part of his body, then we must see that what we do in relation to forgiving others matters a great deal.

Struggle

If you will allow, I want to show you something about this calling to forgive.

When we think about forgiving others, we often struggle with this idea. It seems too big, too hard, too much for us to somehow release another person from the bondage created by their sin against us. We struggle with this because it is true.

We cannot forgive sin. We cannot release anyone from the consequences of their actions. We cannot forgive as the Lord forgives. We are categorically incapable of this kind of forgiveness.

Language

Let me explain using the language of sin.

When we speak of the forgiveness of our sins, that which Jesus Christ has done for us, we are thinking of a category of failure that goes by the Greek word ἁμαρτία – Hamartia. The following is an example of how this word is used.

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Matthew 26:28 NIV-11

What we find in the model prayer, verse 12, is a different term, ὀφείλω – Opheliō. This term is used to describe an actual debt. Something that you owe to someone else. Your failure in this regard cost them something and they have now forgiven you at their own expense.

What we find in Matthew 6:14-15 is another term, παράπτωμα – Paraptoma. This is a term used to describe the breaking of a law. It is a more precise form of failure that needs forgiving.

Point

Then point behind bringing up these words is this…
 

Only Jesus forgives sin.
And he has forgiven you for all of yours.

The debts that others owe you due to their personal failures and the transgressions of others against your rights and rules need to receive your forgiveness. But your forgiveness is not of the same nature and capacity as that of the Lord.

All we can do is stop counting their debts. We can stop reliving their failures against us. We can only let go of what belongs to us. We own the pain that they have brought into our lives, and we can choose to set ourselves free from this pain as we forgive others.

Live Free

If you are not ready to follow the call of Christ to forgive at this time, then you need to spend time in prayer with the Lord.

Talk to the Lord about your hurt and allow him to minister to you so that you can one day soon live free of the pain of unforgiveness.

In Christ,

Ryan Laden

OUR MISSION AS A CHURCH

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