Matthew 6:14 Commentary and Bible Study

The second half of verse 12 is explained by Christ in these two verses, but the explanation is delayed until the prayer is finished so as not to interrupt it. This is the only petition that is commented on by the Lord, and which has a condition attached to it. Pink suggests this is because of the painful nature of the duty enforced.There is a symmetry to verse 12 and the two parts are linked by the little word ‘as’. God’s forgiveness of our debts is linked to our forgiveness of the debts of others to us. But why does the Lord link these two things together and what is the connection between them? In a prayer that is asking God to freely forgive us, it is rather surprising that Christ inserts a condition that we have to fulfil. And yet the words are very clear: we will not receive forgiveness ourselves if we are unwilling to show it to others. He puts into our mouths a claim that we have forgiven other as we ask God for forgives from him in turn. We cannot evade the force of these words by saying that we are deprived only of the comfort of forgiveness, but still receive pardon from God. The words are much stronger than that. This verse cannot teach that we earn the forgiveness of God by first forgiving others their debts to us. That would be to make our forgiveness a work, and God’s forgiveness a reward, but we are saved by grace through faith and not because we deserve it. We cannot buy God’s forgiveness. Neither are we able to do any good deeds acceptable to God before we have been cleansed from our sins; Scripture always puts God’s forgiveness first (2 Peter 1:9). Christ does not teach us to pray ‘because we forgive our debtors’, but ‘as we forgive our debtors’. Our forgiving others is not a cause of God forgiving us. The Scofield Reference Bible sees law and not grace in this passage. It says that the teaching of this passage does not apply to Christians living under grace. This is such a serious mistake not only because it assumes that the way of salvation can change from one age to the next, but because it suggests that there could ever be a time when reciprocal forgiveness of others was not necessary. However, there never has been and there never will be a time when God does not require us to show the same mercy to others that we expect to receive from him [An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, Pink]. We are uncomfortable with the strong connection the Lord makes between God’s forgiveness and ours, because we feel it takes away from free grace, but Christ puts it this way deliberately, even though he came to bring a free salvation. The obtaining of forgiveness from God is always accompanied by a change of heart. That new heart does not earn grace – the new nature is itself a gift from God – but it must be present, and the willingness to forgive others is a key indicator that it is. I come to God as a sinner, having a debt to him which dwarfs all debts on earth, and which I can never pay off. What I ask for is unreasonable to ask, and yet he gives it to me. How can I ask sincerely while am still while I have no intention of forgiving a much smaller debt? I am dealing on a legal basis with another, while I expect God to set aside the law and deal on a gracious basis with me. Calvin says, ‘This condition is added, that no one may presume to approach God and ask forgiveness, who is not pure and free from all resentment.’ To harbour resentment and to be unwilling to forgive those who ask for our forgiveness, while at the same time requesting the forgiveness of God, is to play the hypocrite before him. Those who have truly received mercy and understood what they have received will always be made merciful. The one who fails to forgive minor offences shows that he is a stranger to God’s grace and mercy. This attitude is present in all newly converted people, but it also continues throughout the Christian life (Matthew 18:23-35).