LESSON SIX

FORGIVE US OUR SINS

AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US

Text: Matthew 6:7–15; Psalm 51:1–19

Lesson Summary: Repentance is the daily reality of a Christian. We are repeatedly confronted by the
reality of our sinfulness, but God does not condemn us; instead, he draws us to repentance through his
kindness.
Lesson Application: Repentance means taking full responsibility for our sin, but it also means we throw
ourselves onto the unfailing love of God that he has shown to us in Christ.
Lesson Introduction: Which is more difficult for you: asking God to forgive you or forgiving a person who
has sinned against you?

Lesson Discussion:
 When we pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors," we are asking God to
forgive our sins according to the same standard we have used in forgiving the sins of others.
 Matthew 18:21-35. "Then Peter came to Him and said, 'Lord, how many times could my brother sin
against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Ί tell you, not as many as seven,' Jesus said
to him, 'but seventy times seven'"
 We suffer because we who have been forgiven have harbored an unforgiving spirit.
 According to John R. Rice “Though all my trespasses are already forgiven me (Col. 2:13) and not one
of them can ever be charged against me to the condemnation of my soul, yet God is displeased
when I sin and sin interferes with the communion of the child with his "Father which is in heaven."
Referring to the salvation of my soul, my sins are already all forgiven. But when fresh sin comes
between the happy fellowship of the Father and child, then that sin needs to be removed, that is,
forgiven, in the secondary sense. And this daily cleansing and daily restoration of intimate, sweet
fellowship with the Father we cannot have unless we forgive others their sins against us!2”
 When Jesus says we should pray, "Forgive us our debts," justification is not in view. He is speaking
to his own disciples, to those who are already justified. This petition is not for unbelievers; it is for
believers who have already been justified. It is the already justified who are told to pray, "Forgive us
our debts."
 Jesus is teaching us that day by day as we sin we need to confess our sins, and we need to be
forgiven of our sins day by day.
 Forgiveness always begins with God.
 Forgiveness begins with God. It never begins with us. Every blessing we receive—salvation,
forgiveness, justification, the new birth, new life in the Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to
name only a few— starts with God and comes down to us.
 God is always the source of forgiveness. The blood of Christ is always the ground of forgiveness. A
repentant heart is always the condition of forgiveness. A forgiving spirit is always the evidence of
forgiveness. The removal of sin and restoration of fellowship is always the result of forgiveness.
 On the basis of God's forgiveness, we are called to forgive others. If we refuse to forgive as we have
already been forgiven (at the moment we trusted Christ), we will not be forgiven (in terms of the
moment-by-moment cleansing we need to maintain intimate fellowship with God).
 The real condition of the forgiveness of sins is a repentant heart.
 "God forgives only the penitent and one of the chief evidences of true penitence is a forgiving
 spirit."6
 We don't see ourselves as great sinners; therefore, we do not appreciate how greatly God has
forgiven us.

Conclusion:
 You are never closer to the grace of Jesus Christ than when you confess your sins to him. Are you
laboring under a burden of guilt because of foolish things you have said or done? A sense of your
own sin is a sign of God's grace at work in your heart. When you cry out, "God be merciful to me, a
sinner," you will find that the Father will not turn you away. You are never more like Jesus than
when you forgive those who have sinned against you. Do you want to be like Jesus? Become a great
forgiver. Jesus was a forgiving man. He came to create a race of forgiving men and women.
 You will never fully enter into your freedom in Christ until you learn the freedom of forgiveness.
The two freedoms go together. As long as you hold on to your resentments, you are still chained to
the past. You only hurt yourself. By refusing to forgive, you block off the channel of God's blessing
in your life. Although there is freedom in Christ, the unforgiving Christian knows nothing about it.
He is still in bondage to the remembered hurts from the past. Until those chains are broken by a
decisive act of forgiveness, he will remain a slave to the past.

Further Reflection:
1. What are some of the "debts" for which you need forgiveness by God? How is the blood of Christ
the ground of our forgiveness?
2. Do you agree that even though we are justified by grace, Christians still need to pray for daily
forgiveness from the Lord?
3. Why is it often hard for us to forgive those who have sinned against us? How does our own pride
play into our refusal to forgive? Why is humility necessary on our part to forgive others?