Core verse:
“…and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our
debtors”. (Matthew 6:12 MKJV)
Why should we ask for forgiveness of sins? Why
is it important to ask for forgiveness? Why should we forgive others, including
our enemies?
In our previous post we
discussed how God will provide for believers! Jesus taught us to pray: ““…and forgive us our debts” and
right after that He prayed: “give us our
daily bread”! The “debts” in this case the sins refer to the sins of a person. This
is probably no coincidence. Jesus is recognizing the needs of the flesh as well
as the needs of the spirit. The needs of the flesh are food, daily. The needs for
the spirit are the forgiveness of God, as Jesus said in Luke 4:4:
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written that
"man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God." (Luke 4:4 MKJV)
By praying the Lord’s Prayer and the core
verse we recognize that we are accountable for our sins and that we, alone, can’t
pay for it ourselves! That is why we need Jesus! He paid the ultimate price on
the cross and because of that our sins can be forgiven! But first we must
recognize that we have sinned and that we need Jesus for forgiveness!
There is a second part in our core verse. That is “as we also forgive our debtors”. In
other words that is that we should forgive other people that wronged or sinned
against us! I must point out at this stage that you can only be saved through
Christ: “There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus“(Romans 8:1 MKJV). You cannot
be saved by doing deeds! That includes forgiving others, as forgiving others is
also a deed. The forgiveness of others cannot be a requirement for sins being
forgiven by God. Jesus paid the ultimate price.
The “as
we also forgive our debtors” rather refers to the relationship you have with others. Jesus said: “and (love) your neighbor as yourself” (Luke
10:27 MKJV). Christians should love everyone as him or herself, even your
enemies. How can you love your enemies in this way if you don’t forgive them?
Pray, always, that God will forgive you and
always forgive others in order to try and keep at peace with them!
Till next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment