Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Matthew 6:15 "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 6:15 "But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses. |
Subject: Are we forgiven? Does anyone know? |
Bible Note: Dear Bill, I agree with most everything you have to say, and I think you may have misunderstood me. To answer your first question: does God still hold my sin against me? Of course not, and I never claimed that he did. "For Christ died for sins, ONCE FOR ALL (1 Peter 3:18)" No need to crucify him again. He has paid the price for all sins for all time. Second, I never said that YOU were denying your common ground as a sinner. I said that to believe that you need not forgive your brother is to deny such common ground. I merely interpreted the verse. My response implied no personal application whatsoever. However, I believe that the moment I refuse to forgive my brother, I have denied my common ground as a sinner, set myself outside and above Christ's law of love, etc. In Ephesians 1:7, redemption is defined as the "redemption through blood." This gives the image of the Old-Testament definition of redemption: the price paid to set a slave free from bondage (Leviticus 25:47-54). Through his death, Christ paid the price to release us from the bondage of sin. Forgiveness in the Old Testament is defined as the shedding of blood for the remission of sins (Leviticus 17:11). Jesus' blood represents the PERFECT and FINAL sacrifice. Jesus' sacrifice brings pardon, deliverance, and freedom (Romans 3:25, 5:9, Ephesians 2:13, Colossians 1:20). You forgot one thing in your list of questions. Would you have faith in God if, everytime you sinned, you asked for forgiveness? YES!!!!! Millions of people, including Christ (Matthew 6:12, Luke 11:4), make this an integral part of their prayer life. If, as you suggest, forgiveness comes with redemption and justification (as a "one-time" package), then why does Jesus teach us to pray about it? Notice the parallel between Luke 11:4 and Matthew 6:15. Luke 11:4 says "Forgive us our sins, FOR WE ALSO forgive everyone else who sins against us." It does not say, "Forgive our sins because we know you'd only do so once we forgive others." No, it says, "Forgive us our sins while we get on our horse and do our Christ-given duty of forgiving our brothers." The two events are INDEPENDENT, one does not cause the other. So in reference to your mutually exclusive statements, I agree with the second one. And I'd like to point out that I never once supported the first one. This is why I further disagree with your statement that sin plays no role in our relationship with God. Sin separates us from God (1 John 1:6). Debbie touched on this. Again, the purpose of Christ's words in Matthew 6:15 are the same as the purpose of John's words in 1 John 2:9 - to show us the correct mindset of forgiveness that we should have with others. I agree with you on everything else. I agree that at a believer's conversion, all sins are forgiven - past, present, and future. Forgiven in the sense that God will no longer hold them against us in judgment (Hebrews 10:17, Hebrews 9:25-28, 1 John 1:9). This is the HEART OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS - it frees us from the slavery we endure as unbelievers in our sinful nature. However, we as humans need to be constantly reminded that we need to EXERCISE EFFORT in continually forgiving our brothers. The whole purpose of the first 4 paragraphs is to clear up any misunderstanding that might be interpreted from my first post. I truly appreciate your commentaries and insight on this verse, because as I have presented and defended my viewpoint, I have also learned from the information you have given. Sandman |