“Forgiving others is a result of Salvation”
Most of us know forgiving others is not just a good suggestion Jesus gave us. Forgiveness is a serious issue throughout the scriptures. For the first fifteen days of this month we looked at many verses speaking to us about the Lord’s forgiveness towards us. Yesterday we began our journey to learn what the Bible teaches us about forgiving one another.
Let me just say, forgiving others is not a natural human response. It is not something we want to do. But we will see in today’s scripture, Jesus is assuming that when we experience the Father’s forgiveness we will also want to forgive those who offend us.
Matthew 6:11-15
Give us today the food we need, 12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. 14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
It is funny as I was writing today’s scripture I was trying to think of why I included verse eleven. We have no problem asking God for the things we need. I do want to challenge you, rather than asking God for the things you need, thank Him for being your provider. He has already promised to provide for us if we seek Him first and do what is right.
Remember, Jesus was asked to teach His disciples how to pray. This has become possibly the most repeated prayer within scripture. Jesus dedicated four verses on the subject of forgiveness. What I want us to see today is found in verse twelve. I have read this prayer multiply times and I don’t think I have seen this before. Jesus said, “forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” The structure of this statement Jesus is assuming that we have already forgiven those who sin against us. Forgiving others becomes a result of God forgiving us. As followers of Jesus experiencing His love and forgiveness we also will love and forgive just as we have received.
Jesus then talks about temptation and the evil one. Satan will ALWAYS attempt to distract God’s children from forgiveness. Unforgiveness is bondage, we will see this throughout our scriptures this month. Jesus is telling us to pray against the enemies lies and temptations to hold onto bitterness and unforgiveness.
We have already learned, Jesus forgave the world on the cross. We must believe in His finished work and live in His forgiveness. As a result of forgiveness and salvation we will want to forgive those who hurt us so that we can remain in intimate fellowship with our Father in Heaven. This may be difficult to believe but when we are trusting and walking in the Lord’s forgiveness, forgiving others becomes a natural part of our salvation!
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