Matthew 6:12 “Debtors 2”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹²and forgive to us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.

Forgiveness. As I savored in my last post, forgiveness is a wonderful thing. “The wages of sin is death.” Sin is an infinite offense because the God we offend and His justice are infinite. That infinite debt of death we owe because of our sins we cannot pay. We’ll praise Jesus through all eternity that He “paid it all!” “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased us for God from every tribe and language and people and nation!” (Rev. 5:9).

As wonderful as that is, yet here we are still asking the Lord to “forgive us our debts.” Jesus “paid it all.” Why then are we still asking forgiveness? It is because Jesus not only paid for our sins, but His death granted us another wonderful gift. We acknowledge it in the very opening words of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father…”

Our Father. Our sin debt had to be paid before God the eternal Judge. Now we call Him “Father!” Without Jesus, our sins were a judicial matter. It was all about broken laws and guilt and penalties, about a Great White Throne and a Judge and the justice He must execute. Now, suddenly we call Him Father. For those who have accepted Jesus’ salvation, this whole business of our sins is no longer judicial. It is now familial. It’s family business.

It is monumentally important that you and I understand this wondrous transformation. Those very first words remind us that our lives are now a family business. When we approach the Lord, Jesus Himself would remind us we are addressing our Father. “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:15,16).

May I insert here that it took me over thirty years to understand this?  And if I could, may I say I fear few Christians I’ve ever known understand it. I fear that most of us should actually begin our prayers with “Your Honor…” Almost everything you hear about forgiveness and the way people talk about it, they’re still seeing God as their Judge. No! Jesus says to come to Him very deliberately seeing Him as our Father.

What is the difference? A judge cannot allow his own emotions or attachments to impact his responsibility to mete out justice. The accused are either guilty or not guilty. If they’re guilty, he must execute justice or be an unjust judge. Even if the accused was his own child, justice still must be served. With a father, it is (or should be) all about love, not justice. A father (or mother) can never stop seeking the welfare of their child.

For example, when it comes to money and the possibility I might “cheat” someone, it is easy for me to say, “That isn’t even possible. I fear God. I don’t want to have to explain to Him why someone else’s money is in my account.” Many would hear me say that and think I’m afraid of God’s judgment. That actually isn’t strictly true. What I mean is, “My Father loves me way too much to let me get away with cheating other people. I am quite sure, if I do, He will soon have me over His knee – and I don’t like His spankings!” It is also true that I love Him and don’t want to be doing things I know displease Him. I enjoy sitting in His lap with His big arms around me. The Lord’s spankings aren’t a matter of justice or an angry judge. They’re about a Father who loves me, who cares who I am and what I’m becoming.

Although I don’t think I understood this in my relationship with God, yet with my own children, I remember living under the constant awareness it was my responsibility to guide who they became. Their mother and I often reminded each other that each child would one day be 18 and walk out of our house. When they did, they’d better be ready to live in a real world. They’d better be ready to work (hard). They’d better be ready to be honest, dependable, kind, respectful of authority, …all the things we must be in order to “get along” in this world. Even when they needed correction (lest they learn bad habits), I can honestly say there was never one second when I didn’t love them. Their corrections weren't given as an angry judge, but rather as a father who loved them too much to let them get away with behaviors I knew would wreck their lives.

I may have been wrong (and often was). There may be things I wish I had done (but didn’t), and things I wish I hadn’t done (but did), but I can at least say before God that I was sincerely trying to love them. Although I may not have understood it exactly in my relationship with God, yet I did understand it in relation to my own children. Even their “sins” and even if those “sins” were directed at me personally (like sassing), the issue was never justice, but rather love for them and concern for who they’d become.

Let us all be reminded, when we pray, Jesus says to approach God as “Our Father.” Even when we’re praying “Forgive us our debts,” let us remember we’re dealing with our Father, not our Judge. Our prayers are family business – they’re all about a relationship between us and a Heavenly Father who loves us, who will never “leave us nor forsake us,” and who is absolutely committed to our best eternal welfare. Confession of sin is not about paying a debt or getting out of jail. It’s about treasuring a relationship – with our Father!