"Forgive Us Our Sins"

This week’s sermon focused on the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” While it’s certainly easy to pray for God to forgive us of our sins which are offensive to Him, it’s often difficult for us to truly forgive others when they sin against us personally. With this petition Jesus is not merely teaching His disciples how to pray, but also how to live. The forgiveness requested is not for the purpose of receiving eternal salvation, or for entrance into the kingdom of God, but for regular cleansing from sins that all believers need. In the second clause of the petition, disciples confess “we forgive everyone who sins against us.” This is a way of life for all believers and not just a one-time thing. Jesus expects His disciples to have an attitude towards others based on the forgiveness they have received from God. Just as the disciples then, our forgiveness was solely by God’s grace, not merit. We’ve now become conduits of that same grace towards others who sin against us. Because Christ has changed our identity, we now call God father because we have been made his children. Our character, attitude, and behavior must reflect His’.