What does Matthew 6:14-15 mean?
Matthew 6 does not teach that our eternal destiny is based on our forgiving other people; however, it does teach that our relationship with God will be damaged if we refuse to pardon those who have offended us. The Bible is clear that God pardons sin by His grace based on Christ’s work on the cross alone, not on man’s actions. Our right standing before Him is established on one thing only—the finished work of Christ (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10). The penalty for the sin that is rightly ours is paid by Christ, and we obtain it by grace through faith, not by any righteous deeds of our own (Ephesians 2:8-9). No one will be able to stand before God demanding that his sins be forgotten simply because he has forgiven others. Only when we are born again and given a new life through God’s Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ are our sins forgiven. Therefore, Jesus is not referring to God’s initial act of forgiveness (reconciliation) that we experienced when we first believed the Gospel.
What He is referring to is the day-to-day cleansing we obtain when we confess our sins in order to restore fellowship with our heavenly Father—the fellowship which is interrupted by the daily tarnishing of sin that affects us all. This is not the wholesale cleansing from sin that comes with salvation by grace through faith, but is more like the foot-washing Jesus describes in John 13:10. The “whole body is clean,” He told the disciples, but their feet were dirty from their walking in the world. Forgiveness in this sense is what God threatens to withhold from Christians who refuse to forgive others.
In Matthew 6 Jesus is teaching disciples how to pray and in doing so outlines how we are restored into intimacy with God whenever we have displeased Him. In fact, Jesus instructs us to build into our prayers a request for God to forgive us in the same way that we have forgiven others who have harmed us (Matthew 6:12). If there are those we have not forgiven when we ourselves pray for forgiveness, then practically speaking we are asking God not to restore a right relationship with us after we sin. To emphasize the importance of restoring broken relationships with our brothers and sisters, Jesus states that asking for God’s forgiveness for one’s own sins, all the while withholding forgiveness from someone else, is not only bizarre but hypocritical. We cannot possibly walk with God in true fellowship if we refuse to forgive others.
To be sure, an unforgiving spirit is a serious sin and should be confessed to God. If we have unforgiveness in our hearts against someone else, then we are acting in a way that is not pleasing to God, making our prayers and a proper living relationship with Him difficult. God will not hear our prayers unless we also show ourselves ready to grant forgiveness. If we are harder than iron in this regard, Christ’s exhortation ought to soften us.
A second biblically plausible interpretation of Matthew 6:14-15 is that it is saying anyone who refuses to forgive others is demonstrating that he has not truly received Christ’s forgiveness himself. Any sin committed against us, no matter how terrible, is trivial in comparison to our sins against God. If God has forgiven us of so much, how could we refuse to forgive others of so “little”? Matthew 6:14-15, according to this view, proclaims that anyone who harbors un-forgiveness against others has not truly experienced God’s forgiveness. Both interpretations strongly deny that salvation is dependent on our forgiving others. Whether Matthew 6:14-15 is speaking of “relational forgiveness,” or whether it is a declaration that un-forgiveness is the mark of an unbeliever, the core truth is the same. We should forgive others because God, through Christ, has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). It is inconceivable that someone who has truly experienced God’s forgiveness could refuse to grant forgiveness to others.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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Thanks for expressing that in a clear, Biblical way. I’m sure it will convict and therefore bless many. And may He continue to bless you with the gift of writing these messages dear brother.
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Thank you, Linda. However, the credit and praise goes to God.. Amen.
God bless you always.
Yours in Christ,
Michael
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Amen
Michael
I wonder if I can call you my spiritual brother, for God’s article through you has a good effect on me. God Bless you brother. Hallelujah Our God is a great God.
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These are the most specific verses identifying the family relations of Jesus Christ.
Christ understood who His physical family was. But many today twist His words to make it seem as if Jesus portrayed the Church—His spiritual family—to be His blood relatives.
This false assumption comes from Matthew 12:46-50 (NKJV): “While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, ‘Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.’ But He answered and said to the one who told Him, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.’”
In this passage, Jesus taught that those in the Church who seek God’s will were His spiritual brothers and sisters, and that these relationships were more meaningful and lasting than those shared with physical family. Jesus was not denying His blood relatives; rather, He used them as an example to portray a much greater family relationship.
My question to you is simply this: “Are you in the true Church and Do you seek God’s will?” If you answer yes, then we are spiritual brothers through faith in Jesus Christ.
I am pleased that the article brought a good effect upon you and you are able to rejoice in it.
May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob bless and keep you always.
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Well I’m not perfect I sin a lot, but I’m saved by Jesus Christ our Lord. And I believe has a plan for me which I try my best to do.
As of Church I am a member of the Universal Church(Universal meaning Catholic) and I am the Church of the Holy Spirit, and I try to live my life as a living worship.
And I’m glad in the fact the we are brothers. Amen. Hallelujah God Bless you tooo!
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Nor am I perfect. We all sin and we all fall short of the glory of God.
There are things concerning the Catholic Church which are not biblical. In the long run, however, I am pleased you are worshipping with other believers and learning more about God our Father.
Yes, we can rejoice in having spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ.
Thank you for your response.
God bless.
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Amen God bless you too.
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Amen to this! I really do believe we receive forgiveness in the same measure we are willing to dole it out to others. So while we may be saved, we are not in right relationships with Him. The woman with the perfume always comes to mind, “Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”
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Hello, insanity;
The alabaster box of which you refer. The Bible speaks of an alabaster box [perfume] in the two incidents involving women, one of whom was Mary of Bethany, who brought ointment in the box to anoint Jesus just prior to His crucifixion. To avoid confusion with our readers allow me add: The fact that both women carried an alabaster box of ointment with which to anoint Jesus as He was eating a meal has given rise to a certain amount of confusion about these two separate incidents involving two different women. Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, and John 12:1-8 all speak of the same event involving Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, at the home of Simon the leper, probably a leper who had been healed by Jesus and had become one of His followers.
On the other hand, Luke 7:36-50 speaks of the house of Simon the Pharisee rather than the house of Simon the leper. This event occurred about a year before the crucifixion in the area around Galilee (Luke 7:1, 11). The woman here was forgiven of many sins, but her name is not given.
I believe you make a very good point and use a very good scriptural message to articulate it. I think too, when we are under attack, we tend to harbor feelings of resentment. People may feel resentful when they are cheated on, stolen from, or lied to. Often times these feelings of resentment are hard to forgive and to forget. “True forgiveness should ultimately include forgetting.” First there is “genuine forgiveness” and there is the question of “Does the Bible instruct us to forgive and forget?” [I am going to share with you, and our readers, a response I gave another in regards to this (please bear with me).]
As to the latter? The Bible does not mention forgetting transgressions against us; but it does say that we are to forgive others “as” Christ has forgiven us”. What this means is “when Christ forgave us our sin, He kept no record of our sins”. All of our sins and transgressions were stricken from our record and are never to be brought up or mentioned again. That is how we are to forgive other “if” we are to follow Christ’s teaching on forgiveness.
It is hard sometimes to do this and we have tendencies to bring it up in our minds and hearts over and over until it brings bitterness and strife into our lives. But if we genuinely “turn it over to God” we immediately feel it lifted from our heart, mind, body and soul.” Turn your feelings of “un-forgetfulness” over to God and let Him deal with the consequences. You will be surprised at the feelings of rest and joy doing so brings.
Thank you for your comment, insanity, it is always greatly appreciated.
May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob bless and keep you and yours.
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