Q: I often hear people quote Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" and then say, "See, God won't forgive us if we don't forget others." But is this true? Does His forgiveness really depend on whether or not I forgive others? I thought we are forgiven through faith alone.
A: No, it isn't true. We must remember that Matthew chronicles the time when Christ was on the earth and that He said this to people who were still under the Law (Matt 5:17-20; 19:16-19; 23:2-3, 23-27; Mk 12:28-34; Lk 10:25-28; 18:18-22), which meant faith demonstrated by works was required for salvation at that time.** Today we are forgiven past, present and future, based solely on faith in Christ's death and resurrection on our behalf.
I find it fascinating the way things are flipped around after the cross. Compare Matthew 6:14-15 with Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13:
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt 6:14-15).
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Eph 4:32).
...bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive (Col 3:13).
What a difference! Paul makes it clear that, under grace, God has already forgiven the believer all sins. Under the Law God's forgiveness was based upon a like spirit, but today we are forgiven for Christ's sake and told to forgive others as the Lord has forgiven us.
So you see, of course we should still forgive one another, not so that God will forgive us — but because God in Christ has already forgiven us!
Acts 13:38-39 tells us, "Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses."
Praise God that our forgiveness of others is not on the grounds of the Law; but of grace — after God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us all our sins and freed us from all things.
**The Law was meant to show man that it is impossible to earn salvation (Rom 3:19-20; 7:12-13).
A: No, it isn't true. We must remember that Matthew chronicles the time when Christ was on the earth and that He said this to people who were still under the Law (Matt 5:17-20; 19:16-19; 23:2-3, 23-27; Mk 12:28-34; Lk 10:25-28; 18:18-22), which meant faith demonstrated by works was required for salvation at that time.** Today we are forgiven past, present and future, based solely on faith in Christ's death and resurrection on our behalf.
I find it fascinating the way things are flipped around after the cross. Compare Matthew 6:14-15 with Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13:
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt 6:14-15).
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Eph 4:32).
...bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive (Col 3:13).
What a difference! Paul makes it clear that, under grace, God has already forgiven the believer all sins. Under the Law God's forgiveness was based upon a like spirit, but today we are forgiven for Christ's sake and told to forgive others as the Lord has forgiven us.
So you see, of course we should still forgive one another, not so that God will forgive us — but because God in Christ has already forgiven us!
Acts 13:38-39 tells us, "Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses."
Praise God that our forgiveness of others is not on the grounds of the Law; but of grace — after God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us all our sins and freed us from all things.
**The Law was meant to show man that it is impossible to earn salvation (Rom 3:19-20; 7:12-13).
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