1036. Will God Forgive You if You Don't Forgive Others?

Jesus made a statement to His disciples after giving them what is commonly referred to as The Lord's Prayer in Matthew Chapter 6.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

As we compare this to some things Paul said about forgiveness in Ephesians chapters 1 and 4 (for example), we'll see a contrast. Did Paul and Jesus have a theological disagreement? Of course, this is not the case. But something changed from the time Jesus said what He said to His disciples before the cross, and when Paul was writing to believers after the cross. Forgiving others is important ... but it is not required as some sort of quid pro quo in order to be forgiven by God. But the power of God abiding in us will help us to forgive when we think it seems too difficult.



   
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890. Old Way: Forgive to Be Forgiven; New Way: Forgive Because You’re Forgiven

When Jesus was explaining to His Jewish disciples how they should pray at that time—before the cross—one of the things within the prayer was that they should ask the Father to forgive them based upon how they forgive others. Immediately after this, Jesus told them if they didn't (perfectly) forgive others, God would not forgive them. What a monstrous statement! Does it apply to believers in Christ? This was how it was before the cross. We're taking a look at the context of what Jesus was sharing with His listeners who were still stuck in a hopeless situation under the law when it came to attaining righteousness, forgiveness, and eternal life. If what Jesus stated at that time was true for all future believers after the cross, then His blood was shed needlessly.

On the subject of forgiveness, one of the biggest differences between the Old Covenant compared to the New ... is that forgiveness came through the finished work of Jesus and His blood, which was shed once. As Paul explained, we don't forgive others in order to receive forgiveness from God, but we now have the grace to forgive others because God has already forgiven us.



   
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599. The Lord’s Prayer Part 7: Forgive Us Only if We Forgive Others

Under the law from the Old Covenant, a temporary covering of forgiveness was provided to the Jews based upon certain conditions. In the New Covenant, we now have the revelation that forgiveness from God came unconditionally through the blood of Jesus Christ. God took away the sins of the world and declared He would remember them no more. We recommend resting in Christ’s finished work, rather than going back to an Old Covenant mindset that will put the responsibility upon you instead of Jesus. The Lord was showing His disciples they needed to pray for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done (the cross), because they were in a hopeless situation in having to depend on their ability instead of God’s. In the New Covenant, we forgive because we’re forgiven, not to get forgiveness. Finally, it’s important to recognize that not a single apostle from the New Testament instructed or encouraged believers to pray this prayer… Because Jesus already fulfilled what the prayer was seeking. It was given to His disciples to pray prior to the cross.



   

598. The Lord’s Prayer Part 6: Broken Bread - Now Risen & Given

Following up on Jesus as the Bread of Life that came from heaven… The bread (His body) had been broken, as symbolized during The Last Supper, but the Bread was also risen with a new body, and raised us with Him. Some assume The Lord’s Prayer is a model for us today and that it encourages us to ask God to meet our daily needs of food, drink, etc. However, shortly after providing this prayer to His disciples, Jesus told them not to worry about such things nor to seek after them, as non-Jewish people would do. God knows we need food and clothes! Instead, it would become their mission to seek the Kingdom of God, and the gift of His righteousness. As believers in a New Covenant, we no longer seek the kingdom and His righteousness, because we have received them through Christ, who now abides in us, and we in Him.



   

597. The Lord’s Prayer Part 5: Give Us Our Daily Bread (Jesus)

If we try to make an Old Covenant prayer relevant for us today, it results in all kinds of different and varied interpretations on how it should be applied to our lives. In spite of the repetition with The Lord’s Prayer, very few people can assert with much confidence what it is they are praying about. As we begin to understand the context of why it was given to Jesus’ disciples to pray before the cross and not after, we’ll realize why there was never any instruction to pray this prayer from the apostles who wrote epistles in the New Testament… not once. This week, on the subject of our daily bread, we’ll cross-reference John Chapter 6, where Jesus identified Himself as the living bread that came from heaven to do God’s will. What specifically was the bread that would give life to the world? Jesus said it was his flesh (body). Bread that would be broken through His suffering, but would rise when made new, and we were raised with Him. In a new and better covenant, there is no longer the need to ask for what God has given (Jesus, His Son).



   

596. The Lord’s Prayer Part 4: On Earth as It Is in Heaven

On the last program in our series with The Lord’s Prayer, we discovered “God’s will” in regards to redemption was the sacrifice of Christ, as explained in Hebrews chapter 10. The sacrifice would be done on the earth, but after the sacrifice, Christ would not enter a tabernacle that was temporary, made by human hands, which were only copies and shadows of the original. He would enter the perfect tabernacle, into heaven itself, where He would appear on our behalf with a better sacrifice that would not need to be repeated. The prayer Jesus taught His disciples before the cross was seeking this will to be done. For us who are under a New Covenant, we now recognize the will of God has been done and accomplished through Christ, on earth as it is in heaven. This poses the question: Why ask for God to perform (again) what has already been done?



   

595. The Lord’s Prayer Part 3: Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done

In Part 3 of our series on The Lord’s Prayer, we shed more light on why this was a prayer given by Jesus to Jewish people under the first covenant, and not for those of us who are Gentiles. It was meant to be used before the cross, not after. The kingdom has already come in the Person of Jesus Christ; a kingdom must have a king, and they cannot be separated. This wasn’t referring to a future kingdom to come at the end of the world, but Jesus was speaking about something more imminent, meant for those people, at that time. In referring to God’s will being done, this wasn’t pointing towards things that occur in our daily lives, or with world events, it was about redemption that Christ would bring by doing the will of God with a sacrifice to end all sacrifices. The Kingdom has come, the King is now within you, and God’s will was done through Him. There is no need to request something from God that has already been accomplished.



   

594. The Lord’s Prayer Part 2: Our Father In Heaven

Continuing with our series on The Lord’s Prayer and why Jesus provided it for Jews to pray; we look at the opening to the prayer, which acknowledges the Father in heaven.  Some have believed the Jewish people under the law would not have understood the concept of God as Father, but there are a number of Old Testament passages that reveal otherwise.  The prayer intro was not a new revelation to His disciples, they understood God as Father, in heaven, and that His name was holy.  However, they didn’t have the concept that we now have in the New Covenant…That is, Christ in you.  A better covenant has revealed to us that God doesn’t abide just in heaven, but has relocated by His Spirit to abide in us.  Another clue this was a guide to be prayed only for those under the Old Covenant - Jesus did not instruct them to pray “in His name” as he would later tell the disciples to do under the New Covenant.



   

593. Context Leading up to The Lord’s Prayer

This is the first in a series of programs we’ll be doing on the subject of what is referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer.” What was it that led to Jesus telling the Jewish people under the law to pray in this way? Is it something that was meant to be repeated by people for generations to come? Right before Jesus encourages His disciples to pray in this manner during the Sermon on the Mount, He had given them a message of hopelessness and despair. He told them that by the standard of the law and commandments, they were required to be perfect. This meant right-standing with God was out of their reach, which is why they (the Jews) would need “to pray in this way.” But before the prayer is spoken, Jesus makes it quite clear it was not meant for us (non-Jewish) Gentiles who weren’t a part of that first covenant under the law.



   

513. Randomly Addressing Commonly Held Beliefs (Part 1)

Doing something a little off the beaten path this week, Mike throws Joel some spontaneous questions or statements about common thoughts, assumptions or beliefs found in most Christian circles or church doctrine. Discussions include falling from grace and forgiving others in order to be forgiven.

Past podcasts related to this week's podcast:
The Sermon: Why Jesus Taught the Law
Jesus Ministering Condemnation
Fallen From Grace (Into What?)