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12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. ~ Matthew 6:12-13
Today, we complete our study of the Lord’s Prayer. In this prayer, we are invited to admit that we are unable to save ourselves. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, "He that is never on his knees on earth, shall never stand upon his feet in heaven." Just as we are unable to provide bread for ourselves, so too we are unable provide salvation for ourselves. In the
face of our sin, we are helpless. This prayer is a model for all of our prayers including the yearning for God and His glory to the coming of His will to our lives.
Learning how to pray must first begin with learning to pray. Oswald Chambers once said, "We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties." In this pattern for prayer, the Lord Jesus underscored the fact that left on our own, fallen man is helpless. This is why He came to this earth to teach us that we can enter into a personal relationship with God even though our sin had separated us from Him. The crying out of our hearts to God is a must if we are to realize His kingdom come, His will be done.
In v.12 of today's passage we read, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
The Lord's Prayer is a prayer comprised of six requests. The first three are vertical, expressing our desire for the kingdom and will of God to come. The second set of three requests in this prayer are horizontal addressing the basic human needs that we all have on a given day. After requesting that our daily need for food be provided, the Lord Jesus taught us to pray for those things that bring peace to our souls including forgiveness and the wisdom to resist temptation.
The word translated "debts" is found only here and in Romans 4:4, where the Apostle Paul notes that the wages of those who work are like a debt that is owed. Here, the idea is that a sin against God brings about a debt that must be satisfied. Truth demands such a satisfaction to render wrongdoing dead. This is so because nothing impure or defiled can enter into God's presence. Our understanding of this is essential if we are to see our need for the Savior. The Old Testament had as its center piece the sacrificial system. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was a means of God's grace extended to sinful man by which a relationship between God and man could be restored. Ultimately, the sacrificial system was inadequate, and no mere human could repay the debt that sin had created between God and man. Thus the sacrificial system found in the Old Testament points us to none other than the Lord Jesus.
The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer for believers. Only followers of the Lord Jesus can truly pray, “Our Father.” It is those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus who are called children of God. So this is a prayer for believers. We are the ones who are told to pray, "forgive us our trespasses." If we have already been forgiven, why must we ask for forgiveness again? It is not because we sinned again since the last time we prayed. It is not that we have created for ourselves another debt that must be paid back. The Lord Jesus has paid our debt in full. When we placed our faith in Him, He forgives all of our sins—past, present, and future.
Rather, when we come to God in prayer, confessing our sins to Him and asking for forgiveness over and over again, we adopt a practice, the practice of confession that places us in a situation where we are reminded anew of our need for God. We are forced to depend on Him. By regularly confessing our sins to God, we are reminding ourselves that we cannot save ourselves so that we might constantly live in the grace of the One who died for us.
The prayer for forgiveness, however, does not stop with God’s forgiveness toward us. It also extends to our forgiveness towards others. Look again at Matthew 6:12 which reads, "forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." God’s forgiveness of our sins is linked to our forgiveness of those who have sinned against us.
According to this verse, it appears that God’s forgiveness is conditional on our forgiveness. If we forgive others, God will forgive us. But if we don’t forgive others, then God won’t forgive us either? That’s what it appears to say. But when we read the rest of Scripture, it becomes abundantly clear that God’s forgiveness is conditional only upon our faith in Him. If we place our faith in Him as our Lord and Savior, then we will be forgiven. God will not withhold his forgiveness because he knows we haven’t forgiven someone else. Rather, the Lord Jesus was saying that a heart that forgives is evidence of a heart that has been forgiven. If we have truly been forgiven by God, then that forgiveness should naturally flow out of us to those around us. When we pray, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us," we should ask ourselves, "Do I forgive others the way that I want God to forgive me?"
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
The word "temptation" here has two main meanings. The first is the negative connotation of being tempted. The other refers to being tested, as in a trial. At times the two thoughts can overlap. A temptation arises that tests the caliber of the one being tested. The prayer is to be kept from being led into such a situation. The Lord Jesus was instructing the people to pray to avoid the process that may lead to temptation. There is a difference between being led along life’s path while having to face temptation and actively being tempted.
"The evil one" is none other than the slithery serpent from the Garden of Eden. This is a prayer to not face such temptations, something that we can pray to not face. God has the authority over such things and is fully capable of responding to such a prayer favorably. This doesn’t mean the response will be favorable. The Lord may allow a specific ordeal into our lives for His own good purposes. The ultimate goal of all such things is the glory of God. When such a prayer is favorably responded to, the Lord should be magnified for having delivered the response. In all things, the glory of God should be the paramount consideration in the lives of His people.
