Learn This About Forgiveness…

‘And forgive us our trespasses…AS WE…forgive those who trespass against us’! (Matt 6:12)

Hmm…! I’m so surprised some believers still pray this prayer! Oh! (I guess you are surprised that I am surprised)! I once thought that was the perfect way to ask God for mercy…since it was coined out of the generally referred…’LORD’s PRAYER’! But I was surprised to find out that it was the church that generally refers to this prayer as ‘the Lord’s Prayer’! The Bible never called it so! Hmm…

Have you ever come across a verse in the New Testament after the resurrection of Jesus… where ANY disciple of Christ prayed the so called “Lord’s prayer”?

Now listen carefully: This prayer was a perfect prayer for people in the days of Jesus…who believed Jesus was the Messiah….but had not become beneficiary of the New Covenant yet…..because the Holy Spirit had not yet been given…and…Jesus had not yet been GLORIFIED! (John 7:39)

That is why the prayer begins with: …our Father …who ART IN HEAVEN…! Hmm… This implies a ‘sense of distance’ between ‘those who are praying’ this prayer….and the ‘Father they are praying to’!

Listen: The day you became born again, the Bible says:

‘God made you SIT together with Jesus in HEAVENLY PLACES at the RIGHT HAND of God’!!! (Eph 2:6, Heb 1:3, Heb 10:12)

Wow! If you are a believer…you are not praying to a Father….who ART IN HEAVEN!!! Hmm… You are praying to…ABBA Father!!!

The Bible says:

‘And because ye are SONS, …God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, ABBA FATHER. …Wherefore thou art NO MORE a servant, but a SON; …and if a SON…then an heir of God through Christ’! (Gal 4:6-7)

Wow! The word ‘ABBA’ implies that you are now SO NEAR to your Father and your Father is so lovingly NEAR to you! Stop having a sense of distance between you and your Father!!!

The Bible says:

‘But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes WERE FAR OFF …are made NEAR by the blood of Christ’! (Eph 2:13)

It is good we learn to rightly DIVIDE the word of Truth whenever we read the Scriptures. Hmm… Let’s get back to where we started from on the prayer of forgiveness.

‘And forgive us our trespasses…AS WE…forgive those who trespass against us’! (Matt 6:11)

Before Jesus died, He said to His disciples:

‘I have yet many things to say unto you, BUT YE CANNOT BEAR THEM NOW.’ (John 16:12)

Now listen carefully: one of the Truths which Jesus deferred to tell the disciples…was the Truth of …PERFECT FORGIVENESS….as a result of His death on the cross! Hmm…

So, He told them in the next verse:

‘Howbeit when He, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, is come, He will guide you into ALL TRUTH…’ (John 16:13)

Now let us see how the Spirit of Truth taught us about the forgiveness of sins in the New covenant.

‘…forgiving one another, EVEN AS God for Christ sake HATH FORGIVEN you’! (Eph 4:32)

Did you see that? Before Jesus died, He said….’And forgive us….AS WE…forgive those who trespass against us’! When the Spirit of Truth came, He said….’forgiving one another, EVEN AS God for Christ sake HATH FORGIVEN you’! Wow!

The former teaches that…you should forgive others SO THAT God will forgive you….

The latter teaches that…you should forgive others BECAUSE God has forgiven you!

Hmm…

Under Law: God forgives us …AS WE… forgive those who trespass against us!

Under Grace: We forgive others….AS WE…have been forgiven by God!

Do you understand that? The reason you find it difficult to forgive is that you are yet to understand how much God has FORGIVEN you! Hmm…. When you understand that on the day you became born again, God did not only forgive you of your past and present sins alone……hmm……but also your FUTURE sins….(Col 2:13-14)……you will begin to forgive others even before they offend you!!!

Do you believe He loves you unconditionally? If yes…then you will be empowered to LOVE others unconditionally! (Luke 4:47) No wonder the Bible says:

‘We love…BECAUSE…HE first loved us’! (1john 4:19)

Hallelujah! Henceforth, stop ‘trying’ to forgive others in order to be forgiven by God! Hmm… Instead, rest in the complete revelation of God’s total forgiveness for you….and you will realize how difficult it is for you not to forgive people who offend you!!! God did not forgive you according to your knowledge of your sins! Hmm…

‘In whom we have redemption through His blood…the forgiveness of sins…ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE’! (Eph 1:7)

God forgave you according to His own knowledge of sins…which was wiped off by the …RICHES OF HIS GRACE!!! Wow! If you can understand what I just wrote above, you will begin to live in an unusual supernatural realm in the Holy Ghost!

Praise God! Remain in His ‘unconditional’ forgiveness and be empowered to forgive all that trespass against you!

Amen.