Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. (11:3–4)

Verse 3 marks a turning point in this profound prayer, given by the Lord Jesus Christ to teach believers how to pray. The prayer divides logically and spiritually into two sequential sections. The first three petitions, “Father, hallowed be Your name,” “Your kingdom come,” and “Your will be done,” concern God and His glory. The second three requests, “give us each day our daily bread,” “forgive us our sins,” and “lead us not into temptation,” focus on man’s most basic, fundamental needs. The order of the two groups of requests indicates that God’s person and purposes must always be given the supreme place. Only then does everything else fit into its proper place; only when acknowledging God as Father, Holy One, King, and Master can believers establish the foundation on which they ask Him for provision, pardon, and protection. True prayer, praying in the Spirit (Eph. 6:18), acknowledges that God’s glory is primary and supreme, so that above all else He is to be exalted and worshiped.

The final three requests implore God to glorify Himself by supplying believers’ most basic needs. Thus, although the focus in the prayer shifts to those needs, the overall emphasis on God’s glory remains. This prayer, like all prayer, is neither selfish nor man-centered. The goal of the first three petitions is not to give God glory in exchange for His indulging people’s greed. They are not an attempt to manipulate God and force His hand, as if they were coins to put in the celestial vending machine to get what is desired.

These final three petitions also glorify God by highlighting His compassion, grace, and love. Far from being brash demands on God like those the Word Faith movement blasphemously makes (see the discussion of the Word Faith movement in chapter 2 of this volume), they express humble dependence on God to supply what is needed for the well-being of His children. The plural pronouns “us,” “we,” and “ourselves” in these three requests further distance them from any selfish, greedy intentions. These last three petitions reveal God as supporter, savior, and shelter.

GOD AS SUPPORTER

Give us each day our daily bread. (11:3)

The substance of this request, bread, encompasses all the basic temporal requirements of life, such as food, housing, clothing, health care, and perhaps even government that provides peace and order in society (cf. Rom. 13:1–4). It focuses on the staples necessary to maintain life, and is far from a greedy demand for luxuries. This petition is fundamental, because unless the Lord sustains believers’ physical lives, they cannot in this world advance His kingdom, do His will, or honor and glorify His name.

In an Old Testament counterpart to this petition, Agur made the following wise request to God:

His prayer was that God would deliver him from two extremes: poverty, which might tempt him to steal, and excessive riches, which might tempt him to arrogantly deny his dependence on the Lord. Instead, Agur asked that God in His wisdom would portion out to him what was appropriate.

The amazing reality is that the infinite, transcendent creator and ruler of the universe cares about the needs of the humblest of His children. He is not only concerned with great, world-shaking events such as creation, the flood, judgment, the earthly millennial kingdom, and the new heaven and the new earth, but also that His people have food, clothing, shelter, and the other mundane, yet essential things of life. The Lord Jesus Christ taught that truth in the Sermon on the Mount:

Worrying about the physical needs of this life—food, drink, clothing—is the height of sinful folly for believers. The same God who feeds the birds and spectacularly clothes the plants in the field will certainly provide for His children, who are of far greater value. In light of that, Christians are not to worry about life’s necessities like the unbelieving world does. Their priority, set forth by Jesus, is to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness.

As the creator and sustainer of the universe, God is the source and provider of everything, especially in relation to His children. Since He has promised to meet all their needs, they can confidently cast all their anxiety on Him, knowing that He cares for them (1 Peter 5:7). “Ask, and it will be given to you,” Jesus declared; “seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matt. 7:7–8). The Lord then illustrated God’s promise to provide for the needs of His people:

Human fathers provide for their children; how much more will God do so for His, since He has “created [food] to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Tim. 4:3)?

The variety of food in the world is staggering. The Bible mentions grains such as wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt (Ezek. 4:9), bread (Gen. 18:5–6); nuts (Gen. 43:11); cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic (Num. 11:5); bitter herbs (Ex. 12:8); mint, dill, cummin (Matt. 23:23); sweet cane (Jer. 6:20); salt (Job 6:6); fruit (Ezek. 25:4); grapes (Num. 13:23); raisins (1 Sam. 25:18); figs, pomegranates (Num. 20:5); apples (Prov. 25:11); honey (1 Sam. 14:27); eggs (Luke 11:12); oxen, sheep, cattle (1 Sam. 14:32); goats (Deut. 14:4); game animals (Deut. 14:5); fish (Matt. 14:19); birds, including partridge (1 Sam. 26:20); quail (Num. 11:31–33); and others, with a few specific exceptions (cf. Deut. 14:11–18); certain kinds of insects (Lev. 11:22); and dairy products, such as milk from cows (1 Sam. 6:7); camels (Gen. 32:15); and sheep (1 Cor. 9:7); butter (Prov. 30:33); cheese (1 Sam. 17:18); and curds (Judg. 5:25).

All of that variety reflects God’s generosity and goodness, even to unbelievers in common grace. To pray for one’s daily bread is to gratefully acknowledge God as its source, and to fail to do so is the height of ingratitude, as the notable Puritan Thomas Watson wrote:

The supplication, give, reflects a child-like trust in the Father’s care. The basis for asking for life’s necessities is the confidence that God will provide them for His children. David, no stranger to trouble and trials, expressed that confidence when he declared, “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread” (Ps. 37:25). Earlier in that psalm he wrote, “The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever. They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, and in the days of famine they will have abundance” (vv. 18–19), while in Psalm 33:18–19 the psalmist added, “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.” Job 5:17–20 also conveys God’s deliverance of His people from the scourge of famine:

Proverbs 10:3 echoes that truth, promising that “the Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger.”

God’s provision for the community of believers can impact the society in which they live. Christianity’s influence in contemporary secular, godless, humanistic, pluralistic America is far less than when the nation was founded. Nevertheless the residue of those Christian roots has given America a perspective on the value and dignity of man not shared by cultures that have not been exposed to the Bible’s influence. The humanitarian and philanthropic concern for human life and well-being that, though fading, still influences American society is largely unknown in such cultures. Famine and starvation often results not from lack of natural resources, but from lack of spiritual resources and the resulting indifference to human suffering.

Praying for the necessities of life no more precludes believers’ responsibility to work and earn a living than praying for the salvation of the lost precludes evangelism. Paul made that principle clear when he reminded the Christians in Thessalonica,

Nor does the general principle that God provides for the physical needs of His own guarantee that there will not be exceptions; even some of the Old Testament heroes of the faith were destitute, afflicted, and ill-treated (Heb. 11:37). Some believers may even die of exposure or starvation. But until their time to die comes, those who remain faithful to the Lord will experience His care for them, as in answer to their prayers He provides each day what they require to sustain their lives.

GOD AS SAVIOR

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. (11:4a)

This request goes beyond the need for the things that sustain physical life to the far more significant need for that which provides spiritual life. Forgiveness is the greatest need of every person, since unforgiven sins expose the soul irremediably to divine judgment and the certainty of eternal punishment. That the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate, tells us to pray, forgive us our sins, reveals that God is eager to forgive (cf. Ps. 86:5). This petition assumes not only that people need forgiveness, but also that God grants it.

The deadly problem facing all men is sin (Rom. 3:23), the only cure is forgiveness (Col. 1:14), and only God, the one offended by sin (Ps. 51:4), can forgive it (Luke 5:21). Those are the central realities of the Christian gospel.

The inescapable problem all people face is that their sins have left them estranged from God and doomed to eternal punishment in hell. “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,” Isaiah wrote, “and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isa. 59:2). The problem is universal, for as Solomon acknowledged, “There is no man who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46). In Proverbs 20:9 he asked, “Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin?’”; then he answered his own rhetorical question in Ecclesiastes 7:20: “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.” The apostle Paul agreed with Solomon, arguing that “there is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10), since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

Sin infects every baby born into the world (Ps. 51:5). It is the current monarch of the world, ruling the heart of every man, woman, and child. Sin contaminates every person at every level—mind, will, affections, emotions, and conduct. Its degenerative power makes people susceptible to disease, illness, injury, sorrow, and death. Sin is the culprit in every broken marriage, every disrupted home, every shattered relationship, every argument, battle, and war. Because of sin the unregenerate are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1), targets of God’s wrath (v. 3), cut off from Him and without hope (v. 12).

The dilemma for sinners is twofold. On the one hand, God cannot simply overlook sin or be indifferent to it. His justice, righteousness, and holiness demand that every sin ever committed be punished. The God who condemns those who justify the wicked (Prov. 17:15; cf. 24:24) cannot Himself turn a blind eye to sin. Thus in Exodus 23:7 the Lord declared, “I will not acquit the guilty.” Nahum’s prophecy states unequivocally that “the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (Nah. 1:3), while Paul wrote that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18). God is not the friend of unrepentant sinners; He is their enemy. Psalm 5:5 warns that God “hate[s] all who do iniquity,” while Psalm 7:11 notes that “God is angry with the wicked every day” (NKJV).

On the other hand, sinners are unable to extricate themselves from their dilemma, as the picturesque language of Jeremiah 13:23 indicates: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” The unregenerate are dead in their sins (Eph. 2:1), spiritually blind (John 12:40), deceived by Satan (2 Cor. 4:4) and “held captive by him to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:26), enslaved by sin (John 8:34; Rom. 6:6, 16–20), alienated from God and hostile to Him (Col. 1:21), unable to understand spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14); in short, utterly helpless to redeem themselves (Rom. 5:6).

The various New Testament words used to describe sin paint a grim portrait of its heinousness. The word translated sins is the plural form of hamartia, the basic meaning of which is “to miss the mark.” Sin is any failure to meet God’s standard, as defined by the Lord in Matthew 5:48: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (cf. Lev. 11:44–45). Only God is good (Mark 10:18).

A second New Testament word for sin is parabasis, which means “to step across,” or “overstep.” Sin crosses the line between right and wrong; it oversteps the bounds of God’s law and crosses the barrier into forbidden territory whether in thought, word, or deed.

Another word for sin that appears in the New Testament is anomia, which is translated “lawlessness” (cf. 1 John 3:4). Sin is the primary act of the proud, selfish sinner who, seeking to go his own way, rebels against God and breaks His law.

Paraptōma (“transgression,” “trespass”) means “to take a false step,” “to slip,” “to stumble,” or “to fall.” The word likens sin to a lack of the self-control necessary to stand up. To sin is to be out of control; to be swept away by impulse or passion. It highlights the sinner’s impotence and inability to keep God’s law.

A fifth word, opheilēma, describes an obligation or a debt. It is used in Matthew 6:12 to refer to believers’ sin against God, and the verb form in verse 4 of this passage to speak of others’ transgressions against them. By causing people to miss the mark, cross the line, act lawlessly, and lose self-control, sin puts them in debt to God. It defrauds Him of the righteousness and obedience that He is due.

To confess one’s sins is to acknowledge sin in all of its facets. Proud religious sinners, like the people in Jesus’ home village of Nazareth (Luke 4:28–30), reject the reality that they are guilty sinners who owe God an unpayable debt because they are not good. But the humblest of men, acutely aware of their sin and guilt, are eager to repent and confess their condition and need of forgiveness. In Psalm 51 David poured out his soul in contrition, penitence, and confession. After witnessing Jesus perform an amazing miracle that revealed His deity, Peter cried out, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). The repentant tax collector in Jesus’ parable “was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” (Luke 18:13).

Because the unregenerate are proud and blind to the reality both of their sin and the availability of forgiveness, it is necessary for the Holy Spirit to “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). He awakens sinners to the reality of their desperate plight and God’s gracious offer of forgiveness. Recognizing their wretched, sinful condition, they make the confession of their sins apart from which there is no salvation. Confession then becomes a way of life; in fact, the apostle John defines Christians as those who are continually confessing their sins (1 John 1:9).

The only solution to the problem of sin is God’s gracious provision of forgiveness. Forgiveness is God’s passing by or overlooking believers’ sins, ceasing to be angry with them; but rather loving them, and showing them compassion (Mic. 7:18–19), wiping the record of their sins (Isa. 43:25; 44:22), forgetting their sins (Heb. 8:12; 10:17), and not counting their sins against them (2 Cor. 5:19). The Bible pictures God’s forgiveness of sins as purging them like washing scarlet wool until it is white as snow (Isa. 1:18), casting them behind His back (Isa. 38:17), hiding them behind a thick cloud (Isa. 44:22), removing them “as far [away] as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12), trampling them under foot, and burying them in the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:19).

The forgiveness in view in this petition is initially the judicial forgiveness granted by God at salvation. As noted above, God cannot simply ignore or overlook sin. The critical question, then, is how can He “be just and the justifier” of sinners (Rom. 3:26), since His justice and holiness demand full punishment for every sin?

The answer lies in comprehending the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. God placed all of believers’ sins on the Lord Jesus Christ and then punished Him for them. In the simple yet profound words of 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Peter wrote, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). Isaiah predicted that Messiah would die for the sins of His people when he wrote, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isa. 53:6). On the night before His death Jesus said to the disciples, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). In Ephesians 1:7 Paul wrote, “In Him [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” To the Colossians he wrote,

God “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all” (Rom. 8:32). The writer of Hebrews also emphasized that Christ was a sacrifice for the sins of His people (cf. Heb. 10:10–18).

By satisfying God’s justice by complete payment of the penalty, the work of Christ on the cross provided complete, irreversible, and permanent forgiveness for every sin of all who put their faith in Him, who are all for whom He died. This judicial forgiveness has been available since the fall; the sins of the Old Testament saints who believed what God had revealed to them were forgiven on the basis of Christ’s future sacrifice. Both Paul (Rom. 4:3) and James (James 2:23) wrote that Abraham was justified and received forgiveness for his sin through his trust in God’s revelation. Of that forgiveness David wrote, “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity” (Ps. 32:1; cf. 103:3; 130:3–4; Jer. 33:8).

The question naturally arises as to why the Lord commands us, whose sins have already been forgiven, to ask the Father for forgiveness. The answer lies in grasping a second aspect of forgiveness, relational forgiveness. While believers’ sins—past, present, and future—were forgiven at the point of salvation, they nevertheless still sin. Those sins do not change the declaration by the “Judge of all the earth” (Gen. 18:25) that Christians are just and righteous because their sins were paid for by the death of Christ. But they do affect their relationship with God, whose “eyes are too pure to approve evil,” who “can not look on wickedness with favor” (Hab. 1:13).

David’s penitent prayer in Psalm 51 illustrates this principle. His terrible sin with Bathsheba did not cause him to lose his salvation; in fact, in verse 14 David addressed God as “the God of my salvation.” It did, however, disrupt his communion with God, causing him to cry out, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (v. 12). He did not ask for his salvation to be restored, but rather for his relationship with God to be restored so his joy would return.

John 13 presents another illustration of relational forgiveness. In an example of humble service, Jesus began washing the disciples’ feet. But when He came to Peter, he objected and said to Jesus, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” (v. 6). It did not seem proper and fitting to Peter that the Lord of the universe should perform a task reserved for the most menial of slaves. Even after Jesus explained that Peter would understand later the meaning of His act, Peter was adamant. “Never shall You wash my feet!” he exclaimed. Only when Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (v. 8) did Peter consent. In typical fashion, he then went overboard in the other direction and enthusiastically said to Jesus, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head” (v. 9). The Lord replied, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you” (v. 10). In Christ’s analogy the apostles (except for the traitor Judas Iscariot) had been totally cleansed of their sin at salvation, an experience that did not need to be repeated. All they needed was to have their feet cleaned, symbolizing the confession and daily cleansing of those sins that disrupt fellowship with God.

Unlike the other petitions in this prayer, this one has a prerequisite: for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. An unforgiving Christian is a contradiction in terms. Those who come to God seeking relational forgiveness will find it only if they forgive those who have wronged them. The Lord gave this prerequisite because bitterness can easily reign supreme in the human heart. People hold grudges—sometimes for a lifetime—and are prone to seeking vengeance. Relationships that fall apart do so ultimately because one or both parties involved are unwilling to forgive. The world is filled with bitter, angry people. Vengeance is considered a virtue, and those who seek it are heroes. The result is shattered marriages, broken relationships, gang warfare, crime, and lawsuits. Some psychologists argue that it is unhealthy to forgive, that it is healthy and normal to lash back at those who hurt us and give them what they deserve. That, they insist, makes the angry person feel better.

But the price of unforgiveness is actually extremely high. Rather than make someone feel better, unforgiveness imprisons people in their past and makes those they refuse to forgive their jailers. Those who refuse to forgive continually pick at an open wound, never allowing it to heal. Having chosen to embrace hate, they become tortured prisoners of the offense and the offender. Such behavior is foolish, lacks common sense, and is self-destructive. It consumes unforgiving people’s lives, robs them of their well-being, and deprives them of happiness and joy.

Forgiveness, on the other hand, is a virtuous, noble, liberating, and loving act. But the more profound and compelling reason to forgive others is that doing so allows one to receive relational forgiveness from God. Unforgiveness is presented by the Lord Jesus Christ as the sin that blocks temporal forgiveness (cf. Matt. 6:12, 14–15). Both uses of forgive in this passage translate forms of the Greek verb aphiēmi, which can be translated “send away,” “abandon,” “leave behind,” or “dismiss.” Perhaps the synonym that best reflects its use in this passage is “to hurl.” Just as God figuratively hurled believers’ sins into the depths of the sea at salvation (Mic. 7:19), so also must believers hurl away the sins of others and not hold on to them. Only then will the Lord forgive the sins that disrupt their relationship with Him. (I discuss the importance of forgiveness in my book The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1998].)

While the most important reason to forgive others is to enjoy our relationship with God, there are at least nine other reasons to do so.

First, forgiveness is the most God-like thing believers can do; nothing is more divine than to forgive. The father’s eager forgiveness of his wayward son in the Lord’s parable illustrates God’s gracious willingness to forgive repentant sinners (Luke 15:20–32; cf. Ps. 86:5; Isa. 55:7; Dan. 9:9). That provides a pattern for believers to imitate. “Be kind to one another,” Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:32, “tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (cf. Matt. 5:44–45; Col. 3:13).

Second, failing to forgive violates the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13). It is not murder alone that is forbidden, but also the lack of forgiveness that makes one a murderer in the heart. In Matthew 5:21–22 Jesus taught that the Old Testament prohibition against murder also included being angry with someone (cf. 1 John 3:15), which presupposes a lack of forgiveness toward them.

Third, whoever offends a Christian has offended God more. David committed adultery with Bathsheba, then had her husband Uriah murdered in a brutal attempt to cover up his sin. Yet when he poured out his heart in confession, he acknowledged to God, “Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight” (Ps. 51:4). If God, the most holy and the most offended, forgives an offense, how much more so must those who are the least holy and least offended?

Fourth, it is only reasonable that those forgiven the greater sins by God forgive the lesser offenses against them. This and the next two points are taken from a parable the Lord gave to teach the importance of forgiveness (Matt. 18:23–35). The parable was prompted by Peter’s question, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (v. 21). The rabbis, based on several verses in the book of Amos (1:3, 6, 9, 11), taught that God forgave three times, then judged for the fourth offense. They taught that people should forgive no more than the three times they assumed God forgives. Knowing that Jesus had called His followers to a higher standard (cf. Matt. 5:20), Peter magnanimously was willing to forgive seven times—more than double the rabbinic prescription. Shockingly, Jesus replied, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (v. 22), or 490 times. On another occasion Jesus made a similar statement: “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:4). In other words, forgiveness is to be unlimited.

Jesus then told a story involving a high-ranking slave (probably a provincial governor charged with collecting taxes). This man was guilty of embezzlement, and owed the king a staggering, unpayable debt (v. 24; the word translated “ten thousand” was the largest word for a number in the Greek language and signifies an incalculable amount). Since he was not able to repay the money he had embezzled, the king ordered him and his family to be sold into slavery to recoup as much of the money he had been defrauded of as possible (v. 25).

In desperation, “the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything’” (v. 26). Of course, he could do no such thing; his debt was far beyond his ability to ever repay. Incredibly, “the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt” (v. 27). Here is a marvelous picture of salvation by grace, in which God forgives sinners who owe Him an eternally unpayable debt because of their sin.

But what happened next was even more shocking. Leaving the king’s presence, “that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe’” (v. 28). This was a debt that could have been repaid, since it only amounted to about three months’ wages for an average laborer. The man made the same plea to him that he had just made to the king (v. 29). But unlike the king, who had graciously forgiven him, “he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed” (v. 30).

His response was absurd, incomprehensible. How could one who had just been forgiven a staggering, incalculable debt refuse to forgive one who owed him a trivial amount? But that is the Lord’s point. Those freely and fully forgiven of the unpayable debt they owe God have no right to have a vengeful, bitter, unforgiving attitude over the trivial offenses committed against them by others. Believers who manifest such an attitude have not yet been humbled by the magnitude of their own salvation.

Fifth, the one who is unforgiving will forfeit the fellowship of other Christians. Verse 31 records that “when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.” Having witnessed the man who had been forgiven so much refuse to forgive his fellow slave, the other slaves reported him to the king. This pictures church discipline, where the unforgiving sinner, having alienated himself from the fellowship of other Christians, is turned over to the Lord for discipline (cf. 1 Cor. 5).

Sixth, failure to forgive results in divine chastening. After summoning the unforgiving man into his presence, the king sternly rebuked him:

Although believers who sin by failing to forgive others will not lose their salvation, neither will they escape being disciplined by the Lord. The use of the strong word “torturers” indicates the painful nature of that chastening. It may involve loss of joy, peace, assurance of salvation, usefulness in service, and result in conflict, stress, hardship, difficulty, and trouble. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His followers, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36; cf. Matt. 5:7), while James warned that “judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13; cf. Matt. 7:2).

Seventh, failure to forgive renders a person unfit for worship. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering” (Matt. 5:23–24). When a believer is aware of a conflict with or a lack of forgiveness toward another person, the situation needs to be resolved before coming to worship God. Reconciliation precedes worship, which is not acceptable when sin is harbored in the heart (Ps. 66:18; Prov. 15:8)

Eighth, failure to forgive usurps the authority of God. It is to presumptuously take the sword of divine judgment out of His hand and wield it for oneself—which Scripture explicitly forbids. “Never take your own revenge, beloved,” wrote Paul, “but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). Refusing to forgive takes from God His right to retaliate against sin and places it in the hands of those who are not qualified to do so. Only God has the perfect understanding of the offenses against believers; only He has the ultimate authority, is impartial, perfectly wise and good, and always acts in pure holiness.

Finally, the offenses against believers are the trials that perfect them. James wrote, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4). Peter encouraged suffering believers to remember that “after [they] have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called [them] to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish [them]” (1 Peter 5:10; cf. 2:19–21). Paul was “content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when [he was] weak, then [he was] strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

Viewing the offenses of others against us as God’s means of perfecting us puts them in a different light, and enables us to follow the example of Christ, “who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:22–23). Christ’s embracing of unjust suffering resulted in the greatest triumph in history, His sacrificial death on the cross (v. 24).

GOD AS SHELTER

And lead us not into temptation. (11:4b)

At first glance, this request seems puzzling. Since God does not tempt anyone (James 1:13), to ask Him not to do what He has already promised never to do seems superfluous. But in reality, this shows again the parallel realities of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God does His will, not apart from us, but through our obedience and prayers. There are, then, two perfectly legitimate reasons why the Lord included this petition.

First, it reflects the believer’s humble sense of weakness, knowing that the evil, fallen world is inevitably a hostile, dangerous environment. There are physical dangers from volcanoes, earthquakes, fires, floods, accidents, disease, terrorism, and crime. In the intellectual realm believers face unfair judgments, laws and regulations, and the influence of an increasingly narcissistic, self-centered culture dominated by pride and greed. From the spiritual world come assaults on believers’ faith from postmodern relativism, humanism, evolution, false religions, and other manifestations of earthly, natural, demonic wisdom (James 3:15), all of which the Bible calls “doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). Even the church is riddled with false teaching, worldliness, compromise, lack of knowledge of biblical truth, and waning zeal for God. Most deadly of all are the assaults from Satan, who blinds men to the truth (2 Cor. 4:4), tempts them to sin (1 Cor. 7:5; Eph. 4:27; 6:11; 1 Thess. 3:5); and “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

With deadly dangers all about them and the fallen nature still in them, it is only natural for believers to cry out to God for protection as David did: “My eyes are toward You, O God, the Lord; in You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless” (Ps. 141:8; cf. 18:30; 46:1; 62:8; 91:2; 94:22; 2 Sam. 22:3; Prov. 18:10; 30:5). Jesus made that same request for His own in His high-priestly prayer when He asked the Father to “keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord taught believers to make that same request for deliverance from evil (Matt. 6:13).

But there is a second sense in which this petition may be understood. It is an appeal to God not to allow the inevitable tests and trials of life to become temptations that would prove overpowering. Peirasmos (temptation) is a neutral word with no inherent moral connotation. God does not tempt anyone to do evil, but He does permit tests to come into the lives of believers, as He did to Job (Job 23:10), Abraham (Heb. 11:17–19), Paul (2 Cor. 12:7–10), and Jesus (Heb. 5:8), as part of the process of strengthening and maturing them (Deut. 13:3; 1 Peter 1:6–7; 5:10). How believers respond to those tests determines whether they remain perfecting trials that bring spiritual growth, or become debilitating temptations that overwhelm them and lead them into sin.

The basis for this request is God’s promise, expressed in 1 Corinthians 10:13, that He will never allow a temptation that is stronger than believers can bear. Those He permits are common to all people, and He will provide a way to escape being led into sin by them. People fall into sin not because they are overpowered by Satan and the demons, or because they were trapped with no way out. As James explained, “Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death” (James 1:14–15).

In these three brief sentences Jesus masterfully encompassed all of life’s most basic needs: