Blessed is the man who recognized his own sins and confessed them. Ask your Heavenly Father to forgive you your wicked thoughts and acts, and believe that your prayer is heard, for Christ has purged them on the cross. Accept the grace of Christ into your conscience. The Holy Spirit will comfort you and affirm to you the peace of God. Confess all your sins and believe that they are forgiven in Christ. He has justified you forever. Did you thank your Father in heaven for the extensive forgiveness given to you on basis of the atonement of Christ?
Is the petition of forgiveness related only to criminals and atheists, or does it also cover His justified children? If the Holy Spirit lives in you, He will reveal to you the depths of your evil desires, the extent of your exaggerations, the abundance of your tale bearing, the poison of your hate and the mountain of your pride. The children of God are in dire need to seek sanctification in the blood of Christ every moment of every day. No man is pure before God of his own accord. Christ’s sacrifice is the sole basis for our life with Him. There is no comfort to our conscience except through the blood of the Lamb slain for us. Christ did not teach the Lord’s prayer only to sinners, but He taught it first to His followers who knew and confessed that God was their Father. This is why we pray every day that He will purify us of every wicked thought, saying and act.
If, by the grace of the Savior, you have received forgiveness of your own sins, have been comforted in overcoming your selfishness and have been freed from your unclean acts, you will discover in the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus leads you not only to beg His pardon for your personal sins, but also to ask Him to forgive other sinners whom you know. There is none good. Everyone needs the faithful Savior. You are charged with interceding for every transgressor and offender of the law, so be a faithful intercessor.
Christ Himself pronounced these words. Because of His abounding love, He took upon Himself all the sins of the world and interceded for us, asking in His Prayer, “Forgive us our debts!” Christ meant by this supplication His disciples, people and all mankind. He accepted our debts as if they were His and bore the punishment instead of us. How great is His humble love that the Most Holy participates in our burdens (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Blessed be the Lord Jesus for this unique petition, that helps everyone who prays it to admit that he is a real sinner and that he deserves the punishment of God. Every repentant person that pronounces this petition with belief and conviction will not remain proud since he has admitted that he is guilty like all men. This petition will discharge us from hypocrisy and pride if we admit and confess that we are sinners justified by the grace of Jesus Christ.
Where is our praise? How do you thank him? When will you glorify His general amnesty?
How does a man know that the Creator has forgiven his sins? And how does a man make sure that his transgressions were completely wiped away before the coming of the Day of Judgment? How are you justified eternally before God and His angels? You will not gain lasting certainty, except in the crucified Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. He is your deputy in judgment. He is the one who suffered instead of you. His atonement established your full righteousness. He reconciled the world to God. Whoever believes in Him obtains freely forgiveness and eternal justification.
If you want to thank Christ for His comprehensive atonement and conclusive forgiveness of your sins, forgive also your adversary as Jesus Christ forgave you. His love guides you to love your enemies. By that, you experience the secret of forgiveness in His love.
Your Father is calling you to forgive every man, bless him and pray that God be merciful toward him. This deep change in manner began with the death of Christ on the cross and shall be realized every day through your faith and forgiveness.
If you do not forgive your enemies all their transgressions, you will deprive yourself of the grace of your Father, for, in your petition in the Lord’s prayer, you say, “Forgive me exactly as I forgive my debtors.” If you do not forget their transgressions, you transgress the rule of this prayer, as condemning yourself saying, “Oh Father, forgive me, but do not forget my sins, as I did not forget the others.” If you apparently forgive them, then you are asking God to deal with you the same way. This little word “as” is the most dangerous word in the Lord’s Prayer, so make sure that you give it practical effect in your life.
God does not require impossible acts from you to obey Him. He expects you to be renewed and become merciful as He is. This is the principle of love, to live not only for yourself but to live for others, including the unworthy. All your sins are forgiven so forgive your adversary all his faults and transgressions against you, again and again, as your Father in heaven forgives.