The following is the eighth part of a series written by one of our members, David Carrico. Previous parts can be found at the links below:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Matthew 6:9-12

We have arrived in our meditations at a sentence that I think we all too often gloss over when we read and interpret this prayer. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Well, right away, we have to deal with that word “debts”. It is loaded with such a financial connotation in English that some translators use the word “trespasses” instead, which really isn’t much clearer in meaning and is definitely a less elegant translation. But either way, most people read the idea of sin into “debts” or its equivalents. We’ll get back to that.

So what does the word “debts” really mean? Up to this point, Jesus has been talking mostly about God and our relationship with Him. Has he all of a sudden switched gears and started talking about our financial situations?

No.

But to understand what’s really going on here, we’re going to have to dig into a bit of Greek. Bear with me. I’ll try not to dig any deeper than I have to.

The word that’s translated as “debts” is derived from the Greek word opheil¢, which can mean an amount that is owed, an obligation that is owed, or a service which is due to someone else—a duty, in other words. And it is this last meaning that really seems most to be in play in this verse—specifically the lack of performance of a duty.

So the verse could really be read as: Forgive us where we have failed you, just as we forgive those who have failed us.

As part of creation, we have a duty to God. Because we are among those ransomed by the blood of Christ, we have a duty to Christ. And all sin, from the least unkind thought that momentarily crosses our minds to the most horrific and grisly of murders that could be committed, is a failure of our duty to God.

“But wait,” you ask, “as believers, as sons and daughters of God, aren’t we already forgiven?”

Yes, insofar as we are talking about justification. Any and every sin that we commit, whether before we come to know Jesus as Savior or afterward, is forgiven us at the exact moment we establish that relationship with Him. So when (not if) we sin as believers, nothing we do can ever endanger our personal salvation.

But that does not mean that there is no effect of our sinning. Sin in our lives has the potential to become a barrier between us and God. Paul gives a warning about that in his first letter to the Thessalonian church.

Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

The indication is that not abstaining from every form of evil, not keeping away from sin, can and does quench the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives.

So yes, if we do not regularly confess our sins before God, pretty soon we’re comfortable with them, we don’t notice the increasing weight of the sins, and we don’t notice when our relationship with God becomes dim and dismal. That is why the first part of the verse in the prayer asks God to forgive us where we have failed in our duty to him.

But why is the second part of the verse there? Why are we supposed to pray about how we forgive those who have failed us? After all, if they’ve sinned against us, haven’t they also sinned against God, and shouldn’t they be dealing with Him? Well, that’s true as far as it goes, but it’s not that simple.

Do you remember what Jesus said were the two greatest commandments?

And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:35-40

The last sentence of this quotation is a figure of speech that basically means that everything in the Old Testament ties to one or the other or both of those commandments. That was a revelation to me the day that I first realized it. Think about it: every one of the Ten Commandments derives from one or the other of those two commandments. Every law in the books of Moses derives from those two commandments. (And actually, they are quotations themselves: see Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.) Every instruction from the prophets of God derives from those two commandments. And today we can see that every teaching in the New Testament also resonates with them. For example:

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. John 15:9-12

This very clearly tells us that as children of God, we are to have vertical relationships with Him, and horizontal relationships with those around us. And just as the vertical relationships should be based on and filled with agape (love), so the horizontal relationship should also be based on and filled with agape.

Okay, but what does that have to do with “…forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors…“?

Here’s where we get to the part that always seems to get brushed over when we read or teach this. Focus in on this.

This is relating God’s forgiveness to how we forgive others. To paraphrase it in more colloquial modern English, this verse is saying “God, You forgive us where we have failed you just as much (or as little) as we have forgiven those who have failed us.”

And before you start thinking that this is something crazy that came out of David’s feeble and twisted mind, look at this:

“For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. Matthew 6:14-15

Jesus says this just a couple of sentences after the phrase we’re meditating on here, immediately after He concludes the prayer. That is not coincidental. Those two passages are absolutely directly related. I believe that Jesus is teaching us that the clarity of our daily relationship with God is directly related to the clarity of our daily relationship with those around us.

If we desire to know God; if we desire to have the closest possible relationship with Him; if we desire to know His cleansing forgiveness on a regular (daily) basis so we can experience that closeness; then we must first forgive. If we want to experience God’s forgiveness of our failures, then we must first forgive others when they fail us in any way.

Why?

Because a hard, harsh, and unforgiving heart is not one that can know God. If we add to our failures by failing to forgive others in a Christ-like manner, then we have in that moment taken a step away from God; and with each succeeding step of unforgiveness our relationship with God gets dimmer and more dismal. We’re still saved, but we don’t know the joy of our salvation any more, and we have placed ourselves in the position where God is much more likely to discipline us than bless us.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” This may actually be one of the most important parts of the prayer, and yet it is the one usually least emphasized. But nothing that Jesus teaches is unimportant, and so it is with this sentence. It is vitally important to our being able to draw close to God, which should be one of our chief aims as Christians. But to do that, to forgive others, we may have to voice another prayer along with it: “And change me, Father, so that where I have not forgiven I can now forgive.” That might just be the second most important prayer of your life.

;

Grace and peace to you.

David

The following is the seventh part of a series written by one of our members, David Carrico. Previous parts can be found at the links below:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:9-11

Most commentators on this prayer typically divide it into three sections:

Adoration of God (v 9)

Submission to God (v 10)

Petitions of God (v 11-13)

Personally, the more I study it, the more I come to see that it is all praise of God, and at the same time it is all petition of God. Just something to think about.

Today I want to look at verse 11: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Bread—remarkable stuff, isn’t it? More than any other single food source, it contains enough of the necessary nutritional elements to preserve human life. It’s often called “the staff of life.” Today it’s plentiful, at least in America. And we all have our favorite types: white, whole wheat, etc. Myself, I’m partial to a good dark rye or pumpernickel.

Throughout recorded history, the masses of people survived on bread. In the time of Christ’s earthly ministry, providing bread on a daily basis often literally meant the difference between life and death. You can tell from several of Christ’s parables that there were times where a man’s ability to find day work would determine whether his family would eat that day. So frequently teachers look at this verse and say, “This is asking God to meet our physical needs.” And on one level, that’s true. And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, the apostle Paul states, “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:9)

Of course, there’s the little matter of just what our needs are. And when you study that matter in scripture, you will find that our physical needs are defined very simply: food, clothing, shelter. That’s it. Anything beyond that is a want, not a need. We can get by with a lot less than we want. If you don’t believe me, consider the places in Africa where a family’s income is about $200 a year.

We need to learn to be as Paul was.

Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Philippians 4:11-12

Our prayers should not be wish-lists of “I want this, and that, and it would sure be neat if You would give me this other thing, too.” Instead, we should be asking God to meet our needs, and to help us to be content with what we have.

But that’s only one level of this part of the prayer. I see another level, one that is probably even more important.

Jesus did teach this phrase. But he also said something else that touches on this.

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'” Matthew 4:4

Just as bread made of wheat, or barley, or rye, or millet, or rice, or some kind of grain is needed to keep the body alive, there is a bread that is needed to keep the soul alive, and that is the word of God. And just as we crave food, just as we crave bread, we should crave the word of God. Just as we fill our bellies with food, we should fill our hearts and minds with the word of God. After all, “you are what you eat.”

Let’s look at this from a third and slightly different angle.

Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” They said therefore to Him, “Lord, evermore give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” John 6:32-35

Jesus, the Son of God, tells us that He is the bread of life, and that just as bread sustains life for the body, He is given to bring life to the world. Our eternal life comes from God the Father by way of Jesus. We should crave knowing Him, and by extension, also knowing God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. We should crave knowing God more than we crave a steak, or chocolate, or a hot fudge sundae, or whatever our favorite foods are. We should crave knowing God more than a junkie craves his next fix. It should be the overwhelming desire of our lives to know God.

To know God, who gives us Jesus on a daily basis. To know God, who gives us His Word on a daily basis.

And so our prayer should be, “Give us this day our daily bread. And give us a hunger for You that can only be satisfied with Your bread. Make us hunger and thirst for you. Strip away all things that would distract us from You, until there is nothing left for us but You.”

Grace and peace to you.

David

The following is the sixth part of a series written by one of our members, David Carrico. Previous parts can be found at the links below:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

The following is the fifth part of a series written by one of our members, David Carrico. Previous parts can be found at the links below:

Part 1      Part 2      Part 3      Part 4

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.  Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Matthew 6:9-10

“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  As with the last article, there’s quite a bit that can be said about this phrase, and I don’t intend to attempt to cover all of it.  We will only meditate on one of the aspects.

“Thy will be done…”  Have you ever really stopped to think about what that phrase means?  Because it’s part of the Model Prayer, most believers have heard it so often that it has become part of the “churchy” vocabulary.  It’s something we hear at church, that you frequently hear in prayers, and we’re so used to it that we don’t even think much about it.

But what exactly does “will” mean in this context?

First of all, since “will” is a word that can be both a verb and a noun, we have to determine which form is in use in this phrase.  That’s pretty easy—in this context it’s a noun.  So how do we define “will” as a noun?  Well, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, some of the possible definitions are:

2 a : something desired; especially : a choice or determination of one having authority or power 

b (1) archaic : request, command 

   (2): the part of a summons expressing a royal command

3 : the act, process, or experience of willing : volition

So as used in this verse, “Thy will…” would seem to be an expression dealing with the concept of God choosing/determining/willing something.  Is that something out of line for God, something we shouldn’t expect to see from Him?

On the contrary, scripture contains many references to God’s will, either in the verb form where God is willing something, or in the noun form to express the will of God.  For example, consider the words of Jesus:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”  Matthew 7:21

We need to be careful, though; oftentimes when we use this word “will” among ourselves, we use it in a context of wishing or hoping.  That is not a context we can apply to God.  God neither hopes nor wishes.  God has desires, yes.  But those desires are not wishes or hopes.  The difference between our desires and God’s desires is that God’s desires will always be accomplished, whereas all too often our own will not.

But “will” in the sense of the dictionary definition:  a choice or determination of one having authority and power, or a royal command—oh, yes; those are definitely consistent with the scriptural premise of the will of God, as is given in the above verse.  And a good concordance will show you many verses that are in line with that thought.

For our purposes at this moment, though, how can we discern the will of God, and what does that mean for us in prayer?  Well, walk with me through this, and I’ll try to show you what I see.

Let’s begin by asking how and where God has revealed Himself to us?  And there are two basic answers:  in His creation, and in His word, the Bible.  God is revealed in His creation in a general way, for us to view the complexity of life and the universe and realize that there must be a Creator.  God is revealed in His word in a very specific way.  Everything that we know about the nature of God—about His characteristics, emotions, and makeup—is revealed to us in the pages of the Bible.

Actually, that last statement should be rephrased for maximum accuracy.  It’s not just everything we know about God that is revealed in the Bible; it’s everything that God wants us to know about Him that is revealed in the Bible.  And that is an important distinction.

From the very beginning of this series of blogs, I’ve tried to set forth the idea that God, especially God the Father, is so much more than our human minds can possibly contain and comprehend.  Now I’m going to say it bluntly:  we can never comprehend the totality of God in this life.  Attempting to know and understand all aspects of God, all of His nature, all of His characteristics, is an exercise in futility.

Do you understand what I mean when I say that God is not human?  Yes, He has some characteristics that are like human characteristics:  emotions, will, thought, even the gift of singing.  (See Zephaniah 3:17, where the majority of translations have God singing over His chosen ones.)  But as I implied in the first couple of blogs, the God whose mind can contain the full design of the universe and everything that is in it, the God who has the power to speak that universe into being, that is a God who is as far above us humans as we are above squirrels that run around in my front yard looking for acorns.  And just as the squirrels have no hope of understanding me and everything about me, we have no hope of understanding everything there is to know about God.

Why am I belaboring this point?  Because there is something we truly need to understand about the will of God.  In scripture, particular in the New Testament, it almost appears that God is schizophrenic, because in some passages it appears that God has predestined all of creation throughout all of history (for example, see Ephesians 1:3-12), yet in other passages the writers stress that mankind has choices to make and is responsible for the choices that are made (for example, see Ephesians 6:6, Acts 16:29-31, James 2:14-26).

The problem that arises is that most people perceive these two positions as being in conflict.  This is sometimes contrasted as predestination vs. free will, or as divine sovereignty vs. the responsibility of man.  But both of those statements are wrong, because they are presented as if the two concepts in each proposition are in an either/or relationship:  that one must be true and therefore the other may be false.  Again, that is our human perception and rationality at work.

But if one of those concepts is true and the other is false, then we run into the problem that the Bible presents both of them as being true.  And that’s where we humans get into trouble.  We insist that one or the other—but not both—must be right, when the truth is that both are contained in God’s word, and therefore both are right.

Some people consider this sovereignty/responsibility issue a paradox, and try to present it as such.  But this isn’t truly a paradox.  Look the word up in a dictionary, and you’ll see something similar to the following:

2 a : a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true 

b : a self-contradictory statement that at first seems true 

c : an argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

None of those definitions truly apply, not even 2a, because both concepts in the sovereignty/responsibility issue are true.  The condition created by this issue is actually an antinomy.  That’s a fancy word that we don’t even see used in church, which means a contradiction between two equally valid principles, which in turn is exactly what we have when we consider the sovereignty/responsibility issue.

God gave us His word, and everything contained within it.  Both the teachings of divine sovereignty and of the responsibility of man are contained within it, therefore they have to be part of what God wants us to know about Him and His will.  God gave them both to us, and they must both be true, or they wouldn’t be in God’s word.  But in our human understanding they seem contradictory.

In our human understanding…  That’s where the real problem lies.  Whereas in God’s mind these things are both true and both valid and there is no conflict between them, in our minds that’s not so much the case.  And instead of acknowledging that God’s mind and God’s will are so superior and so much larger than ours that He can understand and proclaim something that we can’t understand, we usually choose sides and argue and bicker.

The truth is that not only can God’s mind contain both of these concepts without conflict; He actually has two different wills in play at the same time.

Someone years ago tried to describe these two wills to me as God’s perfect will and God’s permissive will, and their explanation was that God had a perfect will of what He wanted to occur, but that in His permissive will He would accept our choices when they were less than they ought to be.  I thought about that for a long time, and I finally rejected that explanation as being very sloppy theology.

I recently ran across a better explanation, however; one that does work for me.  In this thought, God has a precept will, and God has a purpose will.  The precept will contains everything that God has revealed about Himself and about how man should behave in relationship to Him and in relationship to each other—as contained in the Bible, in other words.  The purpose will contains everything that God Himself will do, and this will has not been revealed to anywhere near the extent of the precept will.

Another way to look at it is the precept will is God’s Law, and the purpose will is God’s Plan.  One deals with what man ought to be; the other deals with what man will be.  And although our poor human minds tie themselves in knots trying to reconcile the antinomy, in God’s much more capable mind and understanding there is no conflict.  And if there is no conflict in God, then we should accept this as just as much a mystery as why God bothers to offer salvation to anyone.

That’s enough for today.  Think on these things, and we’ll pick up and finish the meditation on this phrase next blog.

Grace and peace to you.

David