If I do not forgive others, does that mean my sins are not forgiven? | GotQuestions.org

Forgiveness, Salvation, and Matthew 6

Today's question is, if I do not forgive others, does that mean my sins are not forgiven? In this video I'll answer that question from a biblical perspective. Then afterwards, as always, I'll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the.

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Matthew chapter 6 does not teach that our eternal destiny is based on our forgiving other people. However, it does teach that our relationship with God will be damaged if we refuse to pardon those who have offended us.

The Bible is clear that God pardons sins by His grace based on Christ's work on the cross alone, not on man's actions. Our right standing before Him is established on one thing only—the finished work of Christ.

The penalty for the sin that is rightly ours is paid by Christ, and we obtain it by grace through faith, not by any righteous deeds of our own. No one will be able to stand before God demanding that his sins be forgotten simply because he has forgiven others.

Only when we are born again and given a new life through God's Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ are our sins forgiven. Therefore, Jesus is not referring to God's initial act of forgiveness—reconciliation—that we experience when we first believe the gospel.

What He is referring to is the day-to-day cleansing we obtain when we confess our sins in order to restore fellowship with our Heavenly Father—the fellowship which is interrupted by the daily tarnishing of sin that affects us all.

Cleansing, Fellowship, and Foot-Washing in John 13

This is not the wholesale cleansing from sin that comes with salvation by grace through faith, but is more like the foot-washing Jesus describes in John 13, verse 10. The whole body is clean, He told the disciples, but their feet were dirty from their walking in the world.

Forgiveness in this sense is what God threatens to withhold from Christians who refuse to forgive others. In Matthew 6, Jesus is teaching disciples how to pray and, in doing so, outlines how we are restored into intimacy with God whenever we have displeased Him.

In fact, Jesus instructs us to build into our prayers a request for God to forgive us in the same way that we have forgiven others who have harmed us—Matthew 6, verse 12. If there are those we have not forgiven when we ourselves pray for forgiveness, then, practically speaking, we are asking God not to restore a right relationship with us after we sin.

To emphasize the importance of restoring broken relationships with our brothers and sisters, Jesus states that asking for God's forgiveness for one's own sins all the while withholding forgiveness from someone else is not only bizarre but hypocritical.

We cannot possibly walk with God in true fellowship if we refuse to forgive others. To be sure, an unforgiving spirit is a serious sin and should be confessed to God. If we have unforgiveness in our hearts against someone else, then we are acting in a way that is not pleasing to God, making our prayers and a proper living relationship with Him difficult.

God will not hear our prayers unless we also show ourselves ready to grant forgiveness. To quote John Calvin on this verse, if we are not harder than iron, this exhortation ought to soften us and render us disposed to forgive offenses.

Two Ways to Read Matthew 6:14-15

A second biblically plausible interpretation of Matthew 6, verses 14 -15 is that it is saying anyone who refuses to forgive others is demonstrating that he has not truly received Christ's forgiveness himself.

Any sin committed against us, no matter how terrible, is trivial in comparison to our sins against God. If God has forgiven us of so much, how could we refuse to forgive others of so little? Matthew 6, verses 14 -15, according to this view, proclaims that anyone who harbors unforgiveness against others has not truly experienced God's forgiveness.

Both interpretations strongly deny that salvation is dependent on our forgiving others. Whether Matthew 6, verses 14 -15 is speaking of relational forgiveness or whether it is a declaration that unforgiveness is the mark of an unbeliever, the core truth is the same.

Forgiving Others Because God Has Forgiven Us

We should forgive others because God, through Christ, has forgiven us. Ephesians 4, verse 32, it is wrong for someone who has truly experienced God's forgiveness to refuse to grant forgiveness to others.

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