Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Another example of an activation clause that the Holy Spirit highlighted comes from…

Jesus taught in Matthew 6:12, 14-15 (NLT)…
[12] and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
[14] “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. [15] But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Consider…
Most of the Lord’s prayer is about asking God to help us honor Him. For example we pray…

• The Father’s name be kept holy
• The Father’s ‘Kingdom and Will’ be established on earth
• The Father give us daily provision to do His Will (shout out to Dr. Tony Evans for that nugget)
• The Father keep us holy, for His glory

Indeed, the Lord’s prayer is full of petitions to help us honor Him.

But I noticed one petition has an activation clause embedded in it. We pray…
forgive us our sins, AS we have forgiven those who sin against us

This reveals a couple of things…

• First, the way Jesus phrased this tells us that we’re asking God to forgive our sin against Him.

David wrote in Psalms 51:4 (NLT)…Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.

It’s important that we always recognize that sin is against God! And that everyone is guilty of sin.

Romans 3:23 (NLT) explains…For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Yet, sometimes we get delusional that we’ve overcome sin and no longer need God’s forgiveness. Just in case you need a reminder, 1 John 1:8 (NLT) says…If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.

• Second, it’s with this knowledge that Jesus adds the forgiveness activation clause, ‘AS we have forgiven those who sin against us’

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died for the forgiveness our sin, tells us we must forgive others to be forgiven.

I find it interesting that of all things that Jesus could have expounded on from the Lord’s prayer, He chose forgiving others being a prerequisite to being forgiven.

This makes me think of exhortations from the Apostle Paul in…

• Ephesians 4:32 (NLT)…Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
• And Colossians 3:13 (NLT)…Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

So why does God, who extends…

• Unconditional Love
• Unending Mercy
• Unfathomable Grace

…require us to forgive to activate His forgiveness?

I don’t know. The easy answer is because God is sovereign and He said so.

But the Holy Spirit showed me another possibility, which is because sin separates us from God, it must be forgiven to reconnect us to Him.

Ephesians 2:1-5 (NLT) explains…
[1] Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. [2] You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. [3] All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. [4] But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, [5] that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

You see, God’s forgiveness of sin is His extension of grace. So when God tells us to ask for forgiveness commiserate with how we forgive, He’s saying ask for more of His to flow to you so that it can flow through you.

There’s another observation the Holy Spirit showed me, forgiveness is a critical part of God’s Kingdom rescue and deliverance mission here on earth.

Colossians 1:13-14 (NLT) expounds…
[13] For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, [14] who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Imagine being kidnapped because you owed a debt. The kidnapper would want your debt to be paid in full before releasing you. Now imagine someone paying the ransom for your release. All that person really did was transfer your indebtedness from the kidnapper to themselves. Here’s where God’s grace is on full display, after He transferred our debt of sin onto His Son, He said it was paid in full and we’re no longer obligated to pay what we owe.

You see forgiveness is about taking on what’s owed and letting it go.

God is saying that as He’s done that for us, He wants us to extend that same grace to others.

Remember, yesterday we acknowledge God’s blessings flow to conduits, not cul-de-sacs.

We’re forgiven to be forgiving, so that others may too be reduced by the grace of our loving, mercifully kind King!

We when we forgive others, God’s forgiveness is flowing through us. Therefore what Jesus really was teaching us in today’s prayer, is for a replenishment of God’s forgiveness that is continually flowing through us.

By the way, remember sin is truly against God, so only He can forgive, which He does to and through you.

Today, activate God’s forgiveness by forgiving others for Him.

Today’s song is…
Lord Help Us Forgive

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)