In this series, we are looking at the Lord’s prayer, which was a model He gaves us on how to pray. The prayer is found in Matthew 6.9-13 and Luke 11.2-4. In part I we looked at the beginning of the prayer through to “our daily bread.” In this entry, we will consider the second half of the prayer.
Forgive us our debts
Luke records it thus: “Forgive us our sins.” So long as we are here on earth in this life, we will be plagued with sin as our naturally fleshly state battles it out with our regenerate nature. The apostle Paul states this battle well:
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”
(Romans 7.15-20
By consequence of our sin, we are indebted to God a price that must be paid. As Jonathan Edwards pointed out, sin is an infinite offense against an infinitely holy God, and therefore recompense is just as infinite. Our debt is paid by one of two ways, either we pay the infinite price, or someone pays it for us. Christ took those sins and our debt upon Himself on the cross:
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
Colossians 2.13-14
Upon salvation, we are declared righteous on this basis (Justification), though we are not actually righteous. Sanctification is the process by which we are being made righteous. As we continue to battle sin throughout our lives, we must confess of our sin to be cleansed: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1.9).
As we have forgiven our debtors
Luke: “we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” As we are forgiven, so also we should forgive others. This principle is found throughout the bible, notably in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18.21-35), Matthew 6.14-15, and their parallels. Truly, this runs against our natural inclinations. By praying in this manner, we remind ourselves of the importance of forgiveness, and realize that we must rely on God for the grace and mercy necessary to forgive. Seeing that in Christ there is forgiveness, should we not also forgive if we are to be like Him?
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Some divide this into two different petitions, but I think it is better to consider it as one idea linked by the the conjunction “but.” John Calvin, who considers this the best way of looking at it also, restates it thusly: “That we may not be led into temptation, deliver us from evil.” When we petition the Lord in such a way, we are recognizing our utter weakness in times of temptation. We rest in His protection and deliverence. We depend wholly on God’s mighty hand unless we would always fall in such temptations. It is by God’s grace that we are staid from evil of all sorts. There are two general uses of the word “tempation” in the Bible, that of a trial that one goes through, and that of being drawn into a desire. We know that God does indeed test us through such trials (Abraham and Issac, Gen 22; Jesus and the temptation in the wilderness, Matthew 4.1-11), but that He does not tempt us to sin (James 1.13). It is this latter idea that “temptation” conveys here, but with James, we dare not say that it is God tempting us, in the same way that God’s sovereignty caused Saul to be oppressed by an evil spirit yet He was not the author of sin. It is a recognition of God’s sovereignty over all situations as well as our own responsibility in such matters. With this in mind, the phrase is not teaching that God temptts, but is the deliverer from temptation. The phrase “deliver us from evil” could also be understood “deliver us from the evil one” but it seems to rather be understood, as in the first definition, as a reference to all evil. As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:18, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.” The word in 2 timothy rended “will rescue” is rhysetai and the word for “deliver” in Matthew 6.13 is rhysai. It is the very same idea that runs through both verses. As we must fight against sin daily, let us pray for divine protection and deliverence daily; as we fight hourly, let us pray hourly.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen
As I mentioned in part I, this doxology has no backing with the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. For this reasons, modern translations that have been based on those manuscripts have not included it in the text, but include it as a footnote. It seems to be a reference to Daniel 7.13-14 where it is said that at Christ’s ascension He was given the kingdom, glory, and dominion. Though it is most likely not part of the original, it is not contradictory in the least to the rest of scripture, but affirms what is taught. May we rejoice in the glory, power, and the eternal kingdom that shall never be destroyed of our God!
Conclusion
In the Lord’s prayer we are given a model of how we should pray. When we pray, we should enter confidently into God’s throneroom, yet in the awe and wonder of a child, and in the recognition that we are speaking to the sovereign Lord and King of the universe. Our prayers should be glorifying and exalting to God, proclaiming His majesty and holiness. We should be earnest in our desire to see His kingdom progress, both through the gospel and the holiness of His saints. We should go to God in recognition that He is the source of meeting all of our basic needs, as well as all of our needs. We should go to Him n confession through the mediator Jesus Christ, confessing our sins in repentance and rely on Him for our sanctification, through conforming us to His image and protecting us from all forms of evil. Let us realize that this prayer, while great community prayer within the church and individual use in praying the scriptures, we must not fall back into vain repetition. The purpose of the giving of this prayer was one of a model, not to be used verbatim in every prayer we utter to God, but to guide us as we pray. May we be transformed through our prayer-life as our prayer-life is transformed through the Word!
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