Jesus's Teaching on Prayer, Part 12
Conditional Forgiveness
Matthew 6v14-15
21st November 2025
We come to the last of our studies of Matthew 6v5-15, in which Jesus teaches us how to pray. Having taught us the Lord's Prayer, He says:
Matthew 6v14-15
"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins."
This is a very serious saying and we need to understand it, to apply it to our lives and to consider it in our care of other people.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ means that, if we will repent of our sins and trust in Christ's redeeming sacrifice, God will forgive all our sins. Here, Jesus tells His followers that there is a circumstance in which God will not forgive our sins. Thus He's saying that the forgiveness of our sins is, in some sense, conditional on the state of our hearts. That can, at first, seem to contradict the Gospel, but nothing Jesus says can contradict the Gospel. Also, I am convinced of the Reformed doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints; I am confident that Christians will never lose their salvation. Once saved, always saved. Therefore, we can be assured that all our sins will ultimately be forgiven. So what does Jesus mean by this saying?
I think it applies to two different situations.
Firstly, this teaching applied to non-Christians
A Christian is by definition somebody who has gone to God to plead for the forgiveness of sins, who has been given faith by the Holy Spirit in the power of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross to atone for our sins, who knows that the ledger of debt against him has been erased. How can anyone go through that experience and not forgive those who've sinned against them?
How can I remember all the sin that's been forgiven me, and not forgive you for the sins you committed against me? It's outrageous. It's an absolutely dreadful idea. To hold on to unforgiveness against my neighbour is totally inconsistent with believing in the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ. So I think that, if we completely reject the idea of forgiving other people, then we cannot have embraced the idea of being forgiven by God. Therefore, so if I don't believe in forgiving, then I'm not a Christian and my sins are not forgiven.
Secondly, this teaching applied to Christians
I write this with great sadness. I know people who tell me they are born again, and I'd like to be charitable, I'd like to think that they are, but they hold deep unforgiveness against people for something that might have happened years or even decades ago. Can you be a Christian and hold on to your unforgiveness and bitterness? I think the answer is, "Yes", but I've never seen a Christian who does that, who is a happy Christian, or a productive Christian, or an encouraging Christian. I've not met one who you're glad they're part of the church. There's something about them.
And because what they're doing is so completely opposed to what Christ did for them, God does not treat them with the grace, favour and patience that He treats others with. Maybe He's forgiven them eternally, but He's not helping them much on earth with their emotional and relationship problems. And He won't, until they finally forgive. Some of these people probably will not forgive until they die and go to be with Jesus. When they look Him in the face they'll know they should have forgiven whatever was done against them or their loved ones.
What about us?
There are some people in between these two extremes of a perfect Christian and a bitter, twisted, unforgiving Christian who's held on to a grievance for fifty years. What about you and me, with our little bits and pieces of unforgiveness? Maybe somebody said the wrong thing to you or about you last week. Maybe somebody bumped into your car the week before. maybe they or were a little unkind one Sunday morning six weeks ago.
Of course God has forgiven your sins. Of course you're saved. But that person would be happier, and you'd be happier, if you let it go. And you would experience more of God's favour.
When we pray the Lord's Prayer to our Father in heaven about His holy name, the name of the one who is the ultimate forgiver of sins, when we pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done, and for temptation to be far from us, and for us to be free from the evil one, how can we not forgive? How can we hold on to resentment when God has done so much for us, that He inspired us to pray for the extension of His kingdom throughout the whole world? We want peace and righteousness and love and kindness and forgiveness to reign. Let it start with you.
In Jesus's name. Amen.