Please forgive me for delaying my response to your recent comment on our church’s website. Thank you for your interest.

Regarding Matthew 6:12, I do believe that one of the blogs in that four-part series on the Christian and asking forgiveness does address this verse. The subject is intriguing and I would like to open it more myself in the coming days, and write something more substantial. However, at the present time (and off the top of my head), I would say this:

1. That prayer does pertain to the Christian, since Jesus taught His disciples how to pray and then instructed them to teach new disciples to observe all that He commanded them (Matthew 28:19). Therefore, it is relevant to the Christian, though more substance may be added to that prayer, given our knowledge now of the cross.

2. The Lord’s prayer is divided into two sections, which are quite clear in the Greek: three prayers pertaining to God (His name, His kingdom, and His will), and four prayers pertaining to us (our daily bread, our debts, our temptations, and the evil one), which I often summarize in my own prayer life as provision, forgiveness, protection, and deliverance. To me, these last four are the substance of my daily needs. To me, forgiveness of sins is a daily need, and I can ask to receive it and expect to receive it now in full due to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:14). My person is justified completely and forever through faith in Christ; then, having established this relationship with the living Priest by means of covenant, I have His intercession for me constantly–and in asking Him to forgive all my sins, I am only asking Him to do what He is already committed to do and in fact is doing for me daily. God be praised!

Now–that is off the top of my head and I am not entirely certain that every way of phrasing things here is correct. So many things pertaining to the intercession of Jesus Christ interest me.

Grace to you as you continue to seek the mind of Christ in His word by His Spirit!

In His ministry and for His glory,

Bob Snyder
Pastor, Open Door Bible Church, Hudson, Michigan

I am very interested in this subject and have been studying it for some time. I was curious how you would handle Matthew 6:12 where the lord says, “And forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.” I look forward to your thoughts.

Oluchi’s comment hits on the tension that another referred to.

It would seem to me that yes indeed we have been forgiven. But also that humility is required, with a heartfelt sincerity to see sin removed from our lives as it rears it’s ugly head.
We are to work out our salvation with fear & trembling. So just to say “you’re forgiven, stop crucifying Christ daily” doesn’t really scratch the itch.(Whilst at the same time I understand the sentiment of not needing to literally ‘ask’ for forgiveness.)

I think Bob’s final paragraph in the article was spot on.

There is clearly a need to appropriate the forgiveness of God & cleansing power of His blood to areas of our lives as they appear or are revealed.
This need not necessarily require us to ask for forgiveness, but it requires us to be humble in heart & in love with God, and to have a holy desire to be truly like Him. For if we desire not to be like Him, then we shall continue in sin.

May God help us all to pursue the narrow way

I don’t buy either interpretation but do sense a tension between believing that I’m completely forgiven, yet asking for forgiveness.

Your article helped.
thanks again.
rasool

First, neither I nor the church am opposed to evangelism. Personally, I have visited about half the doors of our town myself in the past few years.

Second, the word of God says that we are born again “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man” (John 1:13). The post was an attempt to treat with integrity this inspired denial of “free will” as the cause of regeneration.

Third, only Jesus can confer the “power” (literally, the right) to become a child of God. No man can will it; we must all be given this right from Jesus. Therefore, let all who read this post come to Jesus Christ now and personally embrace Him as Lord and Savior!

Thank you, again, for responding to this website. Grace to you in the Lord Jesus!

Bob Snyder
Pastor, Open Door Bible Church

I do believe that man has a will (and therefore, I call men to repent and to believe in Christ for salvation), but I do not believe that the will is free nor the cause of salvation.