Friday, April 1, 2022

Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583) on Matthew 6:12 ("And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors")

  

I. What Does Christ Mean by Debts?

 

Christ comprises under the term debts all our sins, original as well as actual, including sins of ignorance, of omission and commission, as he himself explains it in Luke 11:4, where he says, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive  every one that is indebted to us. They are called debts, because they make us debtors to God both in respect to the obedience which we have failed to render, and also to the punishment which we are bound to pay in consequence therefore; for when we si we neither give, nor perform to God, what we owe him; and as long as we do not yield this to him, so long do we remain debtors to God, and are bound to make satisfaction by punishment. “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.” (Deut. 27:26.) From this state of condemnation we could never be delivered, if God did not remit unto us our sins.

 

II. What Is It to Remit Debts, or to Forgive Sins?

 

A creditor is said to forgive a debtor when he does not demand from him that which he owes him, but blots his account from his books, without exacting any punishment, as though it had been paid, as we may learn from the parable of the king who in view of the entreaties of the servant that owed him ten thousand talents, forgave him the debt. (Matt. 18:27.) So God forgives our debts, when he does not lay them to our account, nor punish us on account of them, and that because he has punished them in his Son, our Mediator, This, therefore, is that we are to understand by the forgiveness of sins. That God does not impute any sin to us, but graciously receives us into his favor, declares us righteous and regards us as his children out of his mere grace and mercy for the sake of the satisfaction which Christ made in our behalf, imputed unto us and apprehended of us by faith; and that he will, therefore, not punish us on account of our sins, but grants unto us righteousness and eternal life, since the remission of sins does away with the punishment of sin; for sin and punishment are correlatives. When sin is introduced or committed, punishment follows; but when it is taken away, punishment is at the same time removed. . . .

 

III. Why Should We Desire the Forgiveness of Sins?

 

We should desire and pray for the forgiveness of sins, 1. On account of our salvation, that we may be saved: for without the forgiveness of sins, we cannot be saved. Neither does God confer this Benefit upon any, but such as desire it. 2. That we may be admonished and reminded of the remains of sin which still cleave even to the most holy in this life, and that our repentance may thus become more earnest and deep. 3. That we may desire and receive the former blessings; because, with the remission of sins, these blessings are either not given, or else they are given to their destruction. So the wicked often receive these gifts; but not to their salvation; for they rather contribute to their condemnation. . . . .

 

IV. How Are Sins Remitted unto Us, or Why Is It Added, As We Forgive Our Debtors?

 

Our sins are so remitted unto us, as we also forgive our debtors, which clause is added by Christ, 1. That we may rightly desire and pray for the forgiveness of our sins, and may, therefore, come before God in true faith and penitence, the sign of which is love to our neighbor. 2. On account of our comfort; that we may be assured of the forgiveness of our sins, when we extend forgiveness to others for the sins which they may have committed against us,; and may have the assurance that we are acceptable to God, although there are many remains of sin still within us. (The Commentary of Zacharias Ursinus: On the Heidelberg Catechism—The Protestant Christian Doctrines, Dating to 1563 [trans. G. W. Williard; Pantianos Classics, 1888], 656-57, 658)

 

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