6:12 Forgiving Debts and Debtors
Asking Pardon Daily. Cyprian: How necessary, providential and
expedient it is for us to be reminded that we are sinners and must ask pardon
for our sins. And while we ask for God’s forgiveness, our minds retain an
awareness of those sins! Lest anyone become complacent and suffer the fate of
flattering himself, he is instructed and reminded that he sins daily, while he
is ordered to ask pardon for his sins. Thus John advises us in his epistle, “If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we acknowledge our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins.” In his epistle there is a twofold connection. We must ask pardon for our
sins and obtain forgiveness when we ask pardon. Moreover, he said that the Lord
is faithful in pardoning sins and loyal to his promise, for he who taught us to
ask forgiveness for our trespasses and sins promised paternal mercy and
subsequent pardon. He added and clearly imparted a law that binds us by a
definite condition and guarantee. We shall be pardoned for our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us, knowing that we cannot obtain pardon for
our sins unless we give equal pardon to those who sin against us. In this
regard he says in another place: “With what measure you measure, it shall be
measured to you.” And the servant who, after his every offense has been
forgiven by the Lord, is unwilling to forgive his fellow servant shall be sent
to prison. Because he was unwilling to pardon his fellow servant, he forfeited
what the Lord had pardoned him. Treatises, On the Lord’s Prayer 22–23.
Praying Daily for
Forgiveness. Chrysostom:
This prayer for forgiveness belongs to believers. For the uninitiated could not
call God Father. We discover forgiveness within the nurturing pedagogy of the
church. If then the prayer belongs to believers and they pray, entreating that
sins may be forgiven them, it is clear that even after baptism the profit of
repentance is not taken away. If he had not meant to signify this, why would he
have instructed us to pray for forgiveness? He asks us to bring our sins to
remembrance and ask for forgiveness, and he teaches us how to obtain remission.
He makes the way uncomplicated. By this rule of supplication it is clear that
it is possible even after the font of baptism that our offenses may still be
washed away. He thereby persuades us to be modest, commands us to forgive
others, sets us free from vengeful obsessions, promises pardon, and holds
before us good hopes and a high view of the unspeakable mercy of God. The
Gospel of Matthew, Homily 19.5.
Forgive Those Who Ask Your
Pardon. Augustine: It is
certainly a bargain to be reckoned with when we say, “Forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We can be sure that we have
violated that rule if we do not forgive those who ask our pardon, since we too
want to be forgiven by our most generous Father with respect to those who seek
pardon from us. Now, as to that commandment by which we are ordered to pray for
our enemies, we are not ordered to pray for those who seek forgiveness. For
such persons are not enemies. In no way, however, can someone really say that
he is praying for a person he does not know. Therefore it must be said that we
should forgive all sins committed against us if we want the Father to forgive
what we have committed. Sermon on the Mount 2.8.29.
You Will Not Outsmart God. Anonymous: With what assurance does that
person pray who harbors animosity toward someone who has offended him? Even as
he lies when he prays and says, “I forgive” and does not forgive, so too he
seeks pardon from God, but he will not be pardoned. Therefore, if that person
who has been offended prays to God without assurance unless he pardons the very
person who offended him, how do you think that person prays who not only has
been offended by another but himself offends and oppresses others through
injustice? But many people who are unwilling to forgive those who sin against
them avoid saying this prayer. They are ill-advised, first, because the one who
does not pray as Christ taught is not Christ’s disciple; second, because the
Father does not graciously hear a prayer that the Son has not recommended. For
the Father knows the words and meaning of his Son, and he does not accept what
the human mind has devised but what the wisdom of Christ has expressed.
Therefore you may indeed say a prayer, but you may not outsmart and deceive
God. And you will not receive forgiveness unless you yourself have first
forgiven. Incomplete Work on Matthew, Homily 14. (Matthew 1–13, ed. Manlio Simonetti [Ancient
Christian Commentary on Scripture; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press,
2001], 136-37)
