Matthew 6:14

NASB – For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

NLT – “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

VOICE – If you forgive people who sin against you, then your Father will forgive you when you sin against Him and when you sin against your neighbor.

Understanding Forgiveness

In first-century Judaism, forgiveness was a core part of religious life. Offenses and sins, depending on your translation, are known as “trespasses.” Trespasses are moral and ethical violations, often viewed as offenses against God’s law. To forgive others reflects God’s character, where He would remove our transgressions from us. The expectation of believers that we would extend the same mercy to others in the same way God extends it to us. The paternal image of God is used to describe the close relationship between believers and God. It describes God’s care and authority, contrasting with the more distant gods in the surrounding pagan cultures. 

There is an important thing to highlight in this passage: the promise of Jesus connecting our forgiveness with our willingness to forgive. (see Matthew 6:12 as part of the Lord’s Prayer) The assurance of forgiveness is a main foundational value in our Christian faith, rooted in the sacrifice of Christ, who fulfilled the Old Testament sacrificial system. It also assures us of God’s grace, while also calling on us to share that grace with others. 

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Part of what I’m going to talk about today is this contingency. What do you feel when you read that God’s forgiveness to you is based on how you forgive others? 

Trespassing Against Us

As I mentioned, I want to dive into more of what it means for God’s forgiveness to be contingent on our behavior. I also want to dive into the concept of “trespasses” often used in this context. Some translations use words like “offenses” and “sins,” but tresspasses is often used in the Lord’s Prayer, so it’s important to learn what a trespass truly is. 

Trespass is the Greek noun paraptóma (par-ap’-to-mah). This is an act that crosses a spiritual boundary and ends up under moral guilt. It talks about both individual acts and the results from that act, which can encompass any act done. It connects back to the Hebrew words for transgression, which describe a covenant breach and sacrificial atonement. Jesus describes it as any misstep against another invokes divine accountability. This talks about the clear-cut violation, where sin talks about the principle and the condition. For example, Adam’s single trespass in Genesis 3 introduces many acts of sin. The initial act led to the various acts that we see today. 

So, for us, what is the concrete reason why someone did something to us? What caused this person to commit sinful behavior, for this is what needs to be forgiven. In my eyes, this starts to dig into the trauma-based behaviors that have happened. Did they do this behavior because of past abuse? Did they do this because they needed to survive as a child? What factors may have shaped these behaviors, without excusing the harm? It’s worth having conversations to figure this out. It could also be misguided behaviors taught by parents who didn’t care to teach their kids proper manners and respect for each other. The more we can break down and work to understand the core of why we do what we do, the more we can work towards a place of reconciliation and guidance. 

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What tresspasses do you see in your own life? What situation would you say that someone trespassed against you? 

Forgiveness is an Act, not a Transaction

Regarding the forgiveness contingency mentioned earlier, I want to be clear: this is not a transactional mindset. It’s not a direct equation of “if X, then Y.” Refusing to forgive others reveals our resistance to grace, where forgiveness shows that God’s grace is being rooted in and flowing through us. This isn’t an immediate, all-or-nothing, act that occurs, but it is something that takes time to reach that perspective. Pushing someone into forgiveness or reconciliation before they can do it safely does more harm than good. Forgiveness is about releasing revenge, being honest about what harm took place, and creating a path towards healing that doesn’t involve immediate trust or a restored relationship. Forgiveness doesn’t require immediate trust or renewed access. Overall, we forgive because we have been met with mercy, and mercy cannot stay with just us. It needs to be shared with the whole world. 

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Who came to mind when talking about forgiveness? How can you forgive them?