Today’s question is, “If I do not forgive others, does that mean my sins are not forgiven?” In this
video I’ll answer that question from a biblical perspective. Then afterwards, as always,
I’ll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end.
Matthew 6 does not teach that our eternal destiny is based on our forgiving other people; however,
it does teach that our relationship with God will be damaged if we refuse to pardon those who have
offended us. The Bible is clear that God pardons sin by His grace based on Christ’s work on the
cross alone, not on man’s actions. Our right standing before Him is established on one thing
only—the finished work of Christ. The penalty for the sin that is rightly ours is paid by Christ,
and we obtain it by grace through faith, not by any righteous deeds of our own. No one will
be able to stand before God demanding that his sins be forgotten simply because he has
forgiven others. Only when we are born again and given a new life through God’s Spirit by
faith in Jesus Christ are our sins forgiven. Therefore, Jesus is not referring to God’s
initial act of forgiveness (reconciliation) that we experienced when we first believed the Gospel.
What He is referring to is the day-to-day cleansing we obtain
when we confess our sins in order to restore fellowship with our heavenly
Father—the fellowship which is interrupted by the daily tarnishing of sin that affects us all.
This is not the wholesale cleansing from sin that comes with salvation by grace through faith,
but is more like the foot-washing Jesus describes in John 13:10. The “whole body is clean,” He told
the disciples, but their feet were dirty from their walking in the world. Forgiveness in
this sense is what God threatens to withhold from Christians who refuse to forgive others.
In Matthew 6 Jesus is teaching disciples how to pray and in doing so outlines how we are
restored into intimacy with God whenever we have displeased Him. In fact, Jesus instructs
us to build into our prayers a request for God to forgive us in the same way that we have forgiven
others who have harmed us (Matthew 6:12). If there are those we have not forgiven when we
ourselves pray for forgiveness, then practically speaking we are asking God not to restore a right
relationship with us after we sin. To emphasize the importance of restoring broken relationships
with our brothers and sisters, Jesus states that asking for God’s forgiveness for one’s own sins,
all the while withholding forgiveness from someone else, is not only bizarre but hypocritical.
We cannot possibly walk with God in true fellowship if we refuse to forgive others.
To be sure, an unforgiving spirit is a serious sin and should be confessed to God. If we have
unforgiveness in our hearts against someone else, then we are acting in a way that is
not pleasing to God, making our prayers and a proper living relationship with Him
difficult. God will not hear our prayers unless we also show ourselves ready to grant forgiveness.
To quote John Calvin on this verse, “If we are not harder than iron,
this exhortation ought to soften us, and render us disposed to forgive offenses.”
A second biblically plausible interpretation of Matthew 6:14-15
is that it is saying anyone who refuses to forgive others is demonstrating that he has not truly
received Christ’s forgiveness himself. Any sin committed against us, no matter how terrible,
is trivial in comparison to our sins against God. If God has forgiven us of so much, how could we
refuse to forgive others of so "little"? Matthew 6:14-15, according to this view, proclaims that
anyone who harbors unforgiveness against others has not truly experienced God’s forgiveness. Both
interpretations strongly deny that salvation is dependent on our forgiving others. Whether
Matthew 6:14-15 is speaking of "relational forgiveness," or whether it is a declaration
that unforgiveness is the mark of an unbeliever, the core truth is the same. We should forgive
others because God, through Christ, has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). It is wrong for someone who
has truly experienced God’s forgiveness to refuse to grant forgiveness to others.
Want to learn more? Subscribe so you don’t miss the next video! Visit GotQuestions.org
for more great content. And check out the details section below this video,
there you’ll find one book I recommend, along with links to several related questions. If
you’d like to learn about Bible Munch, or if you’re interested in Bite-sized devotionals,
subscribe to Bible Munch on YouTube, it’s linked right here. Now remember,
Got questions? The Bible has answers, and we’ll help you find them!