February 2, the forgiveness cycle, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone

who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation. Luke 11, 4. Who forgives whom first?

On one hand, Jesus says, forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is

indebted to us. Luke 11, 4. On the other hand, Paul says, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you

also must forgive, Colossians 3, 13. When Jesus teaches us to pray that God would forgive us,

for we ourselves forgive, he is not saying that the first move in forgiveness was our move.

Rather, it goes like this, God forgave us when we believed in Christ, X1043.

Then, from this broken, joyful, grateful, hopeful experience of being forgiven, we offer forgiveness

to others. This forgiving spirit signifies that we have been savingly forgiven, that is,

our forgiving others shows that we have faith. We are united to Christ. We are in dwelt by the

gracious, humbling, holy spirit, but we still sin for John 1, 8 and 10, so we still turn to God

for fresh applications of the work of Christ on our behalf, fresh applications of forgiveness.

We cannot do this with any confidence if we are harboring an unforgiving spirit.

Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 1823 to 35. He refused to forgive his

fellow servant who owed him 10 dollars, though he came to be forgiven 10 million. He showed by

his unforgiving spirit that the king's mercy had not changed him. Jesus protects us from this

folly by teaching us to pray, forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is

indebted to us. This is like saying, Father, continue to extend to me the mercies purchased by

Christ because by these mercies I have been forgiven and I forsake vengeance and extend to others

what you have extended to me. May you know God's forgiveness afresh today. And may that grace overflow

in your heart, in forgiveness toward others, and may that sweet experience of grace in your life

give you added assurance that when you go to God to experience fresh blood bought forgiveness,

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