Question 126: What is the fifth petition?
Answer: And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. That is: For the sake of Christ’s blood, do not impute to us, wretched sinners; any of our transgressions, nor the evil which still clings to us, as we also find this evidence of Thy grace in us that we are fully determined wholeheartedly to forgive our neighbor.
Without a doubt, the presence of sin in us is the largest reason why we sometimes feel disconnected from God. At times, we will remember that we are not under condemnation for our sins as long as we are in Christ (Romans 8:1) and this can be a truly liberating verse to those who suffer in their sin. But we need to remember that this verse is true every day, not just those days when we feel the condemnation. If this condemnation is not coming from God, where is it from?
I believe that most of this condemnation that we suffer comes directly from ourselves. We look at the standard by which we are to live, compare it with our lives and begin to pour out the condemnation all over ourselves. While it is good to examine oneself for sin, I say that we ought to keep grace in mind when we do this. We do need to strive for holiness in our lives, but if your efforts allow you to look beyond the grace of God. That is a definition of idolatry. Anything you place over God in your heart is an idol, and we must not allow the holy lives we are to strive for to become idols to us.
2 Peter 3:17
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
Verses such as this one are often used by those who want to concentrate on the actions of man when considering their responsibility not to sin, and rightly so. We are commanded to take note of what those who are without Christ that we may guard ourselves from their influence. But the command does not end there. We need to remember the grace of God afforded to us. As a reminder, grace is defined as undeserved merit. If we are trying to purge the sin in our lives so that we can be found deserving of the favor of God, we are missing the mark. In fact, this is a mark that we cannot reach. With this thought in mind, take a look at the following verse.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
As we try to maintain a barrier between the sins of others and our own lives, we will likely search ourselves and find ourselves to have fallen short of the glory of God. If we don’t find this, we either are not searching or our search is not honest. Because it is assumed that we will take an accurate inventory of our sin, we are commanded to grow in both the grace and the knowledge of Christ. We are to learn theology (the study of God) and are to remember the undeserved merit that is ours in Christ, lest we become disparaged by our undeserving selves.
Once we have a firmer grasp on the grace of God and its value to us, we will be better prepared from the heart to forgive others who have sinned against us. According to the movie “Batman Begins” it is what we do that defines us. According to the Bible it is what Christ has done that defines us. Frankly, I’ll take what Christ has done over what I have done any day.
light to them that sit in darknes, and in the shadow of death, & to guide our feete into the way of peace. 80 And the childe grewe, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the wildernesse, til the day came that he should shewe him selfe vnto Israel.Heidelberg Catechism for Lord’s Day 51 from CoffeeSwirls.