Forgive Us
Forgive us our debts, our sins, our wrongs, our transgressions
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Lord, forgive us. We sin. We make mistakes. We take action and sometimes omit actions contrary to God’s desire for us. The chasm created between God and us by sin creates a moral debt that only God can forgive. God gave Jesus to live, die, and rise again for our sins. By grace, we are welcome into the intimacy of God.
Philip Graham Ryken uses the story of the lost son coming home to the father as a model for forgiveness. He says the son is morally bankrupt and went home to repay his father for all he lost. Unexpectedly the father saw him “from a long way” and ran to him. The father’s capacity to forgive was greater than the son understood.
We have the invitation to come to the Father with our sin as well and receive forgiveness in full. Ryken says, “When we go to him, weighed down with the debt of all our guilt and sin, he does not sit down with us to work out a payment plan. Instead, he offers forgiveness full and free.”
Note: The quote from Philip Graham Ryken appears in Following the Call: Living the Sermon on the Mount
