Having More Assurance by Forgiving Others

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother

abides in death. 1 John 3:14NKJV

This morning we continue to study Westminster Larger Catechism Question 194, which

asks, “What do we pray for in the fifth petition?” Let us look at the sixth and final part of the

answer, which is the italicized portion of the following: “In the fifth petition (which is, Forgive

us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,)… we pray for ourselves and others that God of his

free grace would, through the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, apprehended and

applied by faith, acquit us both from the guilt and punishment of sin, accept us in his

Beloved; continue his favour and grace to us, pardon our daily failings, and fill us with peace

and joy, in giving us daily more and more assurance of forgiveness; which we are the rather

emboldened to ask, and encouraged to expect, when we have this testimony in ourselves,

that we from the heart forgive others their offences.” Last time we saw how it is our duty to

continue to ask God to accept us in Christ. Today we consider how our forgiving others

their offenses towards us should embolden us to ask for and even to expect greater

assurance that we ourselves are forgiven by God.

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Clearly a comparison is being made by this

statement. We are saying, “God, do ‘A’ to us as we do this same ‘A’ to others.” Since “A” in

this equation is standing for “forgive,” in what way are we asking God to forgive us as we

forgive others? From the English translation it is certainly possible to understand the

petition as asking God to forgive me according to my works. It is grammatically possible to

understand this sentence as saying to God “Give me forgiveness according to sincerity and

degree with which I give forgiveness to others.” It may be grammatically possible to

understand the sentence this way, but it should not be theologically possible. Since many

passages of Scripture confirm that none of my works can form the meritorious basis upon

which I should expect saving grace from God, we must rule out this possible grammatical

meaning.

Previously we saw that part of this request is that God would increase our own assurance of

forgiveness. In today’s portion the Catechism explains that we are emboldened to ask for

this increased assurance, and even encouraged to expect it when we have a certain

testimony or witness in our own selves. What is that witness? The Catechism does not

leave us in doubt: “that we from the heart forgive others their offences.” In other words, the

testimony or witness that emboldens us to ask for an increased assurance that God forgives

us of our sins against Him; and the testimony or witness that encourages us to expect that

God will increase our assurance that He forgives us our sins against Him is the same thing.

It is when we see that we are from the heart forgiving other people of their offenses against

us. As the Scripture at the head of this article confirms: “We know that we have passed

from death to life because we love the brethren.” Certain knowledge, which is to say

assurance, that I have eternal life is given to me as I see that I love my fellow Christians, for

only a saved person can truly love others. In the same way the Catechism is affirming that a

growing assurance of being forgiven comes from when I see that I am forgiving others.

Thus when we pray “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” we are not saying,

“God do this for me just like I do it for others – a one for one trade that I earn,” but on the

contrary we are saying, “God grant forgiveness to me since I see the grace of forgiveness in

me going out to others.” The fact is that if I can AT ALL forgive others from my heart, it can

only be because Jesus Christ is in me. If Jesus Christ is in me, then it can only mean that I

have been converted and that therefore I am trusting in Him alone for my justification

before God. And if I am trusting in Christ for salvation, then most assuredly when I ask God

to forgive me of my sins I can be confident that He will, because all who trust in Jesus Christ

will not be disappointed. Therefore, this petition is not a petition of merit, but a petition of

faith: “Lord forgive me, even as I see that I also, by your grace, am about the business of

forgiving others.” My forgiveness of others should be, not the test, but the evidence, that I

will be forgiven as I ask. May God grant that this petition would embolden us to seek God's forgiveness in full assurance of faith!