Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 6:12

"And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." — Matthew 6:12 (ASV)

And forgive us our debts. The word debts is used figuratively here. It does not mean literally that we are debtors to God, but that our sins resemble debts. Debtors are those who are bound to others for some claim in commercial transactions, for something they have received and for which they are bound to pay according to contract. Literally, there can be no such transaction between God and us; it must be used figuratively.

We have not met the law's claims; we have violated its obligations; we are exposed to its penalty; we are guilty. God alone can forgive, just as only a creditor can forgive a debtor. Debts here, therefore, means sins or offences against God—offences that only God can forgive.

The measure by which we may expect forgiveness is that which we use toward others (Matthew 18:28–35; Mark 11:25; Luke 11:4).

This is the invariable rule by which God dispenses pardon. The one who comes before him unwilling to forgive, harboring dark and revengeful thoughts, how can he expect that God will show him the mercy that he is unwilling to show to others?

It is not, however, required that we forgive debts in a pecuniary sense. We have a right to these, though they should not be pursued with an overbearing and oppressive spirit, nor in such a way as to sacrifice the feelings of mercy to secure the claims of right. No one has a right to oppress.

When a debt cannot be paid, or when paying it would greatly distress a wife and children, a widow and an orphan, or when calamity has made it impossible for an honest person to pay the debt, the spirit of Christianity requires that it be forgiven. To such cases, this petition in the Lord's Prayer doubtless extends.

However, it was probably intended to refer principally to injuries of character or person that we have received from others. If we cannot forgive them from the heart, we have the assurance that God will never forgive us.