Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 6:14-15

"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." — Matthew 6:14-15 (ASV)

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

There are some who have altered this and pray in this fashion: "Forgive us our debts as we desire to forgive our debtors." This will not do. You will have to desire God to forgive you, and desire in vain, if you pray in that fashion. It must come to this point of literal, immediate, completed forgiveness of every offense committed against you if you expect God to forgive you. There is no wriggling out of it. The person who refuses to forgive, refuses to be forgiven.

God grant that none of us may tolerate malice in our hearts.

Anger flickers in the hearts of the wise; it only burns in the heart of the foolish. May we quench it, and feel that we do freely, and fully, and heartily forgive, knowing that we are forgiven.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Therefore, in order to succeed in prayer, we must have a heart purged from a spirit of revenge and from all unkindness; we must ourselves be loving and forgiving, or we cannot expect that God will hear our supplications when we come to crave his forgiveness.

This enforces Christian action by limiting the power of prayer according to our obedience to the command to forgive. If we would be forgiven, we must forgive. If we will not forgive, we cannot be forgiven. This yoke is easy; this burden is light.

It may be a blessing to be wronged, since it affords us an opportunity of judging whether we are indeed the recipients of the pardon which comes from the throne of God. Very sweet is it to pass by other men’s offenses against ourselves, for thus we learn how sweet it is to the Lord to pardon us.