Forgive, forgiving, forgiven: Matthew 6:12 and Luke 11:4

Abstract

Does the petition for forgiveness in the Lord’s prayer indicate that believers forgive in the same manner that God forgives? Does it suggest that God will forgive the petitioner to the same extent that the petitioner has forgiven offenders? Does it make divine forgiveness contingent somehow on the petitioner’s prior forgiveness of others? Does it imply its inverse, namely that God will not forgive if the petitioner has not forgiven? Does the Bible teach conditional forgiveness? The answers to these questions depend, naturally, on the precise definition of “forgive/forgiveness” employed in the Model Prayer, an issue that requires an examination of related texts in Matthew and Luke. In the course of this examination, the question concerning what the prayer seeks to have forgiven, whether “debts” or “trespasses” (or both), also merits attention.