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with service; and the second evil is that this confusing of truth makes the child of God a
prey to fears and doubts and lays him open to suggestions for self-improvement in the
vain hope that sins can thereby be excluded.
It is a part of the apostle's teaching in Col. 2: that, not some sins, but all are forgiven.
Should anyone object that such a doctrine will lead to laxity and carelessness, let him
observe Rom. 5: 20, 21 and 6: 1. Paul did not modify his statement about abounding
grace because some might be found who would abuse it. Neither must we.
Forgiveness of sins is presented under two aspects in the N.T., and a comparison of
these will enrich our conception of the grace of God manifested toward us. Under the
dispensation of the kingdom, forgiveness was conditional and could be revoked. To
introduce either of these elements into the dispensation of the mystery would be
completely erroneous, but they are clearly seen in Matthew's Gospel:--
"When ye pray . . . . . Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matt. 6: 7-12).
It may be objected that these words do not suggest a condition but rather a reason--
that we forgive as the Lord has forgiven us. This might have been true if the Lord had
not explained His own words otherwise. At the close of the prayer which He taught His
disciples, these words are added:--
"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" (Matt. 6: 9-15).
We are not, therefore, left to infer the truth. The Lord has stated it, and we are left
with no alternative but to believe or reject it.
So important is this truth to the dispensation of the kingdom, that the Lord gives it in
parable form. The parable is linked up with Peter's question: "Lord, how oft shall my
brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" (Matt. 18: 21). The Lord
answers, "Until seventy times seven"; and then gives the parable of the two debtors.
Space will not permit our quoting the parable; the reader should turn to Matt. 18: 21-34
and read it through himself. We draw particular attention to the "moral" that is given by
the Lord:--
"So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts
forgive not every one his brother their trespasses" (Matt. 18: 35).
"So likewise."--What had been taught in the parable is used to enforce this lesson.
The debtor had been "forgiven" (verse 27), but seeing that he had not forgiven his
brother, the lord who had forgiven him cancels that forgiveness and delivers him to the
tormentors "till he should pay all that was due to him. So likewise . . . . ." It is absolutely
impossible to bring the doctrine of the parable over into the dispensation of the grace of
God, yet by the constant use of the "Lord's prayer" many are attempting to do so every
day.