Dr. J. Vernon McGee :: Chapter 5: Forgiveness, Temptation, and Deliverance

CHAPTER 5

Forgiveness, Temptation, and Deliverance

In an earlier chapter I stated that the Lord’s Prayer falls into seven petitions: three pertaining to God, or those known as the theocentric petitions, and four that are manward and are known as the anthropocentric petitions. It is with the latter group—those having to do with the foundational and fundamental things in our lives—that we wish to deal at this time. They deal with that ugly thing called sin. It was Charles Spurgeon who said that no prayer of mortal man could be complete without a confession of sin, and this part of the Lord’s Prayer faces up to this business of sin, the reality of it, and how to deal with it. One of the things that marks us today is that we will not face up to reality. Not only is it true of the isms, but it is true of many individually. We want to deal with things that are theoretical—not with things that are actual. But this prayer is real and actual.

And Forgive Us Our Debts, As We Forgive Our Debtors

I want you to note these three wordings: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” is Matthew’s account of it. If you turn to Luke 11:4 you will find that it is, “And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” It was Tyndale in his translation who brought forth the word trespass, and you will find in some churches today where there is formal religion, liturgy, and ritual, the use of “forgive us our debts,” while others will use “forgive us our trespasses.” Two little girls were talking about the Lord’s Prayer as repeated in their churches. One said, “We have trespasses in our church,” and the other said, “Well, in our church we have debts,” and they were both probably right as far as the churches of our day are concerned—they have both debts and trespasses!

Which one is accurate? There is no difficulty here at all since all of these words refer to the same thing, and that thing is sin. In Scripture there are many words for sin. Sin is a complicated and mysterious thing. Goodness and virtue are simple. One of the things that is attractive about sin is that it is like a maze or a puzzle; it is something that you do not know too much about. Let us turn to an illustration for this thought. If I were to hold a straight stick behind my back and asked ten people to draw a picture of it, I have a notion that they all would draw just about the same kind of picture—it would be straight. Now that represents goodness—it is always just one way, and it cannot be two ways. But if I held a crooked stick behind me and asked ten more people to draw a picture of it, I have a notion that there would be as many different pictures of that crooked stick as persons drawing it. That represents sin. Sin can be crooked in a million different ways; Scripture, therefore, uses many different words for it.

It would be of interest to look at some of those words. It is called debt because it is a debt to God. It is called missing the mark because we fall short of the glory of God. It is called lawlessness, disobedience, trespass, crossing the boundary, or a moral aberration. Then there are such terms as impiety, blasphemy, and disharmony, meaning that which is out of harmony with God. These are some of the words that are used to set forth sin in all of its complexity today. But they all may be crystallized into one meaning in the use of the word “debt”—something that we owe. There are sins of omission as well as sins of commission. We say we have done what we should not have done, but we have left undone those things that we should have done. And today you and I are in debt to God. We owe Him something, and we have not paid that obligation; we have not discharged our responsibility.

“And forgive us our debts [our sins], as we forgive our debtors [those who are indebted to us].” This is on a legalistic basis and, frankly, I am rather afraid to pray the prayer just like that. It was a Puritan theologian who made the statement that to pray the prayer with an unforgiving spirit means in actuality to say, “God, do not forgive me because I do not forgive those who are around me.” How many people there are today of whom that would be true! They have an unforgiving spirit, and yet they have the audacity to say to God, “Forgive me as I forgive those round about me.”

If God forgave us as we forgive those round about us, I fear that few of us would ever be forgiven. For in the heart of man there is an unforgiving spirit. David committed a grave sin, and God said to him, “You are to be punished, David. But I will let you choose your punishment. Would you prefer to fall into the hands of God or into the hands of your enemy?” It did not take David long to arrive at a conclusion in that matter, for he cried out to God, “Oh, let me fall into the hands of God, for He is merciful, and let me not fall into the hands of man.” (See 2 Samuel 24:10-14.)

I am grateful that I do not have to stand before my enemies in judgment. I often receive many kind and gracious letters in response to my ministry, but every now and then I receive a harsh and critical letter—and how distressing it is. It is difficult to see how it could have come from the heart of a Christian. And when I read a letter like that, I am glad that I do not have to stand before that person in judgment, for I would not stand a chance. Perhaps they ought to be thankful that they will not have to stand before me, because they might not get off so easy either. You see, we would not be very gracious to each other. We are not even gracious to ourselves. We sometimes hear the expression, “I wanted to kick myself.” God has no such attitude toward you. He is gracious, and David said, “Let me fall into the hands of God—He is merciful—and let me not fall into the hands of my enemies.” That is grace. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” is not grace—it is legalistic.

I thank God for another verse of Scripture:

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)

Today God is forgiving us on the basis of what Christ has done for us, not on the basis by which we forgive. The redemption of God is in full view when God forgives us. It does not refer to our salvation when we read, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” He is speaking there to those who are already saved and have the nature of God. He does not wait for you to forgive before He forgives. That is not His method of settling the sin question. He gave His Son to die, and it is on that basis that God forgives and saves.

Do you know that it is more difficult for God to forgive sin than it is for you or me to forgive infringements? I can make this clear with a homely illustration. If you should step on my shoe and spoil my shine and then say to me, “I am sorry, will you forgive me?” I would say, “Sure. I was going to have another shine anyhow. Forget it. “ But it is a vastly different matter when we watch a judge who is trying a criminal. He should not let that criminal go free just because he expresses sorrow for his act. The judge is in the position of being a ruler and is obligated to uphold the law. So it would be more difficult for the judge to forgive than for me to forgive you for having spoiled my shine as you stepped on my shoe.

Let us follow this thought a little further. God is the moral ruler of this universe in which you and I live, and when He forgives He cannot do it by just letting down the bars and taking us into the back door of heaven. But to return to our illustration: Suppose that the criminal was condemned to death, and we decided to call upon the governor of the state to forestall any efforts to delay the carrying out of the sentence. If this criminal met us at the door of the governor’s mansion, we would be startled and naturally ask him: “What in the world are you doing here?” Should he reply, “Haven’t you heard? The governor has pardoned me and brought me as a guest to his home!” then we would know that some conniving had taken place somewhere. If God would forgive you in like manner, then He would be compromising with sin and would be admitting criminals into heaven. God cannot do that. Do not think that God forgives on some little sentimental basis, that somehow He shuts His eyes to the sin question. The teaching that God forgives sin without doing anything about it is liberalism at its very core, Yes, God forgives sin, but He has to do something about it.

Again let us return to our illustration. Suppose, if upon meeting this criminal at the governor’s door, he should say to you, “Haven’t you heard? The governor’s son has paid the penalty for my sin, and the governor is going to adopt me as his son—he is going to give me the rights of citizenship, is going to take this fallen nature out of me, and make me a law-abiding citizen.” Would you approve that? Well, that is exactly what God has done about the sin question. God forgives only on one basis: His Son came into this world, went to the cross, and paid the full penalty for your sin and my sin. Today we have forgiveness with Him because He paid the debt and set us free. That is the only basis of forgiveness. In the death of Christ upon the cross our sins have been removed “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12)—He has put them where He remembers them no more.

There is a mercy seat today for the sinner. The Lord Jesus gave a parable of the Pharisee and tax collector who went up to the temple to pray. The poor tax collector stood afar off, beat upon his chest, and said, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). What he actually said was, “Lord, be mercy seated to me.” The mercy seat in the temple of God was beyond the tax collector, and he was denied access to it. As far as he was concerned, there was no forgiveness for him at all. Therefore, he cried out to God in his desperation, saying, “Oh, Lord, if there were only a mercy seat where a poor tax collector could go for salvation.” Today, there is a mercy seat for everyone—it is the blood of Christ. That is made the throne of judgment, the throne of grace, and we can come before Him boldly and find help.

This petition of the Lord’s Prayer is for those who have been born again and have the nature of God. It is for their life and service, and so it is very pertinent and practical. May I say to you that an unforgiving spirit is the one thing that has put more Christians out of service than anything else. Along the shoreline of Christian work there is wreck after wreck of those who were one time in Christian service and are out today for one reason: They have an unforgiving spirit. Will you listen to the thing that John says in his first Epistle:

He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. (1 John 2:9-12)

Remember this one thing: God has forgiven us through the blood of His Son. But on the basis of our forgiveness of one another is our service and walk conditioned. It is on that basis that we worship God. The Lord Jesus says that if you go to the altar and remember that your brother has anything against you, do not even go on with your worship, as important as that is, but leave it and go and be reconciled to your brother (see Matthew 5:23, 24.) That is of paramount importance. And how many times our Lord repeats this! Over in the Epistle to the Colossians Paul says it in just a little different way:

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. (Colossians 3:12, 13)

Many people who claim to be fundamental in their faith are nursing little grudges; they are holding a hatred in their heart against a brother and having an unforgiving spirit. You know, Paul and Barnabas disagreed. Barnabas, the “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36), was not much encouragement to Paul when they disagreed over John Mark and were separated. But Paul was wrong about John Mark, and at the end of his ministry he apologized. Paul said, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). What a wonderful spirit this man Paul had!

I have in my possession a very personal letter to Dr. R. A. Torrey written by Dr. Frank De Witt Talmadge. This letter comes out of a day when men were giants on this earth. I came into possession of this letter while a pastor in Pasadena, California, at a church that had the desk and filing cabinet of Dr. Torrey. One day when I reached into his filing cabinet, which was filled with envelopes, I found that one envelope contained a letter dated January 2, 1900. It is from this that I give the following excerpt: “Dear Dr. Torrey: Today I’m standing under the shadow of two griefs. First, that of Mr. Moody’s death; secondly, the fear that I may have done you a very great injustice.” At this point he outlined what it was and then concluded—“If there is any way that I can rectify the wrong, I’ll gladly do so.” Then he told how he was willing to do it, and it was a way very humbling to him. Then he closed with this: “May the sweet spirit of him who is gone make me more and more preach the Gospel of love. Yours, with sorrow, Frank DeWitt Talmadge.” These men were giants, and they were big because they knew how to forgive. It is something all of us need today.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Do we forgive that He might harness us for service—that He might bless us richly? Great men, such as Paul, have a forgiving spirit. Those men, when wrong, acknowledge when they are wrong. One listens almost in vain today to hear some minister or Christian worker acknowledge that he is wrong. We are living in a day when no one is wrong and no one apologizes. How the church needs men and women who will humble themselves and ask forgiveness when they have wounded a brother!

And Do Not Lead Us Into Temptation…

Now let us look at the next petition: “And do not lead us into temptation.” This word “lead” gives us the wrong impression, because James says God does not tempt any man (see James 1:13). A better translation here would be, “Do not leave us in temptation.” It does not mean to keep us out of it, but when we are in it, do not leave us there.

In a church in the South some years ago, the preacher called on the membership to stand and give a favorite verse. One deacon got up and said his favorite verse in the Scripture was, “It came to pass.” Everyone looked puzzled. Finally the preacher said, “Now look here, brother, what do you mean?” He answered, “I’ll tell you. When I get into trouble, or I get into temptation, I always turn to that verse in the Bible where it says, „it came to pass’ and I say, „Hallelujah! It came to pass—it didn’t come to stay—and God will deliver me out of it.’”

My friend, that may be misusing Scripture, but I want to say that he was absolutely accurate. That is exactly what the Scripture says: “…the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations…” (2 Peter 2:9). And again:

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

If you have ever noticed a freight train as it was passing, you saw that each boxcar has on it, “Net weight.” That means that each boxcar has a certain capacity, and they never let it get overloaded. Now God knows what your capacity is—He knows how much weight you can carry—and He will not let you be tempted above what you are able to handle.

…But Deliver Us From the Evil One

Finally, “But deliver us from the evil one.” Satan is an awful reality. The world laughed at Martin Luther who threw an inkwell at him. But recently we have had a turn in events. I suppose that one of the greatest brains of the world was C. S. Lewis, and in his book, The Screwtape Letters, he took apart the liberal who denies the reality of Satan. Any man who stands for God knows the awful reality of Satan. As we work in any sort of Christian service, we become conscious of the presence of God and also dreadfully conscious of the presence of Satan. But we have this petition: “But deliver us from the evil one.”

The reason most of us fall today is because we are in the wrong place. We are like the little boy sitting in the pantry and looking at the cookie jar. His mother called out, “Willie, where are you?” He said, “I’m in the pantry.” Then she asked, “What are you doing in there?” He replied, “I’m fighting temptation.” That is the distance most people choose in fighting temptation today! If a fast train passes through a station, those who aren’t paying attention and are too close to the tracks run the risk of being sucked by the air current into the path of the train. That is the reason some of us fall—we have gotten too close! “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

This is a prayer that comes down to us where we rub shoulders with men. It is a prayer that ascends to God from the child of God. There is forgiveness for us today; there is deliverance from temptation and from the evil one. These are three words to look at very closely: forgiveness, temptation, and deliverance. There is forgiveness with God. The world is hard, cruel, unforgiving, and that spirit has crept into the church, but God can forgive and does forgive on the basis of the blood of Christ. He can make you and me triumphant over our temptations. And He is able to deliver us through the merit, strength, and power of Jesus Christ when you and I take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and pray in the Holy Spirit.