Matthew 6:12 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And forgive us our debts, &c.— 5. We may observe, that this is the only petition in this prayer upon which our Lord enlarges, and indeed it is a petition of the greater consequence, and the more to be attended to by us, as we ourselves ask that which is the greatest of all things from God, even the pardon of our sins, upon a conditionvoluntarilyurged.It is hardly possible to imagine a more effectual expedient to promote the forgiveness of injuries, than thisof making it a part of our daily prayer, to ask such pardon of God, as we give to our offending brother; for in this circumstance every malicious purpose against him would turn the petition into an imprecation, by which we should as it were bind down the wrath and vengeance of God upon ourselves. (See on Matthew 6:14-15.) The earth and the fulness thereof being the Lord's, he has a right to govern the world, and to support his government by punishing all who presume to transgress his laws. The suffering of punishment therefore is a debt which sinners owe to the divine justice. So that when we ask God in prayer to forgive our debts, we beg that he would, through the infinite merit of Christ, mercifully be pleased to remit the punishment of our sins, particularly the pains of hell; and that, laying aside his displeasure, he would graciously receive us into favour, and bless us with eternal life. In this petition, therefore, we confess our sins,and testify the sense we have of our demerit, than which nothing can be more proper in our address to God. The reason is, humility and a sense of our own unworthiness, when we ask favours of God, whether spiritual or temporal, tend to make the goodness of God in bestowing them on us appear the greater; not to mention that these dispositions are absolutely necessary to make us capable of being pardoned. The expression used in this petition is very remarkable,—forgive us, as we forgive: we are allowed to ask from God only such forgiveness as we grant to others. In the mean time, when we beg forgiveness of God, like that which we grant to men, we must beware of setting our forgiveness on an equality with God's: the most perfect forgiveness which men are capable of exercising towards men falls infinitely short of the divine forgiveness necessary to repenting sinners. Besides, God himself has taken notice of the difference, Hosea 11:8-9.: because I am God, and not man, &c. We only beg that the Divine forgiveness may resemble ours in its reality. See the note on ch. Matthew 5:44., Macknight, and Olearius.