Why Are We Sinners?

Matthew 18:23-34

 

In Matthew 18 Jesus tells the parable about a man in serious debt who is pardoned by his master Later the man who had his debts cancelled by his master insists that another man pay him back a debt that was much smaller. The master hears about this and throws the man who had serious debt into prison. The message is that we must forgive everyone because God has forgiven us.

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:12 ESV

 

In the Lord's prayer, we pray that God would forgive us like those whom we have forgiven. This forgiveness means to cancel a dept. The person who has wronged us now owes us nothing if we forgive them. Much We do not require anything from them because the debt has been removed. Much the same, when God forgives us, we are not required to pay or do anything because the debt is cancelled. Yet, some people do not see themselves in debt.

 

Because of Original Sin, we are all born under sin and are sinners. This is an important concept in Christianity and sometimes, this concept is lost in modern times. Many people these days do not see themselves as sinners and often see different sins as much more serious than others. Because they do not commit more serious sins or crimes, they do not believe they are sinners in need of forgiveness. They are good people who have earned their place in the world and all that belongs to them. Through their own merit, they owe nothing. 

 

Meritocracy is a system in which we are promoted on our merits and nothing else. The truth is that life is not fair. The people with good skills tend to have unfair advantages over others. People who have money will tend to make more money. The people who are educated usually come from homes or places with good education readily available. People born with long term health problems or are more susceptible to illness may be at an unfair advantage to those born healthy and strong. Although there are cases of people who rise above their circumstances, most of us are where we are because of hard work, a lot of luck and other people’s sacrifices.

 

The reality is that what we have is undeserved. It is by God's grace that we are here. We live because God gave us life. Our mothers had to endure much to birth us and later raise us when we could not take care of ourselves. If it were not our mothers raising us, then it was someone else who had to take care of us. Not one of us can say that they have no debts.

 

In fact, the world live in is a blessing to us. We take from the world and cannot truly pay back what we have taken. Currently the world is suffering because we have taken so much. This world was given to us by God. Our friends, family, country, history, and culture are all gifts we do not deserve but it was still given to us.

 

When non-Christians ask us why we are so concerned with sins, we can tell them that our debts have been paid. Our debts with God are something we cannot pay back. It is only through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that we can live debt free. This is why we need to be just as forgiving as Jesus was to us.