This is mixing the covenants. Forgiveness under the Old Covenant was based on you forgiving. Jesus model prayer here was for that time while they where still under the law. You do this...and I God will do this in return.
The New Covenant did not begin at Matthew 1:1. It started when He went to the Father. Jesus lived under the law so that He could fulfill it for us and not have it hanging over our heads anymore.
Galatians 4:4 (NASB)
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4 [/SUP] But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman,
born under the Law,
Part of this model prayer is "Your kingdom come..your will be done" The disciples prayed this prayer until the kingdom came after the cross. The kingdom of God is now inside us after the cross. DO we pray for the kingdom to come?..it's here now inside us! Thank God!
Can we learn things from this old covenant prayer that Jesus told His disciples to pray before He went to the cross?..of course we can!
Remember when the young ruler came and asked what must I do to be saved?..Jesus gave him the law..Keep the commandments. Now do we "keep the commandments" after Jesus died for us on the cross now to be saved?..of course not.
What is the grace-based answer Jesus gave to be saved? Believe on the One who the Father has sent. Believing on Christ for our salvation is fundamental to our Christian life.
So..what about forgiveness now?..is our forgiveness depending on whether we forgive others as it was in the Old Covenant?
Let's ask Paul seeing that Jesus gave him the revelation of Himself and the New Covenant.
Ephesians 1:7 (KJV)
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7 [/SUP] In whom w
e have redemption through his blood, t
he forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Notice there is no IF you don't forgive..God will not forgive you. We HAVE the forgiveness of sins!
Colossians 3:13 (NASB)
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13 [/SUP] bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone;
just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
Here we forgive because Christ has already forgiven us.
See the difference? In the Old Covenant - you do and God will do
In the New Covenant - God has done it..we do it because we are forgiven and His life in us compels us the "be like Him"..when we see Him..we become like Him.
We have an awesome salvation!
This is just simply a distortion of the life.
The Lord wants us to walk in righteousness and love. Sin is the failure that stops this walk. In christians lives it should be in the background, and the walk is something that is deepening. Without dealing with sin at the start, setting ones heart in communion with the Lord, the walk is not possible. One cannot sin and claim you are walking as the Lord intends.
The Lords prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins and we forgive others who sin against us, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
Core to this prayer is forgiving our sins because we forgive others against us. This is asking Jesus or the Father to forgive us.
So the core thesis that sin is not an issue for all our lives or that forgiveness is not part of who we are, misses the gospel.