Question 126

What is the fifth petition?

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” That is, be pleased for the sake of Christ’s blood, not to impute to us, poor sinners, our transgressions, nor that depravity which always cleaves to us (Ps. 25;7); even as we feel this evidence of thy grace in us, that is our firm resolution from the heart to forgive our neighbours (Matt. 18;35).

Ps. 25;7.—Remember not the sins of my youth, not my transgressions; according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.— Eph. 1;7.—Ps. 51;1, 2, 7, 9.—Rom. 4;7, 8.

Matt. 18;35.—So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.—Matt. 6;14, 15.—Col. 3;13.—Gal. 5;22, 23.

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

Psalms 25:7
7Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my rebellious acts; remember me according to Your loving devotion, because of Your goodness, O LORD.

Matthew 18:35
35That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Ephesians 1:7
7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

Psalms 51:1
1Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

Psalms 51:2
2Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

Psalms 51:7
7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalms 51:9
9Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.

Romans 4:7
7“Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

Romans 4:8
8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

Matthew 6:14
14For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Matthew 6:15
15But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

Colossians 3:13
13Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Galatians 5:22
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Galatians 5:23
23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Source and edition

Heidelberg Catechism. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879

Public Domain (historic text); CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikisource transcription). Source transcription.

Transcription licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

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