Atonement and the Lord's Prayer - Forgive us Our Debts

The Lord’s Prayer has interesting parallels to the themes of the day of Atonement. This is especially true when it comes to ‘forgive us our debts.’ ...

This ties in directly with Atonement and the message of the Jubilee. God’s people as inheritors of God’s land were to establish a system of debt relief every seven years culminating in the 50th year Jubilee which began on the day of Atonement... This physical means of maintaining a just and equitable society and eliminating intergenerational poverty has its spiritual parallels.

As individuals or nations we can come before our Creator and in humility ask that our debts – our misdeeds of omission or commission – be eliminated by Christ’s sacrifice. But there is a caveat, to forgive others as we have been forgiven. How well are we doing in this God-given duty?