Matthew 6:14

New Testament

11 Give us today our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins. 16 “When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward!

Rosh Hashanah 17a

Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic

A Sage from the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught in a baraita: He overlooks each and every first transgression, and that is the attribute of mercy, that God forgives one’s first sin, and therefore He tips the scale in favor of the merits. Rava said: But that sin itself, which God overlooks, is not completely erased; if the individual’s actions are still mostly sins, God counts the overlooked sin with them and metes out punishment accordingly. Rava understood this verse differently and said: With regard to whoever forgoes his reckonings with others for injustices done to him, the heavenly court in turn forgoes punishment for all his sins, as it is stated: “He bears sin and forgives transgression” (Micah 7:18). Whose sins does He bear? The sins of one who forgoes his reckonings with others for injustices committed against him.

 Notes and References

"... Even though an atom’s worth of good can be critical, some good deeds are worth more than others. There is a tradition attributed to Anas ibn Malik, a contemporary of the Prophet, who reports that Muhammad questioned one to whom he permitted a glimpse of heaven. When the one who had briefly seen these blessings begged to enter immediately, he was told the price of admission is “your forgiveness of your brother.” This saying illustrates the qur’anic verse “Fear God and make reconciliation amongst yourselves” (8:1). This follows, comments al-Ghazali, because “God reconciles the believers with one another” (203–4). The idea that forgiveness of one’s brother is the key to heaven in Islam recalls Micah 7:18 and the story of Rabbi Huna in Talmud Tractate Rosh Hashanah 17a, which states that humans earn divine forgiveness for themselves by forgiving the offenses of others. The Christian Scriptures also teach that God forgives as we forgive. (Rosh Hashanana 17a; See also Mark 11:25–26; Matthew 6:14–15) The power of forgiveness to alleviate postmortem discipline is a theme common to all three Abrahamic religions ..."

Bernstein, Alan E. Hell and Its Rivals: Death and Retribution among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Early Middle Ages (p. 340) Cornell University Press, 2017

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