A51845:797
A practical exposition of the Lord's-Prayer
A practical exposition of the Lord's-Prayer by ... Thomas Manton.
London: printed by J.D., 1684
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Now in this Petition, when we say, Forgive us our Debts, we do not desire to be discharged of the Duty we owe to God, but to be acquitted of the Guilt and Punishment. The Faults or Sins that we are guilty of, oblige us, and bind us to the Punishment; and therefore Sins are called Debts. The original Debt we owe, is Obedience; and in case of Default, the next Debt we owe is Punishment. Look as in a Contract and Bond, if the Party observe not the Condition, then he is liable to the Forfeiture: So God dealt with Man by way of Covenant, and the Tenor of it was exact Obedience; and this Covenant had a Sanction or an Obligation annexed, in case Obedience was not exactly performed, we should be accursed, and suffer all manner of Misery in this Life, and the next. Now by the Fall we incurred ⟨p. 344⟩this Penalty, and therefore as lost and undone Creatures, we run to God's Mercy, and beg him to forgive the Debt, or the Forfeiture of that Bond of Obedience, wherein Man standeth bound to God by the Law.
Now in this Petition, when we say, Forgive us our Debts, we do not desire to be discharged of the Duty we owe to God, but to be acquitted of the Guilt and Punishment. The Faults or Sins that we are guilty of, oblige us, and bind us to the Punishment; and therefore Sins are called Debts. The original Debt we owe, is Obedience; and in case of Default, the next Debt we owe is Punishment. Look as in a Contract and Bond, if the Party observe not the Condition, then he is liable to the Forfeiture: So God dealt with Man by way of Covenant, and the Tenor of it was exact Obedience; and this Covenant had a Sanction or an Obligation annexed, in case Obedience was not exactly performed, we should be accursed, and suffer all manner of Misery in this Life, and the next. Now by the Fall we incurr'd ⟨p. 344⟩this Penalty, and therefore as lost and undone Creatures, we run to God's Mercy, and beg him to forgive the Debt, or the Forfeiture of that Bond of Obedience, wherein Man standeth bound to God by the Law.