Jesus *did* say forgive to be forgiven. So works save?

What did Jesus mean when He said that if we forgive others, our heavenly Father will forgive us—but if we do not forgive others, neither will our Father forgive us?

In this episode of The Study Boys, Lex Lutheran and FLAME respond to the recent dialogue between Ethiopian Orthodox Deacon Mihret Melaku and Ruslan Karaoglanov (Ruslan KD) and wrestle with one of Jesus’ most challenging teachings.

Is Jesus teaching that our works contribute to our salvation? Is our forgiveness from God conditioned upon our ability to forgive others? Or is something else happening in these passages?

We explore these questions through the Law-Gospel distinction, asking what Jesus’ words reveal about God’s perfect, unmovable, and unbudgeable standard of righteousness—and what they reveal about us.

We also discuss the Christian as simultaneously sinner and saint, our ongoing need to confess our sins and pray for forgiveness, and why our true righteousness can never finally be located in our performance—even our performance of forgiveness—but only in Jesus Christ and His righteousness for us.

How do we take Jesus’ warning with full seriousness without turning the Gospel into a system of salvation by works?

Let’s study. 📖