A little clarification please Matthew 6.14-15

***POSTED BY: Rog***

After reading through this post, I figured that I would add some biblical passages to the conversation. The best place to start would be the words of Jesus. So, when reading through the gospel of Matthew, I came across this passage of scripture which I feel needs some clarification. For those of you not familiar with the passage I will provide it for you.

Matthew 6:14-15(NET) "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.

These are the last two verses in the section where Jesus teaches on prayer.

It is easy to overlook these verses or skim past them. Several questions need to be asked about this verse.

1. Is God's forgiveness conditional or dependent upon man forgiving others?
2. Does this passage imply that one can lose his/her salvation?

I am trying to work through this passage on my own. I don't want this passage to be something that I overlook. Further I don't want to use a theological system(such as Calvinism) to explain away this passage.

So what does Jesus mean by these words?