Does Ephesians 4:32 teach that we forgive others so that we can be forgiven?
No. Ephesians 4:32 teaches believers to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving one another because they have already been forgiven in Christ, not in order to earn forgiveness. The conditional order belongs to the disciples' prayer in Matthew, but Paul's instruction reverses it.
Les explains that Ephesians 4:32 is written to believers at Ephesus, and Paul addresses them on a higher, more doctrinal level than the Corinthians. The command is to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving one another—'not so that you can be forgiven.' That conditional order, where a person must forgive everybody before being forgiven, is what the disciples' prayer says back in Matthew. But Paul does not write that. Instead, Paul says, 'be ready to forgive your neighbor, because you have already been forgiven.' The believer forgives 'even as God in Christ's sake has forgiven you.' Les calls this a vast difference: forgiveness flows from already having been forgiven, not from trying to obtain forgiveness.
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
More Questions
Why should believers forgive others according to Paul in Ephesians 4:32?
Paul teaches believers to be ready to forgive their neighbor because they have already been forgiven by God in Christ, not in order to be forgiven.