The story of the "Unforgiving Servant" started with the master taking into account all his servant's debt. One servant owed a debt far beyond his ability to pay. This illustrates what forgiveness was like in the kingdom of heaven. This to impress upon the hearers the magnitude of God's forgivess. To show the magnitude of the debt, the sin, of which were forgiven when we become God's children. The next part of the story will be illustrated below.
Source: The Preacher's Word
Now, let's continue looking at the story of the "Unforgiving Servant".
In Matthew 18 verse 26 we read,
It is hard to see how he thought he could ever pay everything. Yet he did see this: His only chance of forgiveness was to throw himself on the mercy of a merciful master. That is our only chance too. We cannot be saved by our good works. The only way we can be saved is by throwing ourselves upon the mercy of our merciful God!
When you get ready to be forgiven, do not come to God with the attitude: "Look, God, I'm a pretty good fellow. I just haven't been very religious. I've finally decided to throw in with You and be a part of the church. I believe we can strike a bargain on this matter. I'll be baptized if You'll forgive my sins. Then I'll be on Your side, and I reckon You'll be pretty lucky to have me."
That is not the way to be forgiven! To be forgiven you must come saying, "Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling," recognizing that you owe God far more than you could ever pay. You must come begging, as the publican prayed, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." You must come confessing, as did the prodigal son: "I have sinned against heaven... I am not worthy."
You must, of course, come to Christ in the way God has given in the Bible: believing in Jesus (John 8:24), confessing your faith (Matthew 10:32), repenting of your sins (Luke 13:3), and being baptized in order to be saved (Mark 16:16). But when you do these things, you must not do them as if you are striking a bargain with God: so many works on my part for so much salvation on Your part. You must do them as if you are pleading with and humbly entreating God for mercy, realizing that anything you do will not earn you salvation!
Verse 27 says,
Here is the good news! The king freely forgave a debt that the servant could not possibly pay. Applied to us, that is what is called grace. When we are saved, God forgives us far beyond what we deserve! He bestows on us a favor which we have not earned. He cancels a debt we never paid and could not pay and had no hope of paying!
Notice that in the story the king did not forgive the servant after he had paid the debt. Nor does God forgive us only after we have done enough to erase our debt to Him. He accepts the blood of Christ as payment for the guilt of our sins rather than requiring us to pay for them in an eternal hell. (See Titus 3:5.)
Source: jilielefebure.com
But the story still does not end there.
Sad to say, after being forgiven, the servant failed to forgive another.
Stay tuned for the last update on this series.
Notes:
Some of the information here are excerpts from Coy Roper.
published by Truth for Today in the year 2005.
Cheers and have a blessed day!
Kaizen