"Your life is transformed to the degree that your mind is renewed. Cornel's book goes a long way to removing the hindrances to that renewal."
-Curry R. Blake, John G. Lake Ministries
Click Here to Read More!
Matt 18:23-35 is one of those passages that has been used for years to beat believers over the head to get them back under performance based legalism. I have been asked about this passage quite a lot, as many people have used it when they try to argue that you can lose your salvation and be thrown out of the kingdom if you don’t do certain things. Lets look at the passage and then just ask 3 simple questions…
Matthew 18:23-35 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (ESV)
Whenever this story is read, people identify God as the king and themselves as the servant. God forgave you your sins just like the king cleared the servant’s debt. Then they say that if we don’t forgive, God won’t forgive us and deliver us to the ‘jailers’ or tormentors in another translation. Whenever we study a piece of scripture, it should always be looked at through what happened on the cross. The cross changed everything. It especially changed the way God relates to us, which is important in understanding this parable. I said I would ask 3 simple questions, so here goes:
- Are you saved by mercy or grace?
There is a difference between mercy and grace. We are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8), not mercy. The king in the parable showed mercy by forgiving the servant’s debt out of pity. God didn’t save you out of pity, He saved you out of love. Big difference. If the king had shown the servant grace, he would have not only cleared the debt, he would have given the servant enough money to never be in debt again.
- Are you a servant or a king?
Surprisingly enough many believers would rather identify with being a servant instead of being a king. The scripture is clear that Jesus no longer considers us servants; we are friends, brothers, kings and priests. As He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). So in this story it would be more accurate if you identified yourself with the king. You are in a position to be merciful, to see the debts people have and to clear it.
- Does God relate to you based on your works or His Son’s works?
Since we are now the righteousness of God in Christ by faith, God relates to us based on Jesus’ righteousness, or the degree to which Jesus can do right. He no longer looks at our unworthiness, because through the atoning blood of Jesus, we have been made forever worthy. Whenever we think God would ignore the blood of His Son and again look at our own righteous efforts, we are saying Jesus’ blood was not enough.
So please don’t buy into this legalistic manipulation trap that God is going to hand you over to tormentors if you don’t forgive others because if He did, He would be guilty of murdering Jesus. “But Cornel, this Jesus talking about the Kingdom?” Yes, I know. And he told this story before He went to the cross. God’s kingdom didn’t start at the cross. His kingdom has always been there. Before the cross the relationship we had to the kingdom was based on the old covenant performance based laws. Do good, get good. Do bad, get bad. After the cross the relationship we have to the kingdom is based on the finished works of Christ. If you relate to God based on the law, then you are on your own, you have no mediator and He would have to keep His word and punish sin. But if you are saved, you relate to God through Christ, your Mediator, and God again would keep His word that He would not treat you according to your sins because He has punished His Son in your stead.
So the choice is yours: Do you want God to relate to you based on your righteous ability (Old Covenant), or Christ’s righteous ability (New Covenant)? You can’t have both because old and new don’t mix.
Grace to you all!
Cornel
Read more about Cornel’s book “So You Think Your Mind Is Renewed?” here!
Click Here To Get New Posts by Email
14 Responses to The Unforgiving Servant – Matt 18:23-35
Leave a Reply
- Do Christians Still Have A Sinful Nature? – Ryan Rufus (Book Review) February 22, 2012
- Incomplete Vs. Complete Forgiveness November 25, 2011
- 20 Rob Rufus Quotes On Law vs. Grace November 23, 2011
- When Kids Pray… November 20, 2011
- Why Does God Love You? November 17, 2011
Thanks for visiting!
- A New Covenant Picture of Repentance February 20, 2012
- Hebrews 10:26 February 15, 2012
- “The Birthright” by John Sheasby February 10, 2012
- Breakthrough Fresno 2012 February 6, 2012
- Grace as a ‘License to Sin’ & God’s Disinterest in Our Sacrifice January 28, 2012
- Questioning Everything January 24, 2012
- Organic Church Introduction January 30, 2012
- Dead to Sin and Alive to God! November 10, 2011
- The Old Testament Law… FULFILLED July 11, 2011
- The Blueprint of “Renewing Your Mind” November 24, 2011
- Decisions that Define Us – Graham Cooke November 23, 2011
- God. is. with. You. September 30, 2011
Would you agree that this is the subject addressed by the message of repentance. That we change our mind from relating to God based on our righteous ability (Old Covenant), to relating to God based on Christ’s righteous ability (New Covenant)?
And repentance is not about our attitude to sin or leaving sin or changing our lifestyle?
To me this parable is about understanding grace. If you keep unforgiveness and bitterness in your heart towards someone, it means you are, as a christian, not only disobedient, it also shows you have not understood how much you have been forgiven yourself. Before this story, Jesus tells Peter he has to not forgive up to 7 times, but 7×70 times in one day! You have to go on forgiving, because there can be no limit. To illustrate the reason why you need to forgive, Jesus tells this story.
A talent was a bar of gold, about 30 kilograms. To 10.000 talents was 300.000 kilograms of gold, which would be like 6 billion USD worth today. The point Jesus makes, in order to be able to keep on forgiving (7×70 times), we need to see the magnitude of the sins we have been forgiven and the magnitude of the inheritance freely given to us.
We owed God a debt of 6 billion USD which He has cancelled for us through the cross and has now added all spiritual blessings in Christ on our account! Halleluja! We have been forgiven 6 billion USD as debt, but most christians walk around with a forgiven conscience of 100 USD. Most feel they were not soo bad and that God only needed to forgive some small sins. Which will result in a small response of gratitude, love and obedience towards God.
Understanding just how much we have been forgiven, will make our gratitude, love and obedience towards God grow! And it will change the attitude we have towards other people who sin against us. If we have been forgiven soo much, we ought to be just as willing to forgive those who sin against us.
The other servant owed him 100 denarri. One denarius is a days wage of a skilled worker. Imagine a carpenter today would get paid 150 USD a day, the 100 denarri would be 15.000 USD. Not a small amount either, but incomparible to the 6 billion USD. If I would lend 20 USD from someone and would forget to pay it back, that person could probably easily forgive me. But if I would borrow 15.000 USD and forget to pay it back, that would be a different story. It is easy to forgive a 20 USD offence but not a 15.000 USD offence. But Jesus still says you have to forgive, and do it again and again… Otherwise you show that you have not understood the grace of just how much you have been forgiven yourself.
The story is all about understanding how much we have been forgiven. A fruit of understanding how much we have been forgiven, is being able to forgive others. If we cannot, it shows we have not understood how much we have been forgiven ourselves.
Blessings,
Fernando
@ Jeremy, Yes. I believe so.
@ Fernando, I agree with what you said and it is about understanding grace too. There is more than one lesson that can be learned from each parable. I only focussed on a certain part, what you are talking about is valid, but it was not the point of my article. Thanks for your comments though.
Cornel,
My conclusion from this parable would be that if you are unwilling to forgive someone else , it would show that you have not understood the magnitude of your own sinfullness. Forgiving others is not a legalistic based work, it is a fruit of being forgiven yourselves.
If you cannot forgive others, you despise the forgiveness you received yourselves. If there is no ‘fruit of repentance’ (in this case forgiving others), were you saved in the first place? Grace shows itself by the works that follow from it as a fruit (or a work, as James would say)… if there is no ‘grace fruit’, were you then saved, yes or no? You cannot loose what you never really possessed in the first place
@ Fernando, again, I was not addressing unforgiveness. Secondly, a good tree bears good fruit. It doesn’t have to do anything, it bears it because it is natural to bear it. You don’t see apple trees running around working hard to prove they are apple trees by trying to grow bigger better apples. They just grow them because that is what they do. Forgiveness is a natural fruit of grace, but just because a person’s fruit has not come into season you want to write them off as not being saved?
Some people can’t forgive immediately because they are emotionally involved. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Take time, be angry, get over it, forgive. If it takes me 1 day to forgive and another person 3 years, who are you to judge and say one despises grace and the other doesn’t?
Thirdly, I don’t do anything for God because I have to. That covenant is dead. I do things because I want to. I do not forgive because I have to. I forgive because I want to. I don’t preach because I have to, I do it because I want to. My motivation is not “what is going to happen if I don’t do it” my motivation is “I love you Father”. If you point your finger at people struggling with unforgiveness and judge them as unrepentant and despising grace, you are operating in the wrong spirit.
You have to remember often Jesus’ teaching was about raising the bar of the Old Covenant to such high levels that it became obvious that you could never achieve it. For example extending adultery to lust.
I suspect that this parable is in the same category. Making it clear that if you’re reliant on anything other than the finished work of Jesus, then you’re lost.
Cornel, I understand you were not talking about unforgiveness in the strict sence, but I was just giving my take on how this all fits in with grace (as the title mentions here on FB).
Harbouring unforgiveness for a christian is an onxymoron, because it means you take your eyes of Jesus and forget how much you were forgiven yourself! Forgiving others is a fruit which comes from understanding how much we have been forgiven ourselves. That is why we can be full of grace, remembering where we came from and who we have been made now in Christ! That is why we are not called to judge, because we will be judging ourselves too by that standard.
But John tells the pharisees to bear fruits worthy of repentance (Matt 3:8, Luke 3:8). “The axe is laid at the trees, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt 3:10). If there is no fruit of repentance, Jesus comes to these pharisees with a winnowing fork, cleaning out the threshing floor.
Forgiving others is a ‘fruit worthy of repentance’, unforgiveness is not.I don’t know the timeframe God has in mind for allowing them to harbour unforgiveness, but unforgiveness goes against the whole understanding of grace!
But Jesus commanded to forgive, at all times when somenone repents, based on a right understanding of His grace towards us. Why does He say in Mk 11:26 that if we do not forgive, we are not forgiven by Our Father? Why does Jesus say: ‘Forgive and you will be forgiven’ (because it shows you have a right understanding of grace and of how much you have been forgiven yourselves!)
(Or do you re-interpret these verses through the cross, seeing them as Old Covenant teaching to Old Covenant people, who had to forgive in order to be forgiven? But under the New Covenant, these words of Jesus don’t apply anymore?)
Finally, I don’t point my finger at anyone, struggling with unforgiveness and judging them! If I do that, I judge myself! But I do tell people who harbour unforgiveness, to look at Jesus and what He did at the cross for them and get a revelation of the magnitude of what they have been forgiven. Christians who harbour unforgiveness have taken their eyes of Jesus! Redirect their focus! Who is not willing to refocus within Gods timeframe, and forgive other is unrepentant
With much love and respect!
In Christ,
Fernando
Thank you Cornel for sharing this. I’m still confused through all of it. I agree with Fernando and can’t disrepute what he shares and I’m wondering what your stance is on the rest of Fernando’s comment.” Or do you re-interpret these verses through the cross, seeing them as Old Covenant teaching to Old Covenant people, who had to forgive in order to be forgiven? But under the New Covenant, these words of Jesus don’t apply anymore?” Can you expand on this for I’am learning myself and stuck at this point here.
Bless you all for sharing,
Aaron
If I may be forgiven [no pun intended] for answering, the way I see it is this.
One of Jesus’ goals was to set the bar of the law as high as possible. He said that is you as much as lust after a woman you’ve commited adultery and to hate is murder.
I think this was another example of proving that under law you’d never make it.
If we’re strictly honest with ourselves all of us will have some element of unforgiveness in our hearts towards someone, so then all of us would be lost if this was a NC teaching.
And if you think you don’t have any unforgiveness, then you’re guilty of pride! So you lose either way.
So yes, these are OC words of the law – which has been canceled.
Remember – and this is crucial – Jesus modelled forgiveness on the cross, but welcomed the thief into paradise simply based on his request. Jesus should have said, were this to apply, that you can be with me in paradise CONDITIONAL upon you forgiving everyone – the roams soldiers, the person who grassed you up, that person who hit you when you were six – do I need to go on? Jesus’ silence on the issue shouts loud and clear.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:4-5 (KJV)
Here God’s mercy is tied to Him giving us His grace for salvation.
The Greek word translated mercy here by application means goodwill and kindness, joined with a desire to help. Then the word grace in verse 5 by application in the Greek means goodwill and lovingkindness. Seems these two words in this case are pretty much synonymous.
So from God’s point of view, we who are trusting Jesus work at the cross are righteous and sinless in His sight.
We are no longer judged coz we died when Jesus died. We died to the law and its demands too. Rom.7:4-6 & Col.2:14. Not only that, we have also been raised with Christ. Rom.6:8-11 & Col.2:11-13.
When God looks at us, He sees Jesus. It’s no longer I who lives…Gal.2:20 & Col.3:3 & 1Jn.1:7 & 2:1-2.
Jesus has made a way of escape from sin. Paul warns us that to continue in sin is to reap death and corruption. He writes with the thrust of encouraging his readers to live out this new life they now have and not to stay living like they used to. Col.3:5-10…
New King James Version (NKJV)
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him
I agree with Fernando above regarding understanding how much we have been forgiven encouraging us to be a forgiving person, ie. have the mind of God toward others. After all, we now represent Jesus on the earth. Jesus has forgiven them “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”.
I was getting confused with what Jesus said about if you don’t forgive, then God won’t forgive. When you look at what Jesus has done, then forgiveness is a finished work.
But, Jesus knows the tormenting you will endure if you fail to walk as He walked and forgive as He forgave. This parable is a warning for us all to follow Jesus example and forgive as we HAVE been forgiven. It’s a warning not to harden our hearts and stubbornly fight to save ourselves. Let their sins against you go. Forgive. Be free. You’ve had ALL your sins freely forgiven. Go and do likewise. You are going to get hurt if you don’t.
Col.3:12-14…
Amplified Bible (AMP)
12Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behavior marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper].
13Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has [freely] forgiven you, so must you also [forgive].
14And above all these [put on] love and enfold yourselves with the bond of perfectness [which binds everything together completely in ideal harmony].
This is what God now expects of His Children – to be just like their Dad.
There are no ‘buts’. Christ forgave us all our sins. It was His choice, we had nothing to do with it and it is still not dependent on us. Forgiveness was a free to all men. The gift of righteousness however is received by faith. It too is received freely, but through faith and nothing else.
Dear Cornel:
Thank you so much for clarifying this scripture verse. There is so much to unlearn as so many OLd Covenant depictions have been placed on New Covenant believers by our teachers. I had forgotten about this particular verse which I had truly believed. I now need to go back through the Bible with the new lenses of Grace. But Oh Thank God for new teachers and new lenses. What a difference. What a new understanding. It all makes sense now. Ha ha!