The Man Who Wouldn’t Accept Forgiveness – by Eliezer Gonzalez
Jul 11, 2016 2688
I have always wondered about what the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18. Here is a man who is seemingly forgiven but apparently loses his forgiveness when he fails to forgive another.
Is that how it works with us? Do we lose the forgiveness of God every time we sin?
I asked Des Ford what was the key to understanding this parable. He told me that this parable was all about a man who would not accept the forgiveness of God.
Here was a man who owed an unimaginably large sum to his master. He is dragged before the master, and the parable says that he begged to be given a chance:
the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ (Matt. 18:26).
The master then goes way beyond what his servant asks, and cancels the entire debt!
The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go (v.27).
Then, when immediately following this, the servant failed to forgive his fellow servant a much smaller debt, the master recalls him and makes him liable for the entire debt (v.34).
The fact that this servant would not forgive another is the clear demonstration that he had never accepted his master’s forgiveness in the first place. Not only had he not understood it, but he did not accept it, and he consequently failed to pass it on.
The way we forgive others is a reflection of whether we have accepted the forgiveness of our sins by God. One of the most important questions we will ever need to answer is whether we have accepted the forgiveness of our sins in Christ.
Have you? Who do you need to forgive whole-heartedly today?
– Eliezer Gonzalez
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