Forgiving King

Creditors want to settle accounts.  I recently had some work done on our house that cost $600.  It had only been about 2 weeks since the work was done, but on Monday I got a call from the company and they politely reminded me of the debt I owed.  I payed the bill, but if I had waited 30 days, or 60 days, or if it had been an amount that I was unable to pay, they would have eventually turned me in to a collection agency and required me to pay them what I owed.  Those who do work or lend money, expect to be repaid and settle accounts with their customers.  How does God handle His account with us?

READ:  Matthew 18:21-35

The currency that we relate to God with is our love and obedience.  When we are obedient (righteous), our relational account balance with God is positive.  When we are disobedient (sinful), our relational account balance with God is negative.  According to Romans 3:10-12, we are all constantly making withdrawls from our account with God, “none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no on seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” From the day we are born, we are accumulating an immense debt of sin toward God.  And yet, God the King has limitless FORGIVENESS toward sinners who ask for MERCY!  To what extent does God mercifully forgive us of our sin?

God mercifully forgives us of a DEBT we could NEVER repay (Mt. 18:24-27) – A single talent in this time was valued at 6,000 drachmas, the equivalent of about 20 years wages.  In modern terms, if a laborer earns $15 per hour, at 2,000 hours per year he would earn $30,000 per year, a single talent would equal $600,000.   Therefore, “ten thousand talents” represents an incalculable debt of approximately $6 billion dollars!  The debt of sin we owe to God is astronomical and not anything we should ever imagine being able to pay back.   

God mercifully forgives us of MORE than we even know to ask for (Mt. 18:26) – In spite of the servant’s unpayable debt, he does not ask for forgiveness, he asks for “patience”.  He mistakenly thought what he needed was more time to “pay everything” he owed to the king.  The king knew that being repaid was impossible, so instead of giving him patience, he “released” and “forgave” him of the debt.  If we could really understand the amount of debt our sin creates between us and God we would be shocked.  It is foolishness to think that we could ever repay our debt of sin to God.  To think that we could ever do enough to make up for our sin against God is absurd.  We are at the mercy of a great King, and the good news is that He mercifully forgives!

Our willingness to extend MERCY and FORGIVENESS to OTHERS reveals whether or not we have truly received God’s merciful forgiveness in our own lives (Mt. 18:21-22, 32-35) – A hundred denarii in this time was equivalent to 100 days wages.  In modern terms about $12,000.  This is still a large amount, but miniscule compared to the debt the servant owed the king.  In the sermon on the mount in Mt. 6:14-15 Jesus says, “if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  Being released and forgiven of such a large debt by God should create within us the ability to release and forgive others of the tiny offenses done to us by others.  If we find it impossible or difficult to release or forgive others of sin against us, we may need to ask ourselves whether or not we have truly experienced the merciful forgiveness that God offers to all those who ask for it.

CONCLUSION

Forgiveness of sin is the greatest part of being in God’s Kingdom. Colossians 2:13-14 says, “(we) who were dead in (our) trespasses and the uncircumcision of (our) flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.  This he set aside by nailing it to the cross.”  God has done more than just release and forgive us of what we owe, Jesus Christ paid our debt with His own life!  Have you experienced the cancellation of the record of your debt of sin by believing in Jesus’ death on the cross for you?