Read and meditate on the following parable by Jesus and see how you would interpret it:
“Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants. When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. “But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’ He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told to their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him in, and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”” (Matthew 18:23-35 WEB)
A legalistic way of interpreting it would be this: forgive others if not you will be in danger of hellfire.
A legalist tends scan the Scriptures to look for what he must do in order to please God and earn his right standing before God. This is error.
The right way (might I boldly say) to interpret the parable above in light of the New Covenant of Grace is this: 1 talent of silver was worth more than 15 years of wages for an average worker at that time.
The king’s servant owed a debt he could never repay, even if he lived multiple lifetimes.
If he wanted to even have a chance to repay his debt, assuming he keeps his job all the way, he would have to work more than 150,000 years to repay his debt of 10,000 talents of silver.
To preserve his own life, the servant desperately promised the king that he would pay back everything he owed. How was he going to—it is impossible.
Man has this tendency to rely on his own strength even when it’s obviously impossible. Admitting his weakness and crying out to God for help is usually a last resort for most.
The king’s servant being ungrateful, demanded another servant to pay back the 100 denarii (worth 100 days of wages for an average worker) owed to him.
This debt was insignificant compared to what the king forgave the servant of.
No matter how others sin against you, it is nothing compared to your entire lifetime of sins that you committed against God.
When we have a revelation of the greatness of our sins and the abundance of mercy and Grace that we have received through Jesus and His finished work at the cross, we will be empowered to forgive others.
We will forgive because we want to, because we have a revelation of how much we are forgiven—not because we are forced to forgive or threatened with curses
Under Grace, we will live godly when we have a revelation of Gospel truths.
We will want to do what’s right because we understand the goodness we first received and will lean on the Holy Spirit to be transformed so we can live right.
When God deals with you, a believer, He doesn’t inflict capital punishment upon you like you’re a criminal.
Even His discipline is done lovingly. He first corrects your wrong actions by dealing with the wrong belief you have in your heart.
If you are stubbornly unrepentant, He gets your attention by letting you stumble within safe boundaries so that you will give up on what doesn’t profit you and choose to seek Him instead.
Right impression of God:
Believer: “Why do I have to forgive that person?”
God: “Son, let Me show you what Jesus did for you at the cross...”
(After explaining the Gospel)
Believer: “Oh I see, I didn’t know You loved me so much and that I was forgiven of so much! Okay since You sacrificed so much for me, I shall not hold this sin against that brother. Now that I think about it, it’s a comparatively trivial matter.”
God: “Well done My son, just depend on Me. I know it’s difficult for you, but I will not leave you helpless. My Spirit will empower you to forgive him.”
Believer: “Thank You Abba, I receive your help. By myself I cannot, but I believe You can help me to do all things for Your glory.”
Do you see how important it is to read the Bible with the right lens? Dear brethren, you have to view everything in light of the cross of Jesus Christ.
Don’t mix the Old Covenant of Law which was for Israel, with the infinitely better New Covenant of Grace that you’re under.
Legalistic teachings that emerged from man’s fleshly interpretations of God’s word have robbed so many of the freedom and joy of the true Gospel.
It is so crucial to rightly divide the word by the covenants so I wrote this 4 ebook bundle called “Understand the Four Gospels Through the Lens of Grace” to correct wrong beliefs about the Four Gospels.
Get the ebook bundle here ==> https://www.miltongoh.net/store/p18/understand-the-four-gospels-through-the-lens-of-grace
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