More eisegesis on your part in order to preserve your biased doctrine. In regards to the parable of the unforgiving servant, the picture illustrates God's total forgiveness when dealing with our sins at the cross. Our debt has been paid in full by Jesus. In Matthew 18:28, where the servant is unwilling to forgive his fellow servant such a small debt of a hundred denarii is presented as a repulsive hypothetical situation. As unbelievable as this action would be, that is how unbelievable it would be for a Christian, who has been forgiven such a huge debt, to be unforgiving of others with such a small debt. Even though in this parable the master was moved with compassion to forgive this servant despite the condition of his wicked heart, that is not how it works with our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. The Lord isn't going to ultimately forgive unmerciful, unforgiving, wicked hearts no matter how much we beg and plead, then take it back and He also doesn’t order that our wife and children be sold in order to pay off the debt either. (vs. 25) We could fall to our knees all we want asking the Lord to be patient with us and we will pay back our enormous sin debt (vs. 26) but it's too huge to pay back, so that isn't going to work either.
Forgiveness of the huge debt was taken back by the master in the parable, who did not infallibly know that his servant had a wicked heart until it was later exposed, yet he was willing to show mercy and forgiveness just as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is willing to show mercy and forgiveness and the huge debt of the wicked servant was forgiven of his huge debt until his unforgiving nature was discovered. His master in this parable was a man who did not infallibly know his wicked servant's heart (unlike the Lord, Jesus Christ who infallibly knows our hearts) and did not realize that his servant was wicked until his heart was exposed by refusing to forgive his fellow servant in such a small matter. (vvs. 32-34)
Failure to forgive in such a small matter shows that this person has not fully embraced God’s grace and forgiveness, hence the term, "wicked servant," which is not descriptive of a genuine believer. The fact that this person is called a "servant" does not necessarily mean they were saved. The children of Israel were referred to as "the Lord’s servants," but they were not all saved.
In Leviticus 25:55, we read - For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
In Isaiah 43:10, we read - You are my witnesses, says the LORD, my servant, whom I have chosen..
Nehemiah 1:6 - please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.
More eisegesis on your part in order to preserve your biased doctrine. In regards to the parable of the unforgiving servant, the picture illustrates God's total forgiveness when dealing with our sins at the cross. Our debt has been paid in full by Jesus. In Matthew 18:28, where the servant is unwilling to forgive his fellow servant such a small debt of a hundred denarii is presented as a repulsive hypothetical situation. As unbelievable as this action would be, that is how unbelievable it would be for a Christian, who has been forgiven such a huge debt, to be unforgiving of others with such a small debt. Even though in this parable the master was moved with compassion to forgive this servant despite the condition of his wicked heart, that is not how it works with our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. The Lord isn't going to ultimately forgive unmerciful, unforgiving, wicked hearts no matter how much we beg and plead, then take it back and He also doesn’t order that our wife and children be sold in order to pay off the debt either. (vs. 25) We could fall to our knees all we want asking the Lord to be patient with us and we will pay back our enormous sin debt (vs. 26) but it's too huge to pay back, so that isn't going to work either.
Forgiveness of the huge debt was taken back by the master in the parable, who did not infallibly know that his servant had a wicked heart until it was later exposed, yet he was willing to show mercy and forgiveness just as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is willing to show mercy and forgiveness and the huge debt of the wicked servant was forgiven of his huge debt until his unforgiving nature was discovered. His master in this parable was a man who did not infallibly know his wicked servant's heart (unlike the Lord, Jesus Christ who infallibly knows our hearts) and did not realize that his servant was wicked until his heart was exposed by refusing to forgive his fellow servant in such a small matter. (vvs. 32-34)
Failure to forgive in such a small matter shows that this person has not fully embraced God’s grace and forgiveness, hence the term, "wicked servant," which is not descriptive of a genuine believer. The fact that this person is called a "servant" does not necessarily mean they were saved. The children of Israel were referred to as "the Lord’s servants," but they were not all saved.
1. No, actually, this is just "begging the question" on your part--and is an example of your own commitment to "preconceived beliefs". I take God at His Word when He says people will be blotted out of His Book--this is an example of it.
How do people get forgiven? By faith. Now, if you want to wave the fact that the guy was forgiven away, because it is inconvenient for your perspective (and it
is), anyone could just wave any point of the parable that you think makes you point (none of them actually
do) away. "Don't take that point seriously, take
this point seriously." What a joke. I take it
all seriously.
i. Don't try this pearl-clutching anachronistic attack on Jesus--the fact that the man was going to have his wife and children be put into servitude to pay debts was not unheard of. There were provisions for it
in Torah. The reason you would raise this point is nothing but your abject ignorance your hope you can play on other peoples' ignorance and emotions. Pathetic. That was what was done to people back then. That was the consequence in the world back then.
ii. Whether the aforementioned parabolic consequence actually corresponds to something or not can be discussed, but Jesus doesn't tell this parable for no reason, He really does have a point to make--there
are people God forgives, who
must therefore have been of faith, and who
are therefore inscribed in His Book, but who
do thereafter disqualify themselves because of their sinfulness, and who
are therefore blotted out Exodus 32:32-33, Psalm 69:28, Revelation 3:1-5.
Now, is it my fault that you are not prepared, and that you do not have a place in your (practically useful, yes, but just realistically
wanting) "theology" for this eventuality taught in God's Word? No, I'm not here as your babysitter. My approach to Scripture
does make room for this.
iii. If you want to say this is me trying to read my "preconceived beliefs" into Scripture, exactly
when did I form those beliefs that you take issue? Before
when? In between when I was
informed by one Scripture and another? When I read stuff like Exodus 32:32-33, Psalm 89:16, Revelation 3:1-5 and
believed those passages, and when I went and read the other verses like Matthew 18 and saw that God's Word was integrated and consistent? Is
that what you mean by "preconceived"? I formed an opinion by reading God's Word? What in my approach exactly are you taking issue with? Just that it doesn't conform with your
traditions instead of God's Word. Take God seriously!
2. "None of God's servants are wicked"? Oh, OK, it seems like your only problem is a very small problem that is easy to solve : you haven't read the Scriptures. In 1 Corinthians, the entire Church is condemned for boasting about a man having his father's wife. Is a man having his father's wicked? How about approving of that sin and boasting about that sin? Doesn't Romans 1 condemn approving sinful behavior? Are you really trying to deny that Christians sin? What are you saying? James condemns Christians as "adulterers and adulteresses" (married to God, but unfaithful to God) so what are you saying? Do you even
think before typing?
3. "Israel was supposed to have been His servants, but not all of them were saved".
i. Actually,
all of the Jews who came out of Egypt were "saved by the blood of the Lamb" yet "with most of them God was not pleased" and they fell under God's wrath in the wilderness and never inherited the promise--this happened to them to teach us, as a warning so that we will not do as they did and suffer the same consequences. That's in 1 Corinthians 10.
ii. So, you think this actually
proves your point? LOL
God had gotten a People for Himself; a bunch of those people disqualified themselves by sinning Deuteronomy 32:5, Deuteronomy 32:21--and God had said "the one who has sinned against Me I will blot out of My book".
I recognize this as being
my point.
God has gotten for Himself a
different people today Deuteronomy 32:21, Hosea 1:9-10, Matthew 21:43, and the same dynamics remain--"the same yesterday, today, and forever".
So, yeah, as it has been said, "0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 0."
You have proven
nothing.
