Parable Of The Unmerciful Servant

[brakelite]

KJV Revelation 3
Letter to the Church in Sardis
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Only those who overcome are clothed... Those who do not overcome are blotted out from the book of life. I can only ascertain from this that our salvation is conditional, and our forgiving others is one of those conditions.

 

[Jay Ross]

The OP is about God forgiving first a person who doesn't pass the forgiveness on to others.

Pretty much in line with what I was suggesting. If we cannot forgive others then God is not Able to forgive us because we are sinning.

 

[Deborah_]

Hi Deborah. This is an interesting take, but my first question would be who then are the tormenters in this parable that he commands the servant to be given over to?

Do they have to be anything/anyone in particular? It's a parable, not an allegory where every detail is symbolic of something. (One might as well ask who or what is the donkey in the parable of the Good Samaritan - it adds colour to the story, but has no special significance)
But if you insist, then I would suggest they are bitterness and hate.

 

[Waiting on him]

Do they have to be anything/anyone in particular? It's a parable, not an allegory where every detail is symbolic of something. (One might as well ask who or what is the donkey in the parable of the Good Samaritan - it adds colour to the story, but has no special significance)
But if you insist, then I would suggest they are bitterness and hate.

Who’s the fish in the book of Jonah?

 

[Waiting on him]

Do they have to be anything/anyone in particular? It's a parable, not an allegory where every detail is symbolic of something. (One might as well ask who or what is the donkey in the parable of the Good Samaritan - it adds colour to the story, but has no special significance)
But if you insist, then I would suggest they are bitterness and hate.

Corinth had an individual committing some ugly sins and Paul told them to hand him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,same thing. The tormentors is this world system. Fear hath torment.

 

[Episkopos]

How can one(who is truly born from above) not finish the race, when it is The Lord within us, running it.

We all have free will. We are not the Lord....nor are we as faithful as the Lord. I think that there is much confusion about this. God is watching what we will do...no guarantees. We will all be judged for what we have done with what we have been given.

But yes, there is a Spirit in us that cries out to God....but it can be quenched. If it were not possible to do so, there would be no admonition to not quench the Spirit.

 

[APAK]

Greetings APAK. If the servant was faking, why did the master forgive Him? The master in this parable is our Lord, and it speaks of a personal exchange happening between the two of them: "26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt." This text clearly suggests a relationship was established, does it not? The servant begged him on a very personal level, and the master responded on a personal level, being moved with compassion. They had a relationship. If the Master was being played, it makes our Lord out to be a fool.

In parables one has to watch that we do not start looking at them first with one set of lens (in a certain mental framework) and then quickly change it to another. Need to keep the same mental focus. It is a difficult concept....means to re-group and start the mental exercise all over again from the BIG picture and to stay in this mode, not to the small literal picture meaning, as if in this case, God knew his heart and still gave him forgiveness initially. This would be incorrect. Remember the parable is a crude picture of how the Kingdom of God operates. The Owner of the servants is not really God who knows the heart automatically...I hope you get my drift.

Think of this parable as God first not wanting to see into this servant's heart and then allowing this evil servant to play out his intentions that God already knew. Again this is the same modus operandi as the other parables on the same subject of the Kingdom. What the parable is saying is that God gives mercy to all and he shall forgiven all, only those will a pure heart, as with the other servants. I believe God knew his intentions and plan from the start and wanted to show him and all in the Kingdom with undeniable proof by this servant;s own actions, that he deserved to be thrown out until he genuinely repented. He needed God to come to him when he was ready, at a time God already knew about.

Bless you,

APAK

 

[VictoryinJesus]

We all have free will. We are not the Lord....nor are we as faithful as the Lord. I think that there is much confusion about this. God is watching what we will do...no guarantees. We will all be judged for what we have done with what we have been given.

But yes, there is a Spirit in us that cries out to God....but it can be quenched. If it were not possible to do so, there would be no admonition to not quench the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 10:5
[5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

 

[Helen]

I agree to a point. Sinners receive according to their works... Reaping what they have sown. But the wages of sin still remains... Death. The second death... The end result after the stripes.

So..what is death?
Gen 2:17
" But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. "

And Adam lived for 900 years....

I believe God's definition of death is different than ours!
Adam lost his relationship of closeness and companionship with God on the day he ate...

 

[Episkopos]

So..what is death?
Gen 2:17
" But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. "

And Adam lived for 900 years....

I believe God's definition of death is different than ours!
Adam lost his relationship of closeness and companionship with God on the day he ate...

Death is separation. Adam lost his spiritual connectivity to God...his spiritual life.

In Hebrew the word for human life is plural...CHAYYIM. So we were created to have a vertical life with God as well as a horizontal life with other created beings.

 

[Doug]

Hi Doug. In all politeness I do not understand this theology.
1. For starers it makes the New Covenant less demanding upon believers than the Old Covenant was.
2. To make this argument, you would have to be saying that the entire Sermon on the Mount was directed to Israel. It would have Jesus telling all who heard it that their righteousness in the law needed to exceed that of the Pharisees. I don't see Jesus as trying to devote tremendous energy to trying to get the Jews to develop a righteousness in the law, or spending three whole chapters of a sermon just to illustrate the point that they could not. I see Him as trying to get them to develop a true righteousness in both word and deed. Added to this in time would be the revelation that His sacrifice had paid for their failings.

Hi

The New Covenant was Christ shedding his blood for the remission of sins committed by Israel under the Old one. The Holy Spirit will give Israel a new heart and empower them to keep the commandments and be blameless in his sight.

The sermon on the mount was directed to Israel, it was teaching on the attributes of the kingdom.

 

[GTW27]

We all have free will. We are not the Lord....nor are we as faithful as the Lord. I think that there is much confusion about this. God is watching what we will do...no guarantees. We will all be judged for what we have done with what we have been given.

But yes, there is a Spirit in us that cries out to God....but it can be quenched. If it were not possible to do so, there would be no admonition to not quench the Spirit.

Blessings in Christ Jesus. We war against these things daily, even though the war has already been won. Each day, is like words written in a book, of which we will give account. And each day we are driven to our knees to ask for forgiveness to that which we did not want to do, or failed to do. And all of these things He removes(For He is just to forgive) from the pages of our book. We are judged and give account daily to Him and to Him alone. In the end, we pass from death unto Life, eternal life. And when our book is opened, all that remains is what He did through us as true sons and daughters. All else is washed away by The Blood Of The Lamb. I write this, for the sake of understanding, not that I dwell on this. For my reward matters not to me, what matters to me is the reward of others. And to the Op I say, The King of Mercies dwells in us, so how can we not be merciful. Those who show no mercy shall receive no mercy. And how can one not know who the tormentors are? Do they not wage wars on us day and night?

 

[CoreIssue]

We all have free will. We are not the Lord....nor are we as faithful as the Lord. I think that there is much confusion about this. God is watching what we will do...no guarantees. We will all be judged for what we have done with what we have been given.

But yes, there is a Spirit in us that cries out to God....but it can be quenched. If it were not possible to do so, there would be no admonition to not quench the Spirit.

Judged for rewards not salvation.

 

[farouk]

Rather than meaning that God's forgiveness is supposedly rescinded if they do not forgive, it's more likely that they never had it.

I don't believe in 'saved today, lost tomorrow'.

Romans 8.38-39.

 

[Enoch111]

Okay but at the end of the parable Jesus says that (God) sends that unmerciful servant to prison to be tormented until the debt is paid. That doesnt sound like the fate of a saved person to me.

Parables must be accepted for what they are. They illustrate spiritual truths. Those with an unforgiving spirit will definitely be tormented internally. People who hold grudges also alter their internal chemistry, and have medical and health problems.

This parable presents an actual debt. In terms of today's money, one talent would have been worth anywhere from US$100,000 to US$ 840,000. Let's say $100,000. Multiply that by 10,000 and that is $1,000,000,000 (one billion). That is a huge debt by any standard. But it is meant to illustrate our sin debt, which does not have a monetary value.

What the Lord was teaching Christians (through Peter's question about forgiveness) is that if God has totally forgiven us our sin debt because of Christ, we cannot -- and must not -- hold grudges with an unforgiving spirit. And if we do, we shall be tormented internally until we give that up. This man's sin debt was forgiven, thus he would have been a saved individual. But he was clearly walking in the flesh by holding grudges.

 

[farouk]

Who’s the fish in the book of Jonah?

One sees in a measure the overruling providence of God in what the fish did.

 

[VictoryinJesus]

Hi Victory. I almost missed your post in the storm.

I would ask you the same thing I asked CoreIssue: The parable says that the servant was initially forgiven of his debt. What does this represent if not the forgiveness of his sins, which would make him a believer?

Been thinking and maybe it hasn’t been taken into consideration that when the Lord spoke this parable it was before His death and resurrection. There was no mercy. Man did not know mercy nor could man give it. It is the Spirit which gives Life. Consider when they were told God desires mercy and not sacrifice. Romans 3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:

Same as those harsh words spoke of dogs not eating the children’s bread ...prior to the bread which is Christ given for all. As far as using this to support losing salvation or forgiveness. Of course there are attributes fruit of the Spirit the children of God are to bear from the root which is Christ by abiding...but the Spirit of God doesn’t fail and we do a huge disservice in implying man’s will is more powerful than God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Revelation 3:8
[8] I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Same as the dreaded ‘will He find faith on the earth’ in Luke. When the day Spring from on High visited there was no faith. Which is before mercy and faith is poured out by the Spirit of God through His death and resurrection unto Life. Faith in God and not man, will never be ashamed. It is a promise made in Him. It is fruit of the Spirit...anyone who claims the fruit of the Spirit fails to be found at His return ...goes against the Spirit and must consider Isaiah 55:11-13 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. [12] For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. [13] Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

He set up faith and laid the foundation. Same for mercy. In His death and resurrection. Before the fruit of the Spirit of God all were the “unmerciful servant.”

 

[farouk]

Been thinking and maybe it hasn’t been taken into consideration that when the Lord spoke this parable it was before His death and resurrection. There was no mercy. Consider when they were told God desires mercy and not sacrifice. Romans 3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:

Same as those harsh words spoke of dogs not eating the children’s bread ...prior to the bread which is Christ given for all. As far as using this to support losing salvation or forgiveness. Of course there are attributes fruit of the Spirit the children of God are to bear from the root which is Christ by abiding...but the Spirit of God doesn’t fail and we do a huge disservice in implying man’s will is more powerful than God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Revelation 3:8
[8] I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Same as the dreaded ‘will He find faith in the earth’ in Luke. before mercy and faith is poured out by the Spirit of God through His death and resurrection unto Life. Faith in God and not man, will never be ashamed. It is a promise made in Him. It is fruit of the Spirit...anyone who claims the fruit of the Spirit fails to be found at His return ...goes against the Spirit and must consider Isaiah 55:11-13 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. [12] For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. [13] Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

I don't see the true believer losing salvation in Scripture. Plenty of verses to support eternal security. There are also plenty of verses to warn against presumption among those who profess, but live carelessly.

 

[friend of]

This man's sin debt was forgiven, thus he would have been a saved individual. But he was clearly walking in the flesh by holding grudges.

Doesn't it say that he was thrown into prison and tormented until he paid the debt in full (something he could not do)?

 

[Enoch111]

Doesn't it say that he was thrown into prison and tormented until he paid the debt in full (something he could not do)?

That is for the purpose of illustrating spiritual truths. How would you pay your billion-dollar debt to God?