Matthew 18:27 And the master of that slave was moved with compassion and released him and forgave him the loan. (28) But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and he took hold of him and began to choke him, saying, Repay me what you owe. (29) Then his fellow slave fell down and begged him, saying, Be patient with me and I will repay you. (30) But he would not; instead, he went away and threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed.
[Part 1 of 2] The Lord spoke such a parable to expose the unreasonableness of those who do not forgive others. If you do not forgive your brother, you are the very slave spoken of in these verses. When we read this parable, we are indignant at this slave. The master had forgiven his debt of ten thousand talents, but he would not forgive his fellow slave's debt of a hundred denarii. He put his fellow slave into prison and kept him there until the latter would pay what he owed. He acted according to his standard of "righteousness"! A believer should treat himself according to righteousness but should treat others according to grace. Your brother may owe you something, and the Lord knows clearly that your brother owes you something. But He also clearly shows us that if a believer does not forgive his brother, he is not dealing with others according to grace. The Lord expects us to do to others as He has done to us. He has not made demands on us according to righteousness. In the same way He expects us to not make demands on others according to righteousness. The Lord has forgiven our debts according to mercy, and He expects us to forgive others' debts according to mercy as well. With what measure the Lord measures to us, He expects us to measure the same measure to others. [Continued tomorrow]
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, Messages for Building Up New Believers, pp. 351-352. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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