The Father’s Mercy

 

   The lowly servant owed his master a large sum of money. So, other servants brought him before the master saying, “this man is not able to pay what he owes.” Then as he was being sent away to be sold with his family in order to repay his debt, he fell down and begged, “Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.” But the humble spirit of the servant moved the master with compassion, and he released him and forgave him the debt. We can surely take a lesson from the first part of this parable in Matthew chapter eighteen.

 

   First of all, every human on earth should realize the extent of his or her indebtedness to Jesus Christ. Whether you believe it or not, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8.)  In John 4:42, we read, “...we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”  We are all sinners (Romans 3:23), and we owe our lives in payment for that sin. (Romans 6:23.)  But through obedience to the will of God, we can have that debt forgiven just as that servant in the parable did. 

 

   Take notice of the extent of the Master’s forgiveness. He didn’t give the servant another deadline to pay the debt. He didn’t hold the servant’s family as collateral for the debt.  He simply released him and erased the debt from his record. This is a true picture of God’s forgiveness because the Bible says He blots it from his record (Isaiah 44:22), He hides our sins from His sight (Romans 4:6-8), and He forgets about them forever. (Hebrews 8:12.) 

 

   However, we can only have God’s forgiveness as we repent of our sins (Luke 13:3), are baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), and live a life of faithfulness and submission to His will. (Revelation 2:10.) Won’t you accept the Lord’s forgiveness?

- - - - Darrell Powell

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