matthew 18:21-35

Sunday 31st December 2023
Preacher: Mark Taylor
Theme: Reset
Bible readings: Isaiah 43:18-21 Matthew 18:21-35
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OBJECTIONS AGAINST ETERNAL SALVATION (PART VII)
Matthew 18:21–35 (The Unmerciful Servant)

Another even stronger biblical text along the same lines is the following one from Matthew 6:14–15:

The objection brought by some believers based on these two passages is that if you, as a child of God, fail to forgive others as you have been forgiven, your original sin debt will be reinstated, and you will lose your eternal salvation. At first glance, these passages seem to tell us God’s forgiveness, our salvation, is conditional upon how much we forgive others, and if we don’t do that, God will reinstate our sins, even after we have been forgiven initially.

We must note that what Matthew 18:21–35 conveys is in the context of the Jewish Law. At that point in time, when Jesus gave the parable, He had not died yet on the cross and nobody from His audience was yet born again. Because of this, we need to realize that Jesus, during His life before the cross, made the transition from the Law of Moses to the Gospel. Most of the things He said were in the context of the Old Covenant because that is what His audience was familiar with, while a few things were looking forward and speaking about the future New Covenant. The conditional nature of His saying in this parable sounds very much like the Law of Moses. Jesus, throughout His ministry on earth, took the Law of Moses and raised it to the strictest of standards. He talked about its spirit, about intentions, and motivations of the heart, not just outward works. By showing the extremes of the Law, Jesus was preparing them for what was coming: the New Covenant of the grace of God through Christ. Jesus used the apostle Paul to teach that grace to the Gentiles. The sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–6) amplifies the Law of Moses, and this parable is along the same lines. So, it doesn’t say God can revoke salvation for those who are saved and whose sins were forgiven through the atonement of Jesus Christ. That would go against the many scriptures that show we are secure in Christ from the moment of our salvation. That would even contradict many of the words of Jesus Himself. Let’s take a closer look at this parable.

First, Jesus is not saying anything about those unforgiving people being thrown into hell. Second, the way the servant asks the king for mercy and the request to give him more time to pay back the debt shows this individual doesn’t grasp the reality of the situation. He thinks he can pay back the debt of sin through self-effort, but no one can do that. Only Christ accomplished this payment for people’s sins on the cross. Third, notice that nobody paid for the servant’s debt in this parable, but it was forgiven, meaning his debt was overlooked. As a child of God, you need to understand you are not just forgiven, but you are justified as well! When a husband and wife argue, they might often bring up things from the past. While the husband may have forgiven his wife (or the other way around), the moment he brings back into discussion the conflict from the past, he proves he hasn’t justified her. God is entirely different. He says, “I remember your sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12). Justification means you never sinned, and you will never be blamed for sin. You are unblameable and this is a fundamental theological concept.

God didn’t only forgive you in the sense of overlooking your sins,  He didn’t only provide an atonement or a covering for your sins. These are Old Covenant concepts. Someone paid with innocent blood for your sins and for the whole world’s sins. Hebrews 10 says, “Jesus took away your sins” once and for all. Forgiveness means overlooking the mistakes without making any payment for them and God forgave us only in the sense that we were not the ones who made the payment for sins. However, we were justified, which is beyond forgiveness, because sin was also paid for in full, not just overlooked by God.

All our sins have been taken away by Christ. That is why before the cross, we had to forgive before we were forgiven but after His work, we are first and foremost forgiven completely and permanently. Yes, we should still forgive, but not as a condition of salvation.

Believers in Christ are no longer under the Law of Moses, and neither salvation is under the condition of obedience.

Unforgiveness is a sin like any other. The apostle Paul writes the following words about forgiveness:

Proper 19 (24) Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A, 2022-2023)

Scripture Readings: Exodus 14:19-31, Psalm 114, Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 18:21-35

In Matthew 18, Jesus Christ responds to Peter's inquiry about how many times he should forgive his brother who has wronged him. Jesus' response is a powerful message of forgiveness - not just seven times, but seventy-seven times! To emphasize this point, he tells the parable of the Unforgiving Servant, a story about a man who owes his master an insurmountable debt, but is shown mercy and forgiven. However, when this same servant refuses to forgive a fellow servant who owes him a much smaller debt, he is punished severely by the master. This parable, much like the parable of the sower and other teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, reminds us of the importance of forgiveness, mercy, and judgment. It reminds us that even when we fall short, He gets us. Join Adam and Alison in this episode of Biblical Bytes as they explore the profound implications of this challenging parable and its relevance to our lives today,  and the impact of The Passion of the Christ.

Music used in intro: "Hard Answers" by JK Productions

We continue with another Season of Creation living in the shadow of Covid-19.

This sermon is part of the online service on September 13th, 2020, for the Anglican Parish of Gate Pa, Tauranga, New Zealand.

Using both the readings set down for the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time and those for the Season of Creation John suggests this season reminds us of the centrality of safeguarding the integrity of creation in the mission of God. In light of that we are invited to offer hope and an attitude of reverence to action around Climate Change, rather than fear and hopelessness.

You can read the notes to this sermon here

Proper 19 (24) Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A, 2019-2020)

Exodus 14:19-31 • Psalm 114 • Romans 14:1-12 • Matthew 18:21-35

Jesus taught that we should not judge so that we will not be judged. We have a tendency to see all of the problems that other people have but are unable to see their own problems. 

Life is not fair. Only God is fair. We expect more from others that we are able to give. We what people to be perfect and we are ready to punish them when they fail. But these people are not perfect and they don’t even notice that.

This is the year of restoration. But restoration requires change. We need to listen to the Word of God so that we can see the changes that we need to make in our own lives. We need to judge ourselves prior to judging others. None of us are perfect so we need to work on ourselves before we work on others. Everyone can fall into temptation and sin. Only Jesus can be perfect.

We need to develop a heart of forgiveness and repentance and love. Not judgement! 

We need to forgive because we are forgiven. We also need to ask for forgiveness if there are things we have done to others. It works both ways. Go and forgive and be forgiven. 

Proper 19 - Sunday after Pentecost (Year A)
Exodus 14:19-31, Psalm 114, Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 18:21-35