To the Bankrupt & Blameworthy
Soul Snack 87/13 ... To the Bankrupt & Blameworthy
What made the servant angry enough to want to choke a fellow servant over a mere $100? Had he forgotten his outrageous $1,000,000,000 debt was now written off? This first servant did not seek the debt forgiven but simply asked for time to pay. He was sufficiently deluded to think that were it not for the money owed him by his fellow servant he might just have repaid the debt. (Read this parable in Matt 18:21-35.)
Grace is an insult to those who hate being told they need to be forgiven.
Grace rejecters pass on blame. They prefer time in jail at the hands of torturers thinking they can pay their own debts. (How else would you explain the popularity of purgatory even in this day and age?)
It is only in Christ do we discover that sin is really serious. In Him alone do we find the type of forgiveness that leaves us without debt and frees us from the need to blame others.
Perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from this parable is that morally bankrupt people like ourselves must humbly come to God for total forgiveness, not to discuss repayment plans.
The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go. (Matt 18:27)
Jesus died to settle debts, not to create them!#
Today's Soul Snippet:
"The worship pleasing to God is... spiritual not ceremonial."~ John Stott
# A special thanks to Warren Hicks for permission to reproduce and edit today's SoulSnack