WE must come back to this parable again because the lesson being taught here is so important. It is describing the character of a truly forgiven person, and unless we have this character we are not saved, and have not received the gift of eternal life.

This teaching is something that is taught continually in the Bible, not only by Jesus but by the apostles, and this is why a reference Bible is so useful. Let us first note some of the scriptures that hold this teaching, before we seek to understand exactly what is being taught.

In James 2:13 we read “Because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement.” Mercy is at the heart of forgiveness. Mercy is the only thing that can triumph over judgement and deliver a person from judgement.

The Paul says in Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate with another, forgiving each other, just as Christ has forgiven you.” Here Paul gives the reason for forgiving, and how we should forgive. The reason is that we have been forgiven so much by Christ. How we should forgive, Paul tells us, is according to the same likeness as we have received forgiveness from Jesus.

Again Paul says in Colossians 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievance you may have against another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

In the Lord's prayer one of the petitions is “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. (Matthew 6:12), and Jesus emphasizes this and explains this in verses 14 and 15 where we read, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

We need to understand correctly what Jesus is teaching both in the parable of the unmerciful servant and in the Lord's Prayer. It is easy to run away with the idea that our being forgiven depends on our forgiving of others, as if we earn our forgiveness by being forgiving, and the measure of God's forgiveness of us will be according to the measure we have been forgiving to others. This is not so, for if this was what Jesus meant, then the parable would have been told differently. The parable would have started with the action of the first servant to his fellow servant, and then tell us that this action determined what measure the king forgave the first servant. In fact the parable starts with the first servants huge debt to the king, and speaks of the king's free, and gracious, forgiveness of this huge debt. There is an emphasis here on the huge debt, and its deserving, and at the forefront is the graciousness of the forgiveness of the king. He forgives unconditionally, and the very fact that he forgives shows how willing he is to bear the cost of such an action. If the debt is not paid by the debtor, then the king bears the loss.

This is so precise a picture of the forgiveness of God. The debt of our sin can't just be forgotten and written off as if it has not occurred. The fact is that forgiveness causes loss to God, for God can't act unjustly, and so he must pay the debt himself. The death sin deserves God must suffer himself, and this he does when he graciously forgives us. Christ bore our debt in is body on the cross.

Now this gracious action of God comes first. He freely and unconditionally forgives our sin for Christ's sake. This forgiveness can only continue and be real if the sinner appreciates their sin and its offense to God. It can only continue and be applied if there is a true consciousness of the guilt of sin, and the evil of sin. It can only continue if there is true gratitude for the love of God in forgiveness. So we see that forgiveness truly received produces love and gratitude to God, and a humble repentance which sees that there can never be any self-righteousness any more, and to be unforgiving to others is to commit even a worse sin of being a hypocrite, and not appreciating the undeserved blessing of being forgiven.

So we see that God's forgiveness, if it is appreciated as it should, produces a character of a forgiving spirit towards others. This means that to show an unforgiving spirit is to reveal that we have not appreciated our own need for forgiveness, and the graciousness of God in forgiving. This means we surely can't have experienced God's forgiveness, for if we had we would find it impossible to be unforgiving to others.