The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Lorraine Hannaford of Ontario, Canada from the tape, GC 1301-L, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 14."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©1980. All Rights Reserved.

Question

Can you explain Matthew 18:32-35 please?

Answer

Okay. Basically this is a very, very important passage and it talks about forgiveness. I’ll just give you a real quick look at it. You have to go back all the way to verse 23:

“Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.”

Alright, here’s a servant he owes a debt, he owes a debt of a absolutely astronomical amount that, that man has absolutely no capacity to repay, right? In his lifetime he would never be able to pay back ten thousand talents. It is beyond his ability to pay back.

So the lord says to him, the master says to him, alright you’re going to have to be sold and your wife and your children and the whole thing and we’re going to take all we can get out of you. We’re going to liquidate you and your family. “The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” Now that’s the stupidity of the whole thing, is the guy said I’ll pay thee all when that was an absolute impossibility. Alright?

In other words the Lord is showing us a man who was in a desperate situation, who was so far down that he had no possibility to redeem himself and yet he was holding on to the fact that he could redeem himself. This is the picture of the person who thinks he can save himself by his own works. When the fact of the matter is, he is utterly hopeless. Okay? So that’s part of the perspective here.

Then the lord of course "...was moved with compassion, and loosed him and forgave him the debt." Hmmm. "But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him a hundred denarii," which is minimal. A denarii would be a day's work and so in a hundred days, three or four months you could pay that back. Here’s a guy who owes him just a pittance, "...he laid hands on him, took him by the throat, and said, 'you better pay me what you owe me.' His fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.'” Now he could pay. “And he wouldn’t, but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.” Well he wasn’t given what he got was he?

“So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord, called him in and said, 'You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you besought me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was angry, delivered to the inquisitors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts, forgive not everyone his brother his trespass.”

Now what you have here basically is this: God forgives you your sin, on the basis that you forgive others. Alright? Now that is a very important concept.

The basic bottom line is this, that if you aren’t willing to forgive someone else, you reveal an impenitent heart. And an impenitent heart cannot truly experience the forgiving grace of God. In other words, your heart has to be right to receive salvation, right? And if you manifest an unforgiving spirit, how can you possibly go to God, and beg God to forgive you of a debt that you could never possibly repay. And then you turn around and won’t forgive a man of some pittance. In other words, you reveal that your heart is not really true toward God. You haven’t come, truly, in confession. And if you back up to Matthew 5 you find the same thing. You come to the Lord and you bring a gift and you try to worship him and you’ve got something against your brother, leave your gift at the altar, get out of there, get that thing right with your brother and then come back and God will give you what you seek.

So the basic point is that if you don’t have a forgiving heart, if you don’t understand the forgiveness of sin, then you do not have the right spirit to seek forgiveness from God. That’s really what he’s saying.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 119
Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
Our websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986