Matthew 18;28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that you owe.
Some Christians in our day, who are owed by others might not be so graphic, as to physically choke the borrower, as the servant did, but there are subtler ways in which the chokehold might be applied. Those forever cell phone calls, in the middle of the night, the forever E mails and text messages that are never returned, and in a few cases, the stalking of the borrower at church, at work, and at their home when they are having dinner, all point to a form of chokehold placed upon the necks of the ones who owe.
Some persons may have wondered why the servant went out and choked the man who owed only 100 pence, for he appears to be quite desperate, in his attempts to collect every last cent that he is owed. We believe we may have finally figured it out. It is quite possible he was trying to scrape up every last dime, so he could pay back the king who he owed formally.
If this is the case then it would mean that he did not believe that he was really forgiven. When God in His mercy forgives us, we are not to think that we must do some sort of penance to repay Him for His kind deeds to us. It seems as if the concept of penance has more curb appeal than accepting God’s free gift of forgiveness. Someway, somehow, persons may feel obligated to do something, in exchange for forgiveness, and if it were the case that salvation was a thing that money could buy, millions more would probably sign on.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!