Tag: Salvation

Bible Studies

Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

Loring Schultz

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 NIV

            The apostle Paul writing in the New Testament book of Ephesians lays out the pattern believers in Christ are to follow. As members of Christ’s church we are to adhere to the new requirements of every child of God. Paul writes we are to walk in unity, each of us is to administer their gift God has given for the building up of the saints. We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit by walking in our former worldly conduct, and we are to have compassion for one another, willing to forgive as God, in Christ, forgave us. Paul most likely had Matthew’s account of Jesus’s instruction about forgiveness in mind. It is possible Paul was familiar with Matthew’s writing as Ephesians was written some ten years after the gospel of Matthew.   

            Jesus had been teaching His disciples that forgiveness should be always be granted to those who repent. Peter questioned Jesus by asking if there were any limits to forgiveness. Jesus simply answered forgiveness was limitless and then went on to explain why a follower of Jesus would always forgive over and over again.

            Jesus used the illustration of an earthly king who began settling accounts with governors who owed the king money through taxation. A certain governor owed a tremendous about of money he would never be able to pay back in a lifetime. The king demanded he be sold along with his wife and children, and all he possessed to make payment. The debtor begged for mercy and the king had compassion and forgave him his debt. It is an example of Jesus, the king, forgiving each of us our debt of sin which we could never pay. Being released from so great a debt should encourage every Christian to forgive others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Painting entitled ‘il Mantovano’ by Domenico Fetti

            Unfortunately the forgiven debtor did not show the same mercy and compassion afforded him when he demanded payment from one who owed him money, a very small amount at that. When the king discovered the forgiven debtor’s actions he was angry and handed him over to the jailers. Although his debt was already paid, the king put him in the hands of the jailers to suffer severe discipline until he was willing to forgive others.

            Jesus paid the ultimate price for our salvation. When we, as Christians, consider the forgiveness shown to us by our Lord, how is it possible that we find it hard to forgive others? Let not our ingratitude come to the surface by not forgiving fellow believers for the little debt against us in relation to our great debt we have been forgiven by the Lord. Let us forgive each other as God forgave us.  

Read the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2018%3A21-35&version=NIV

Devotionals

The Life Sustaining Sun

Loring Schultz

“Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created.” Psalm 148: 3, 5 ESV

            On August 23, 2023, India successfully landed a spacecraft near the south pole of the moon. It was a major step forward for India’s space program as they are the first to explore this area of the moon beating out Russia by only days as its spacecraft crashed upon descent after losing communication. A week later, India launched spacecraft ‘Aditya-L1’ on a 930,000 mile four month journey to explore the sun. The distance is only about 1% to the surface of the sun, but sufficient to pull the craft into an orbit around the sun.  According to the Indian Space Research Organization, the mission is to study the sun’s corona, chromosphere, photosphere and solar wind.

            The sun is the center of our solar system and is 93 million miles from earth. It is a known fact through science that life would not exist without the energy of the sun, a star of hot glowing gases with a surface temperature of 10,000 degrees and 27 million degrees at its core. The earth is positioned perfectly to sustain life in our solar system. Further away and the earth would be a frozen rock, and any closer the earth be a scorched rock.

            It is especially difficult for me to imagine the size of the sun as compared to earth and the great distance between us of 93 million miles, and still be able to burn us if we are not careful. It is truly amazing and a testament to how great God is in His creation of the sun. India’s Aditya-L1 spacecraft is named for the Hindu Sun deity in their mission of the exploration of the sun. The palmist writes in Psalm 148, “Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created.”  The God of the Bible is the creator of the sun, the moon and all the stars of the universe. He is the true and only God over all creation, for He created everything. He created you and me for a relationship with Him. Do you know Him and His Son Jesus? The ‘sun’ of our solar system sustains life on the earth, Jesus, the Son of God sustains eternal life in heaven for all who trust Him as Savior. Have you accepted the ‘Son’ as your Savior?