"Then summoning him, his lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me. ³³ 'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?' ³⁴ "And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. ³⁵ "So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." Matthew 18:32-35 (NAS)

We assume in this lesson that you have already fully completed Lesson 1 on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that you understand what is meant by "obedience to the gospel."  Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood so that we might have the forgiveness of our sins. 

The Debt We Owe To God

As the slave in the parable who owed 10,000 talents, the debt that we owe to God is a very large one.  The debt we owe is the penalty of death for the sins that we have committed:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NAS)

When we obey the gospel (the obedience of faith - 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 1 Peter 4:16, Romans 6:1-17, Romans 1:5, Acts 2:38-39)...we receive forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ and His blood. 

An Immeasurable Gift

How can one measure the gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven?  As we consider the great magnitude of our debts owed to God...how can we not forgive others for the debts that they owe us?  The warning from Matthew 18 above is clear:

"So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." Matthew 18:35 (NAS)

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