A SERIES OF DEVOTIONS BASED ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW 

YOUR DEBT HAS BEEN CANCELED     

Matthew 18:23-27 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go.” 

The first part of this parable of Jesus is a picture of what God has done with your sins. The truth found in the Bible is the sins you commit are great in number and far beyond any payment of any kind you might think you can make to wipe your ledger clean. Because of your sins you deserve eternal punishment and death. (Romans 6:23, Ezekiel 18:4, etc.)   

The servant of the king stood before him as a beggar. He owed a debt he could never repay. The servant begged and pleaded for mercy. The king showed the servant mercy that was beyond imagination. He canceled the servant’s debt of ten thousand bags of gold.   

By the shed blood of Jesus on Calvary’s cross and the love of your heavenly Father for you and His extreme kindness and generosity the enormous debt of your sins He has canceled your debt. You stand before God Almighty a completely forgiven, pardoner, holy, righteous person. Because of Jesus and God’s gift of faith to you in His Son, every one of your sins have been cleansed from your soul. There is no longer any reason for God to condemn you to hell.   

Go then with joy in your heart. God has blessed you with the priceless gift of His forgiveness and pardon. On the day of judgement, as you stand among the saints of heaven and someone asks how you deserved to be there the answer will be, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” 

Prayer: Praise and thanks to You, dear Jesus, for Your atoning sacrifice on Calvary’s cross and for Your cleansing blood that removes all my sins. Amen. 

There is a fountain filled with blood  
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,  
And sinners plunged beneath that flood  
Lose all their guilty stains. 

The dying thief rejoiced to see  
That fountain in his day;  
And there have I, as vile as he,  
Washed all my sins away. 

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood  
Shall never lose its power  
Till all the ransomed Church of God   
Be saved to sin no more. 

E’er since by faith I saw the stream  
Thy flowing wounds supply,  
Redeeming love has been my theme 
And shall be till I die. 

When this poor lisping, stammering tongue  
Lies silent in the grave,  
Then in a nobler, sweeter song  
I’ll sing Thy power to save.  

There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood // TLH 157