The parable of the unforgiving servant talks about forgiveness being required for forgiveness, but it is addressed to the Apostles (already saved, I believe) and so is not something that leads to or result in salvation (I think it refers to continued forgiveness (not OSAS)).
The picture here illustrates God's forgiveness when dealing with our sins at the cross.
Our debt has been paid in full by Jesus. In Matthew 18:28, where the servant is unwilling to forgive his fellow servant such a small debt of a hundred denarii is presented as a repulsive hypothetical situation. As unbelievable as this action would be, that is how unbelievable it would be for a genuine born again Christian, who has been forgiven such a huge debt, to be unforgiving of others with such a small debt. Notice that this "unforgiving servant" is called a "wicked" servant because no genuine born again Christian would have such an unforgiving heart. Hearts that are humble and have received God’s grace forgive others from a heart that is saved, but proud and vengeful hearts which do not forgive in such small matters reveal a heart that is unsaved and does not receive God's forgiveness.
Failure to forgive in such a small matter shows that this person has not fully embraced God’s grace and forgiveness, hence the term, "wicked servant," which is not descriptive of a genuine believer. The fact that this person is called a "servant" does not necessarily mean they were saved. The children of Israel were referred to as "the Lord’s servants," but they were not all saved.
In Leviticus 25:55, we read - For the
children of Israel are servants to Me; they are
My servants whom I
brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Jude 1:5 - Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time
delivered his people (the Israelites)
out of Egypt, but later
destroyed those who did not believe.
In Isaiah 43:10, we read - You are my witnesses, says the LORD,
my servant, whom I have chosen..
In Nehemiah 1:6, we read - please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the
children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.
Many translations say that the wicked servant was forgiven of his huge debt because he
begged or
pleaded with his master. Thus, his master showed mercy and forgiveness and the huge debt of the wicked servant was forgiven until his unforgiving nature was discovered. His master in this parable was a man who did not infallibly know his wicked servant's heart (unlike the Lord, Jesus Christ who infallibly knows our hearts) and did not realize that his servant was wicked until his heart was exposed by refusing to forgive one of his fellow servants a small debt and the wicked servant even choked his fellow servant and threw him into prison until he could pay back the small debt. Jesus warned that God cannot forgive us if we have a
wicked, unmerciful, unforgiving heart and to be unwilling to forgive in such a small matter would reveal such a
wicked heart.
In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the servant’s debt was forgiven until his unforgiving nature was discovered. In contrast, our sin debt was paid in full by Christ at the cross and is the means for God’s forgiveness. We cannot repay our sin debt to God or earn our salvation and God is not automatically going to forgive us our sin debt simply because we beg or plead with Him with a wicked heart that is unwilling to forgive others, especially in such a small matter, as in the parable. God forgives our sin debt by grace through faith (instrumental means) and forgiveness is the mark of a merciful heart that is saved.
The Lord isn't going to forgive unmerciful, unforgiving, wicked hearts no matter how much we beg and plead, then take back the gift and He also doesn’t order that our wife and children be sold in order to pay off the debt either. (Matthew 18:25) We could fall to our knees all we want asking the Lord to be patient with us and we will pay back our enormous sin debt (Matthew 18:26) but it's too huge to pay back, so that isn't going to work either.
Unforgiveness is the mark of an unbeliever and
forgiveness would be the mark of a genuine believer. We should forgive others because God, through Christ, has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). It is inconceivable that someone who has truly experienced God's forgiveness could refuse to grant forgiveness to others, especially in such a small matter, as we saw in Matthew 18:26-35.
I have found that ALL false religions and cults that promote salvation by works strongly oppose OSAS which is a major
red flag for me.
You have that backwards, as you admitted in the previous paragraph.
You may be delusional.
You are trying to use the obscure and vague to explain away the clear and concise. 1 Pet 3:21 is very clear that it is in water baptism that we are saved. Acts 22:16 is very clear that Saul's sins were washed away through baptism in Jesus' name.
More irony and preconceived beliefs. You ignore not the removal of dirt from the flesh but the answer of a good conscience before God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and calling on the name of the Lord. You only zero in on the part of verses that tickle your ears and ignore the context. You also ignore numerous passages of scripture which make it clear that we are saved through belief/faith "apart from additions or modifications." You are care about promoting your perverted water gospel.
That's all you do is go on and on.
What is the purpose of miracles? Frequently they are called "signs". What is it a sign of? Nicodemus tells us. "Signs" were a way that God proclaimed who His messengers were. Look at the signs that God gave Moses from the Bush. They were signs to prove that the messenger was really from God. (There was also a negative proof, but that is not relevant to this discussion). The sign of speaking in tongues in the Gentiles was not a sign that they were saved already. It was a sign to the Jews that the Gentiles were acceptable to God, and that they were to be accepted into the Church as equals with the Jews. That is why Peter commanded that they be baptized into Christ immediately.
Its true that speaking in tongues was a sign to the Jews that these Gentiles were acceptable to God AND it's also true it's also true these Gentiles were saved. Spiritual gifts are ONLY for the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12) and (spare me the ludicrous Campbellie argument about Baalams donkey). These Gentiles believed, received the gift of the Holy Spirit and were saved BEFORE water baptism. (Acts 10:43-47) To believe otherwise is to be blatantly dishonest.
I do not believe that the merit of the actions we must take has any basis for our salvation. That is your hangup, not mine.
You seek to be saved by your personal definition of non-meritorious works.
And this is not the only place where obedience to God is stated as a condition to receiving salvation. In Heb 5:9, we see that Jesus is the author of salvation to everyone who OBEYS Him. Not just to those who have intellectual assent, or to those who say a prayer in private, or "ask Jesus into their heart". He is the author of salvation to those who do what He says. You want to put all obedience after He gives salvation; you want the reward before you demonstrate faith. But that is not how Scripture explains it.
Those who have not obeyed the gospel (Romans 10:16) by refusing to believe the gospel (Romans 1:16) do not obey Christ no matter how much so called obedience that they attempt to conjure up from an unregenerate heart in a vain effort to obtain salvation by works.
Now, we could keep going back and forth here forever. But you are not going to convince me to water down my understanding of the Truth of God's Word. You have all these ways of explaining away what God says, but none of them harmonize with ALL Scripture.
My sentiments towards you exactly. I pray that something I shared with you has at least planted a seed that one day will be watered and lead you to the truth.
