If Revelation 2:10 teaches that we must be "faithful enough" (in addition) to placing our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, (Ephesians 2:8,9) then just "how faithful" would you have to be? Where do you draw the line in the sand and say that you were "faithful enough" so now the Lord will be able to save you? That is vague and could include ANY number of good works, which results in "works righteousness."
I see Revelation 2:10 as an encouraging statement from the Lord to Christians at the church of Smyrna who were being persecuted, even to the point of death. I don't see Jesus telling these Christians that if they are not "faithful enough" (in addition) to having faith in Him for salvation that they will not receive eternal life. That is "salvation by works!" I do see Jesus telling them that they will receive the crown of life after death, be faithful, hang in there!
In the very next verse, Jesus said - "He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death." 1 John 5:4, we read - "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. ONLY (genuine) BELIEVERS are saved, overcome, and are faithful unto death (Ephesians 2:8; 1 Peter 1:9). Unbelievers are not saved, do not overcome and are unfaithful unto death.
When I was a teenager, I temporarily attended the church of Christ with my friend and his Aunt. Years later, I ran into my friends Aunt and while discussing church with her, she asked me if I had "remained faithful." Her idea of remaining faithful revolved around whether or not I still attended the church of Christ and held to all of their beliefs. When I told her that I no longer attend that church, but attend a different church now, she acted very uncomfortable and treated me like I was an infidel.
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.
