This week’s promise: God promises that you will work out your salvation
Matthew 25:14-30 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.“ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Today I’d like to look at the above parable in relation to how we work out our salvation. We know now that working out our salvation is another way of saying becoming mature in Christ, and that this is something that the Lord expects from each and every person who has chosen to follow Him.
In the above parable, Jesus was not talking about money. He was once again telling us what He expects from us! When we are saved, He gives us each a desire to know Him better, and He gives us each particular abilities or talents as well. Everything we have has been given us by the Lord. If we have a high IQ, that’s because the Lord gifted us with it! If we have a great memory, it’s again because the Lord gifted us with it. He also gives us each spiritual gifts as well. Too often we tend to take credit for our own intelligence or other abilities when it was really a gift from the Lord. He expects us each to use what He has given us to serve Him. In the parable the Lord gives different amounts to different people and this is quite true. He gives us each what He alone knows that we can handle. He never gives anyone so little that they are bored, nor does He give them so much that they cannot handle it. He knows us better then we know ourselves, therefore we can trust that if He has given us something to do that we can in fact do it with His help.
Let’s start from the beginning again. First Jesus gives us His gift of salvation, and has given us each other abilities and talents. Then Jesus left for a long time. Isn’t it interesting how He has warned us in several places in His Word that once He ascended that He would be gone a long time in our way of thinking before he returned again? Notice in the parable what the first man did when the Master left? Does it remind you of what happened when Jesus called his disciples? (Remember how when Jesus called each of them, it says in the bible that they “immediately” got up and followed Him? Like that, the first man goes “at once” and put his money to work and earned more, as did the next man. Jesus is showing us here that when we are saved, He expects us to immediately live up to what we have already attained, just as Paul said in Phil 3:16. The only way we can do that is through studying God’s Word. The only way we can “invest” what Christ has given us is also through studying His Word, so that we can then share that knowledge with others. Therefore when we receive this wonderful gift of salvation, our very first requirement is to study!
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
When we study and spend time in prayer, we begin on the path to spiritual maturity. The closer we become to the Lord through prayer and study, the less likely we are to be fooled by false teachers, and the more grateful we’ll be for our own salvation because we’ll actually understand it better! Because we are more grateful and more knowledgeable, our testimonies will be all the more powerful too!
Matthew 13:12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
Matthew 25:33-34 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Now in contrast, the last man hid his money instead of investing it. He did nothing at all with what the Lord had given him! Jesus, instead of rewarding him as he expected in his arrogance, took back what He had given him and cast him into hell. This man is an example of a false follower of Christ. He is a picture of what a “goat” would look like. Once again the Lord shows us that a true follower of His, will seek to do His will, and will exhibit the fruit of the spirit In their lives. There is no “in between”. Either a person IS saved and is “investing” their time for the Lord by studying His Word and spending time with Him and doing His Will, or they are not. They may say they are, like that last man, or like the goats in the other parable, or like the false teachers Paul speaks of, but in fact they are not our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I want to point out one other thing about this parable quickly and that is that it is a picture not only of what Christ expects of us when we are saved, but what He expects of us from the moment of salvation until His return at the rapture. He expects us to be faithful and to use what He has given us; to learn all we can and become as close to Him as we can.
