The Parable Of The Talents

Will We Go To Hell If We Do Not Serve God After Salvation?

Question : I have heard some people say that if we do not use the God given gifts in our lives, we will be thrown out in to the outer darkness by God at the end. I want to know, if this is true, does it mean that a believer should be careful after salvation to use the gifts that come with salvation to be used for God or else go to hell fire because of not properly using the gifts of God? Even salvation itself is a gift of God, if we do not value it and put it to work, will we be thrown in to some kind of spiritual deception that might lead to hell fire? Thanks in advance for your answer.

Answer : Greetings to you in Jesus name!

A lot of people interpret parable just the way they would interpret a normal story in a folklore that is an earthly story that teaches us some good morals and a way of life to live a good life. But the reason Jesus spoke parables to people are not told to teach them some morality and how to live a good life as all the religions of the world teaches, but in His own words to His disciples who asked why He always speaks to all people in parables , "" 11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘ Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." (Matt 13:11-17).

In other words Jesus is saying to His disciples, "I speak to people in parables to hide the true spiritual meaning behind all that I speak so that they who are spiritually dull without any desire for heavenly things should not by chance receive heavenly blessings of healing to the spirit, soul and body, by understanding the spiritual message I am saying. But you who are my true followers, you are highly favored by God and that is the reason you are given an understanding of the parables and receive its heavenly blessing that follow it, even though the same privilege had not been given in the past to many prophets and righteous men who desired sincerely to understand heavenly things that I am speaking to you." So we know that parables are earthly stories told to make people understand about the heavenly realities that are present with God. These parables from Jesus are spiritual messages that can be understood by only sincere spiritual seekers of God even in our days, and so we need the help of God for our inner spiritual ears to be opened miraculously to hear it and our inner eyes to be opened supernaturally to see the realities of it.

“Parable” is a transliteration of the Greek ‘parabole’. It means “the placing of one thing beside another with a view to comparison”. It puts the known next to the unknown so that we may learn. May we try with the help of God to understand what we call as Parable of the Talents comparing Scripture with Scripture by the help of the Holy Spirit who is our spiritual teacher whom God has given to us personally to give us spiritual understanding of the Word of God and receive all the heavenly spiritual blessings.

Here is the Parable, " 14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’" (Matt 25:14-30).

The above parable is given after the Matt 24th Chapter in which Jesus spoke about the details of the sign of His coming and the end of the age (Matt 24:3), which clearly implies that the 25th Chapter is a continuation of the answer given for the questions asked by his disciples about Jesus' coming to earth to rule, and for a better understanding about His coming and the end of the age. Therefore this above parable should be seen in the apocalyptic context only and the direct meaning of it will mislead the reader in to false understanding of the truth hidden with in this parable. First we will take the people involved in it and give its meaningful identity. Who is the man traveling to a far country? We know that God created this earth and formed humans out of the dust of the earth, then gave them authority and instructions to subdue all the earth under Him and went to heaven which is His abode (Gen 1:26-2:3). Also we know Jesus who is our Lord and Master came to this earth and died for our sin , then rose again from the dead and went on to the far country of the Father's House in heaven to prepare a place for us (1 Cor 15:3-4; Rom 10:9; John 14:2-3). So the man traveling to a far country is God at creation and Jesus at the new creation. The whole point is that the owner has the rights over His subjects who serve Him and they are accountable to Him at the end of age when He has set a time for the end of the journey which is the end of the age in which God will start to rest from His work of redemption and recreation which is the Sabbath rest of eternity (John 5:17). To the world that is not saved, it will be judged by the owner God after the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ and His saints on earth (Rev 20:11-15; Acts 17:30-31). To the Church which is owned by Jesus who is the Creator of all the new creation (Matt 16:18; 2 Cor 5:17), because He has sacrificed Himself for the sins of all who are in it, all will be judged by Him after the Rapture for the good works done with right motives and will be rewarded according to it (Heb 10:10, 14; 1 Cor 3:13-15; 2 Cor 5:9-11).

The Creator God has given at least one natural talent which is the breath given to a individual human being and more than that to many (Acts 17:28; Isa 42:5; Job 12:10), Jesus has given his Church a minimum of two talents and more than that also to many. The two talents are a promise to all believers that they have eternal life of God and minimum one supernatural gifts to work spiritually for Him (John 6:47; Eph 4:11; 1 Cor 12:7; 1 Peter 4:10-11; Rom 12:3-8). The talents give by God and Jesus are not the same number to all humans, but each person have been given according to the design that He has done, that is they have been given more or less gifts according to one's ability to handle it.

When God creates a humans, he gives at least one natural gift of life as He has given to all the other human beings and expects them to multiply it which means He wants them to get saved and therefore find Him spiritually (Acts 17:25-27). The breath of man is the very Spirit of God who is put within their hearts to reveal God to them in His fullness (Eccl 3:11; Job 34:14; 32:8; Gen 2:7). To those in the Church will gain more talents and rewards based on their motive with which they do their service for God. So it is not how much they do that brings them reward, but faithfully doing whatever they do after their salvation, that earns them a pat on their back from God who will say "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." In this above parable how do we really know that the person who is given one talent by God was not a saved person? Because at the time of God's judgment over his life, he never came to realize the goodness of God instead accused God saying, "24...Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours." Apostle Peter has clearly identified that only those who are saved and have therefore tasted that the Lord is gracious and good can be able to realize their inadequacy of sinful behavior and evil things they do, and therefore confess to God to desire for more of the pure milk of the word of God to thereby grow and avoid sinful behavior through transformation that comes by the renewing of the mind (1 Peter 2:2-3; Rom 12:2).

So the unsaved wicked man who does not even realize that the gift of life which had been given by God while on earth for him to get saved will be answered back by God saying, "You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." In other words, God was telling the unsaved man at the time of the judgment that at least he should have used his talents to the profit of the wellness of others human beings by giving his money to the Church which is saving more people, taking their deposit for eternal profitability and increase of talents with minimal of two talents that are given to all saints once they are within the Church (Matt 6:19-21; 19:27-30). The unsaved one talented man is sent in to hell fire and therefore has no chance at all in the future to serve the Master God whom he had never taken the pains to know about, but will spend their eternity with Satan and his demons in whose nature they walked and loved to live when they were on earth (Matt 25:41, 46; Eph 2:1-2).

The phrase "(there shall be) weeping and gnashing of teeth" appears seven times in the New Testament as a description of the torments of the damned in Hell (Matt 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28). Bother Matthew 8:12 and Luke 13:28 are parallel passages which point to the faith and salvation question of believers against the unbelievers who has no faith and are outside the revelation of the kingdom of God. Outer darkness is the place of waiting of all unsaved people who have departed from earth through physical death and are are waiting for the white throne judgment which will happen after the end of the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ and his saints on earth (Rev 20:7-15; Heb 9:27; Luke 16:23; 2 Pet 2:4, 17; Jude 6, 13).

The man given the one talent of life to know God and make it a minimum of two talents with eternal salvation said, "...Lord, I knew you to be a hard man" which cannot be taken to mean that this man was saved, instead the phrases "24..Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground." shows that He had never come to know personally the good character of God through salvation, which is to know that the Lord is abundantly merciful to the undeserving sinners and forgives sins unconditionally for all humans who fear Him with awe, respect and faith (Mic 7:18-20; Psa 103:10-13; Eph 4:32). This unsaved man became afraid to go to God who is the light because of the unsaved condition of his fleshly heart as the son of Adam (1 John 1:5). Adam and Eve after they sinned and disobeyed God's commandment, they have become fallen short of the glory of God, and thus in the same way like this unsaved man we have seen above became afraid of the Presence of God and the just character of God in their sinful condition within the garden of Eden itself to withdraw themselves away from God (Gen 3:8-10; Rom 3:23). Even we see in Matt 7:15-23 where the false prophets also called Jesus at the white throne judgment as "Lord, Lord" and Jesus fitly replied to them who were unsaved "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness". Thus just because a man calls Jesus as Lord at the time of the white throne judgment doesn't mean he is saved and is already a loyal servant of God. In others words the man given the one talent of life on earth came to know God as unjust looking through the dark and tainted glasses of sinful nature which was inside him and therefore came to the conclusion that God is favorable to some who serve Him religiously and to others he is not because of His partiality in his character (Acts 10:34-35). This unsaved man has thought God less enough than a human farmer who knows that He cannot reap without sowing. Then this unsaved man who thought that the gift of life is his, so he took and hid it in the ground thinking that he can rob God and still manage to get through with Him because He himself is more in evil because of his partiality in character. O how people still in nearly all pagan religions think the same way to serve a god of their imagination who will fit them and their sinful life styles (Rom 1:21-23; Psa 115:8). May God have mercy on them all!!!

When we hear at last in the Parable of the Talents, God saying to the unsaved man, "So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest." (Matt 25:27), we come to understand that God wants all men on earth to use His talents and multiply on earth what he has given them to enjoy. No one should use His resources on earth as a hireling would use it carelessly in a lethargic and lazy way. God expects all men to be saved on earth and use their God given gifts to multiply it on earth and be ready for the heavenly service that he has planned after every one would leave this earth (1 Tim 2:3-4; 2 Tim 4:17, 18). God has planned at least the double blessing of reward in heaven for what ever has been multiplied on earth during their spiritual service to God and all humanity (Isa 61:7; Zec 9:12; Rom 12:1; Eph 2:10). All men on earth who are given any social, financial, physical, soulish and spiritual blessings, are expected by God to use it to bless people with the spiritual blessings that is the highest which God desires for all humanity to receive (Gal 6:6-10). Even the unsaved are expected to use their God given talent, treasure and time for the upliftment of all humanity. If they can't do it through receiving God's salvation through Jesus Christ for doing service to all, they are expected to deposit their resources to the bankers who are using them to multiply the God given resource to be supplied to all humanity. The bankers are the Churches, NGO's and all those who supply the good news of Jesus Christ and its goodness of change to all men on earth who are cursed by sin and its evil effect as the heaven desires (Matt 6:10; Luke 15:10; Acts 6:3). All humans who have ever been born on earth will one day give account for their life lived to God and if minimum they are with two least talent, they will receive a reward because they are saved and have done it all with good motives of their heart (John 12:48; Matt 12:36). Others who are unsaved will face judgment and condemnation for choosing sin instead of God even if they have done good works which is actually like a filthy rags before God and therefore cannot ever qualify them for a place in heaven, but definitely the intensity of pain and torment in hell will be less or more according to God's justice served for the good, bad and the ugly sinners in various degrees according to their works (Rev 20:11-15; Isa 64:6; Luke 12:44-46, 47-48). The reward for having done faithful service and multiplication to all God's servants are power in rulership and blissful glory in accumulation of more glory which is wisdom, beauty and intimacy with God (Rev 21:24; 1 Cor 6:2, 3; Matt 25:21, 23; Luke 19:17, 19; 1 Cor 15:40-41, 42, 49).

So from the above clear exposition, we know that salvation is a free gift and therefore God expects all the saved people to serve Him out of gratefulness for saving them freely, and have not threatened them to serve Him anytime (Eph 2:8-10). A truly saved person is on his way to heaven and therefore his salvation cannot be at stake anytime based on his behavior (Rom 8:33-39). Hell fire is only prepared for those who have rejected the salvation of Jesus and have chosen to stay in their pride and sinful ways of their fallen nature like their father the devil (Matt 25:41, 46; John 8:44, 47). As we have seen, if we interpret Scriptures with in the principles of the Scripture, we can easily come to understand by faith all the heavenly truths of Jesus which He has said to us through relating it through stories of earth because we are living an earthly life and have only earthly knowledge by our sight to relate and understand those heavenly realities of truth which we can never see with our physical sight unless it is shown by God in a open vision.

Much Blessings....

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