rethinking the parable of the talents

"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." - Matthew 25:14-15 (NIV)

last sunday evening's sermon at york baptist church got me rethinking the parable of the talents. in the parable of the talents, the man going on a journey represents Jesus and his servants represent us. what about the talents? what do they represent?

i used to think that the talents represent our abilities. however, the parable of the talents says that the man entrusted his talents to his servants, each according to his ability. the talents do not represent our abilities but our ministries. of course, both our abilities and our ministries are from God and for God.

God would never give us certain abilities without also calling us to corresponding ministries. at the same time, God would never call us to certain ministries without also giving us corresponding abilities. for example, God would never give someone the gift of teaching without also calling him to be a teacher. at the same time, God would never call someone to be a teacher without also giving him the gift of teaching.

"Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have." - 2 Corinthians 8:11-12 (NIV)

in the parable of the talents, the servants were judged on what they did with what they had, not on what they did not do with what they did not have. the servant who was entrusted with two talents was judged on what he did with the two talents which he was entrusted with, not on what he did not do with the five talents which he was not entrusted with.

at the end of the day, we should 'use whatever gift [we have] received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms' (1 Peter 4:10, NIV). we should seek to do what God has called us to do and resist what God has not called us to do, not resist what God has called us to do or seek to do what God has not called us to do.

"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." - Matthew 25:29 (NIV)

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." - Luke 12:48 (NIV)

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there is a huge difference between the concept of justification by works and the concept of salvation by works. the concept of justification by works implies that God judges us on what we do with what we have (not what we do not do with what we do not have), while the concept of salvation by works implies that God counts us righteous in our works (instead of in Christ's work on the cross). the concept of justification by works is biblical, while the concept of salvation by works is unbiblical. as N.T. Wright points out, 'some Christians have used terms like 'justification' and 'salvation' as though they were almost interchangeable, but this is clearly untrue to Scripture itself'.

[Scripture does not teach salvation by works (even as it teaches justification by works). for that matter, Scripture does not teach salvation by faith (even as it teaches justification by faith). rather, Scripture teaches salvation by grace through faith.

this is not just semantics! there is a huge difference between the concept of salvation by grace through faith and the concept of salvation by faith. the concept of salvation by grace through faith implies that salvation is unconditionally given by God by grace and conditionally received by man through faith, while the concept of salvation by faith implies that salvation is conditionally given by God based on man's faith. the concept of salvation by grace through faith is biblical, while the concept of salvation by faith is unbiblical.]

if you equate the concept of justification by works to the concept of salvation by works, then of course the concept of justification by works is unbiblical - because the concept of salvation by works is unbiblical. but if you recognise that there is a huge difference between the concept of justification by works and the concept of salvation by works, then suddenly the concept of justification by works isn't unbiblical after all.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

"You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." - James 2:24 (NIV)