Bible Q&A: Was 'unprofitable servant' saved?

May 2, 2003

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Bible Question: "In the parable of the talents, the unprofitable servant, who did nothing with the talent he was given and was sent to outer darkness, was he ever saved? Or will he be in outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth for 1,000 years, then he will be brought into heaven with all the saints?"--HM
Bible Answer: In a word, no, to both questions.
The parable of the talents is told by Jesus Christ in Matthew 25:14-29.
"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. 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. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them," Matt. 25:14-19 says.

Judgment is based on what you do with what you've been given

Both the servants who had doubled the talents given them heard the same from their lord, "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."
But the one who did nothing with what he had been given received a different judgment.
"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. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'
"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. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 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. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,'" Matt. 25:20-29 says.

Salvation is based on what you do with Jesus

As to whether he was he saved, that is answered by verse 29. The unprofitable servant is sent to "outer darkness" with "weeping and gnashing of teeth." That's not heaven.
Heaven has no darkness in it anywhere, for all is light there, because God Himself is light, as 1 John 1:5 says, "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all."
And as for staying in outer darkness for 1,000 years and then being allowed into heaven, I have never found anywhere in the Bible that offers any second chances in eternity.
What we do with Jesus as Lord and Saviour here in this life determines where we will spend eternity. The unprofitable servant's sin was not as much as what he did or didn't do with his talent, but whether he had ever exercised faith in Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.
Jesus said in Matthew 22:14, "For many are called, but few are chosen."
The unprofitable servant was called, but he never answered the call, and was not chosen.
Judas was called, but he was never truly chosen. And he is called more than a servant of Christ, but an Apostle, directly called by Christ to follow Him. But in the end, his true colors were shown as the betrayer of Christ, and few if any would call him a true believer.

Submit Bible questions by email to writeme@johnwmyers.com

(John Myers has been a Christian lay speaker, Sunday School adult teacher and newspaper Bible study columnist for more than 20 years.)