Luke 16:9-12 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. (10) He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. (11) Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? (12) And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?”
Our Lord Jesus, when He walked the earth, gave us a glimpse of one who was saved but had lost their eternal inheritance. He did so through the parable of the unjust steward quoted above. At the end of the parable our Lord Jesus gives us some advice regarding our eternal inheritance. In that advice He mentions an individual that will not have his own home in the age to come but would be reliant on the grace of others to welcome him into their eternal homes. In the context of this parable the reason that this individual had lost his own eternal home was because he had been unjust in his lifestyle and had thus forfeited his eternal inheritance. In this same passage of scripture our Lord also tells us that the one who is not faithful in serving Him in this life will not receive their inheritance in the age to come, for Jesus said that if we have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give us what is our own? The other man’s things that He is referring to are those which are His, and that which is our own which He is referring to in this passage is our eternal inheritance.
Luke 19:12-27 “Therefore He said: "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. (13) So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.' (14) But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.' (15) "And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. (16) Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.' (17) And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.' (18) And the second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.' (19) Likewise he said to him, 'You also be over five cities.' (20) "Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. (21) For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ (22) and he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. (23) Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?' (24) "And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.' (25) (But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.') (26) 'For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (27) But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.'”
In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus taught us a parable that deals specifically with the saints’ day of judgement. In this parable we see very clearly the indisputable principle that some believers on their day of judgement will have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. The servants in this parable refer to the Lord’s saints while the citizens refer to the unbelievers, for the citizens (unbelievers) are the ones who do not want the Lord to reign over them and it is the citizens (unbelievers) that will be slain before Him at His coming. In this parable we see that every servant received equally from their master when He went away, i.e. each received one mina. And so in the same manner every saint, when they come into the kingdom of God, receives the same gift of salvation along with the same measure of faith and grace. Most believers take their gift of salvation and live their lives as witnesses for their Master, and as mentioned by the Lord in this parable those servants will be rewarded on that day. But nevertheless there are some believers who do not live lives worthy of their salvation, and will thus have no fruit to show on that day. And so on that day it is those believers who will give up their inheritance for others whom our Lord deems worthy, for in the parable we see the servant who produced nothing having their mina taken from them and given to the one who produced the most. I want you to notice from this parable that the servant who produced no fruit still remained in the kingdom but they had no reward, and even that which they had was taken away from them. You will recall that when our Lord taught the parable of the sower who sowed the seed, that there were those who produced thirtyfold, sixtyfold and some one hundredfold (Mark 4:3-8). That same principle applies in this parable, for the one servant produced tenfold while the other servant produced fivefold. And so in this parable the one who produced nothing can be likened to the one who produced no fruit from the seed sown in the parable of the sower. The reason they produced no fruit in the parable of the sower was because they allowed thorns to choke the word, and the thorns were the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things. And so it is these believers who will remain in the kingdom of God but receive no inheritance on that day.
Michael E.B. Maher
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