Luke 17:10
So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
When all that is commanded has been done, nothing more than duty has been done, leaving no ground for boasting, pride, self-exaltation, or any claim to special credit or merit. Beside the Saviour's work, love, and self-sacrifice for sinners, human effort is feeble and comparatively nothing, for all power belongs to God and giving Him everything still creates no debt or right to recognition. Every act of service depends moment by moment on God's grace, done in Jesus' name and strength, since people have nothing they did not receive and without Christ can do nothing. Good works of themselves do not save, yet no one is saved without them, for keeping God's commandments calls for self-denial, self-sacrifice, and devotion to others' good while Christ alone is righteousness and salvation. Faithful servants remain undeserving of even the smallest favor and have no claim to reward for feeble efforts, but through the Saviour's merit they are rewarded according to their deeds as a free gift of God's goodness and blessing.
Duty Done Without Merit
When all that has been commanded has been done, only duty has been done, with no ground for boasting, pride, self-importance, self-exaltation, or any claim to special credit, merit, or worth. Even faithful striving and holiness leave the servant humble and undeserving, still to be counted unprofitable. This low estimate belongs even to one rich in good works, who faithfully cares for home and family, does good to others, and influences others by a holy life. Nor is this humility an excuse to do as little as possible, but a call to seek the fullness of Christ in order to do much for Him.
The same duty forbids treating one's own work as especially valuable and superior while demeaning fellow laborers and judging their service as inferior. Proud boasting that sets one's own service above another's is excluded, for all have only fulfilled duty. Those who labor wholeheartedly in the Lord's vineyard to the utmost of their ability do not set a high estimate on their own services or measure every hour's work with exactness. Instead of swelling with pride and importance and counting each hour with exactitude, they tremble and fear lest they lose their reward.
Measured beside the Saviour's work, love, self-sacrifice, and sacrifice for sinners, human efforts appear feeble and comparatively nothing. Service and sacrifice make neither God nor fellow believers indebted, and cannot compare with Christ's sacrifice, matchless love, and labors for poor sinners. Since all powers belong to God, giving Him everything is still only a small gift, creating no indebtedness and no right to recognition. Ultimate salvation comes only through the Redeemer's love.
All service depends every moment upon the grace of God and is done in Jesus' name and strength, for people have nothing they did not receive, and without Christ they can do nothing. Human effort is joined to divine power as believers cling to God in faith, and Christ gives wisdom and righteousness so they can build on the sure foundation. The work is accomplished solely through Christ's grace, so no reward is owed on the basis of personal merit.
Salvation, Works, and Reward
Good works by themselves do not save, yet no one can be saved without them. Keeping God's commandments calls for good works, self-denial, self-sacrifice, and devotion for the good of others. Christ alone is the righteousness and the crown of rejoicing, and ultimate salvation comes through the Redeemer's love. Even after doing all that can be done in Jesus' name and strength, servants have only done their duty and are to count themselves unprofitable servants, without claiming great sacrifices, without boasting of sacrifice, without self-exaltation, and without expecting a great reward for feeble efforts and feeble service. Beside Christ's matchless love and self-sacrifice all human effort appears small.
Faithful servants have no merit of their own before God and remain undeserving of even the smallest favor. They have no claim to a reward for having only done their duty, though their work may bring honor to Jesus and benefit others. Whatever reward is received comes through God's blessing and goodness as a free gift, not as something earned or owed on the basis of personal merit, since the work is accomplished solely through Christ's grace. Yet through the Saviour's merit people are rewarded according to their deeds, and the rewards to come correspond to present work of faith and labor of love. Even faithful servants who return an increase from what was entrusted to them have no merit to claim, for the gifts and the ability to improve them come from the Lord, without whose love and grace they would be lost.
In using talents and opportunities servants are to make the very best use of them, giving diligent care and perseverance to small things so as to advance to more intelligent and better service. God will accept their best efforts, yet He will not be pleased with ignorance and inability when better service was possible through improvement of privileges. When all that can be done has been done they are still to count themselves unprofitable servants, with no room for pride, because they are dependent every moment upon the grace of God and have nothing that they did not receive, for without Christ they can do nothing. Forgiveness does not make sin impossible, and salvation must be worked out daily in faith. Human effort is joined with divine power, and as believers use every power in God's service to the utmost and cling to God in faith, Christ gives wisdom and righteousness, and by His grace they can build on the sure foundation, still regarding themselves without boasting as servants who have only done their duty.
Faithful and Unprofitable Service
Even when all that is commanded has been done, there is no ground for pride, for only what was required has been done, and neglecting small duties and responsibilities makes one unfaithful and liable to be judged an unprofitable servant. Wasting the time and abilities entrusted by God and neglecting the duty to train children in order to pursue worldly excitement misuses what was given to accomplish good and brings accountability to God. Mothers who indulge in worldly visiting and excitement while neglecting the sacred work of training their children fall under the same judgment. Servants of God must therefore walk humbly with Him, seek Him diligently, and serve Him humbly and earnestly, recognizing faithful service as duty rather than a claim to merit or credit. This earnest, humble service belongs in every line of work, with business itself guided by faith and directed toward God's purposes, lest they be found unprofitable.
Those who live to do good for others and faithfully carry out their duties have only done what was required and should not turn service into self-importance. A woman who faithfully cares for home and family, does good to others, and influences those around her by a holy life may thus humbly regard herself as an unprofitable servant even while rich in good works. Wholehearted service to the utmost of ability places no inflated value on itself, and when measured beside the Saviour's work it counts itself as having done no more than duty. True service requires conversion, consecration, zeal, and wholehearted devotion that leaves no room for swelling pride and importance, lukewarmness, or self-gratification over a few things accomplished. It leads instead to broken repentance and confession, wearing Christ's yoke, fervent prayer, and a meek and quiet spirit, becoming vessels through whom the Lord communicates the teachings of His Spirit. Such humility is not an excuse to do as little as possible, but seeks the fullness of Christ in order to do much for Him, without measuring every hour's work with exactness.
Christ gave no stinted service, toiling through weary days and bending through long nights in prayer, sending His petition to heaven with strong crying and tears that His human nature might be strengthened to embrace the world and do a larger work. True obedience means becoming one with Him in genuine, willing, faithful, glad-hearted service in every place — in the field beside the plough, in home life, in missionary fields, and in other duties — with His glory in view and losing no opportunity to do good. Improving every opportunity of laboring for God gives even now a sweet sense of peace and joy. In the day of sitting at the table of the Lord, Christ Himself will serve His loyal, royal children, when those who now esteem themselves as first shall be last and the last shall be first.