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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Luke 17:10 - 17:10
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10. ὅταν ποιήσητε πάντα. And this can never be, Psa 143:2. Even if it could “non est beneficium sed officium facere quod debetis.” Sen. Controv.
ἀχρεῖοι. The same word for unprofitable occurs in Mat 25:30; Rom 3:12. This verse, like many others (Isa 64:6; Rom 3:27), cuts at the root of the whole Romish notion as to the possibility of ‘works of supererogation,’ see Article 14. “Servi inutiles sunt, insufficientes quia nemo tantum timet, tantum diligit Deum, tantum credit Deo quantum oportuit,” Augsb. Conf. “We sleep half our lives; we give God a tenth of our time; and yet we think that with our good works we can merit Heaven. What have I been doing to-day? I have talked for two hours. I have been at meals three hours. I have been idle four hours. Ah! enter not into judgment with Thy servant, O Lord!” Luther. Yet in a lower sense—though ‘insufficient,’ though ‘unmeritorious’—it is possible for us to be “good and faithful servants,” Mat 25:21; Mat 25:23. We must be unprofitable in the realm of bare obligation and external service, and yet we may be faithful and honoured in the sphere of love.