The "grace only" advocates in the church boldly declare that man is saved 100% by the grace of God. They proclaim that man does not contribute one whit to his salvation. They would have their listeners to believe that when one teaches man to save himself from this untoward generation, he is teaching legalism.

One of the "proof-texts" for their position is 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. " The argument is that even though we do all the things commanded we are still "unprofitable." Therefore, we had to have been saved 100% by the grace of God, and that nothing we did contributed to our being saved in the least.

In this verse, Jesus was not teaching about the necessity of our obedience. Jesus was teaching about one's attitude toward his salvation. Salvation is never earned regardless of the amount of obedient acts performed. Even the most obedient is unworthy of the blessing he will reap. Salvation will ever be a free, undeserved, unmerited gift of a loving and kind God. This should be the attitude of all the faithful. We should bow our heads before God's throne, and say, "We are unprofitable servants."

This is a far cry from saying that nothing we do contributes to our salvation. Jesus himself said in Matt. 7:21, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Didn't Jesus know that we do not do anything to get into heaven? Did He contradict His words found in Luke 17:10? Certainly not! Man must "save himself" (Acts 2:40). Does this obedience earn him his salvation? No!

Man must contribute to his salvation everything God has told him to contribute. To say that man contributes nothing to his redemption is to say that God requires nothing of him. The ultimate end of such a doctrine would be universalism for the Bible teaches that God's grace has appeared unto all men (Tit. 2:11).

There is a great difference between saying that we do not earn our salvation and saying that one does not contribute one whit to his salvation. The first statement harmonizes with Jesus' words of Luke 17:10. We are unprofitable servants. The latter statement, however, is false doctrine. The teaching should be rejected, and those who teach it should be marked and avoided (Rom. 16:17-18).