In verse 21, "His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your lord." This verse is not related to salvation but to a reward. Someone was invited into the joy of the lord. The servant who received five talents was made ruler over many things, and he entered into the joy of his lord. In addition, the servant who received two talents was also made ruler over many things, and he entered into the joy of his lord. To enter into the joy of his lord does not refer to salvation. This means he received something as a reward in addition to salvation.
Concerning the slothful one, the lord said in verses 24-28: "And he also who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter; and I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth; behold, you have what is yours. But his lord answered and said to him, Evil and slothful slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter. You ought therefore to have deposited my silver with the bankers, and when I came I would have recovered what is mine with interest. Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents." This does not mean that salvation was taken away from the slothful one, but it does mean that he suffered because of his lack of diligence.
If we are faithful servants using the talents that the Lord Jesus has given us, when He returns He will reward us. He will assign us to rule as kings over many things, and He will invite us to participate in His joy. But if we are saved and then are slothful and not faithful to use the talents He has given us, when He comes back He will reckon with us. Do not think that because you are saved there can be no problems. There can be a real problem if you are not faithful in your service. It is altogether possible that you will receive some punishment rather than a reward. We must take heed to the pure Word of the Lord. Don't "dispensationalize" this chapter wholly to the future.
Now we need to consider two basic concepts or schools concerning the matter of salvation. One is the Calvinistic school, and the other is the Arminian school. The Calvinistic school teaches eternal security and believes in predestination. According to the Calvinistic school we were predestinated before the foundation of the world. Then we were born, we were called, we were justified, and we were saved according to God's election. Once we are saved, we are eternally secure. No doubt this is absolutely right according to the Word of God. Many verses support the matter of predestination and eternal security. The Lord Jesus in John 10 said that once we receive eternal life, we can never be lost. On the one hand the Calvinists are right concerning eternal security, but on the other hand, they are short of something because they have not seen Matthew 25:30. They have not seen that there could be some problem with a person after he is saved. They would wrongly say that this verse applies not to true believers, but to false believers.
The Arminian school does not believe in the eternal security of the believer. According to their teaching you may be saved in the morning and lost in the evening. Then after a few days you may be saved again. Later you may be lost again. According to this concept people may be saved and lost many times. We may call this "elevator salvation." When they are saved, they are going up; when they are lost, they are going down. In their experience they are going up and down many times; they are saved and lost many times. This kind of concept is not right. They have picked up verses concerning reward and punishment at the Lord's coming back and applied them to believers losing their salvation. According to their concept, for a person to suffer some punishment means he is lost again. We must be clear that all three of the servants mentioned in Matthew 25 are saved, but the last one suffered some punishment by being cast into the outer darkness. Forget the traditional teachings and come back to the pure Word. The Bible says all three are servants, and the Bible says that the third servant, because of his slothfulness, suffered some punishment. Please read and even pray-read these verses in the Lord's presence. Are you a servant with five talents, or two talents, or one talent? We all must be faithful to use the talents which the Lord has given us. Remember, one day the Lord Jesus will come, and He will reckon with us. We will have to hand over our talents and settle our accounts with Him. We have to be faithful to use what the Lord has given us. Otherwise, at His coming back, at the manifestation of the kingdom, we will suffer some punishment. We will not lose our salvation, but we will suffer something. We will surely miss reigning with the Lord during the millennium. May the Lord have mercy upon all of us!