Man does not change in order to be saved, but true salvation always brings about an evident change in the life of the new believer. Perhaps the change is less noticeable in some new believers and more noticeable in others; however, no change means no salvation. The change is not always an immediate outward change because it involves a change of the inward nature. A person who trusts Christ for salvation becomes a new creature (Galatians 6:15). It might be best to consider how this could be likened to a dog (Matthew 15:26-27) becoming a sheep (John 10:16). A new man now dwells within the new Christian to help combat and defeat the old sinful nature (Ephesians 4:22-24). Salvation is not merely the turning over of a new leaf; it is a new birth (John 3:3) where one is passed from spiritual death to spiritual life (John 5:24).
A steward is someone responsible to care for the goods of another. He is accountable to his master for the way that he handles the responsibility. In this parable, a steward was accused of wasting the rich man’s goods. This was such a serious charge that the rich man called for the steward to give an accounting of his stewardship. The Lord expressed a similar truth in another parable found in Luke 19:11-27. In this parable, several servants invested their goods and accrued interest, but one servant simply hid his pound which resulted in no gain. The lord of that servant was so upset with this slothful servant that he took the pound away from him and gave it to one of the others. Remember that it is not up to the steward to choose how to spend that which belongs to the master.
