The Sheep and the Goats

To finish my series on Matthew 25 I have to include the Sheep and the Goats. At first I would have called this the parable of the Sheep and Goats, but I don't know if this qualifies as a parable. It does use some symbolism, though. To read about the first parable in this chapter click here. To read about the second parable click here and here, for part two.

I'm trying to keep my tag list as clutter-free as I can and include mostly books of the Bible, to be more of a cross-reference system. But if I were tagging traditionally, I would tag this blog with words like law, grace, wrath, works, punishment, condemnation, justification, sanctification, heaven, and hell. So think of those things as you read through this.  After you read this, I have a few questions for you.  I will publish a Part 2 to this post to address those questions.

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’  Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Have you ever wondered about this story in the Bible?  Have you ever felt condemned reading it?  Does it make you squirm?  What does it tell us about law and grace?  What about unconditional love?  What about verses like Romans 8:1, I Thessalonians 1:10, I Thessalonians 5:9, II Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:4-6, or Ephesians 2:8-9?  Does this story illustrate verses like Revelation 22:12?
I would love to hear your thoughts and I will post a follow-up soon.  Thanks!

Good Works

I was dictating spelling words to my son today and I love that my spelling curriculum includes famous quotes and scriptures to show the context of the spelling word.

The spelling word was careful.

The verse was a portion of Titus 3:8 - Those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.

I have been meaning to do a study for a while of all the verses that mention good works.  So I wanted to highlight this one in my Bible.

I opened up to that chapter and read the first eight verses.  Paul here is writing to Titus and exhorting him in what he should be preaching to others.  Verse 1 he says to remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities (very applicable to us today) and to be ready for every GOOD WORK.  Verse 2 he goes on to say that we should speak evil of no one and be peaceable, showing humility to everyone.  Verse 3 is the reason, because we ourselves were once deceived and foolish, slaves to sin and hating one another.  Verse 4 is the ray of light---it was the kindness and love of God our Savior and (verse 5) NOT our WORKS of righteousness, it was His MERCY that saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (this reminds me of my past article on the subject).  Verse 6 goes on to tell us how He poured out that love on us through Jesus Christ.  Verse 7 is very important to get--we have been justified by His grace!  If you don't have a thorough understanding of this, please go read Galatians and then Romans.  And finally, verse 8, we should maintain good works.  Why?  Because these things are good and profitable to men.  Never forget this--the good works DON'T save you, they are good and profitable to men, this means to yourself and to others, in many different ways.  Our good works can bring glory to God, can show others the love of Christ, can put Christians in general in a positive light in people's minds, will bring about good character qualities in ourselves such as humility and selflessness, bringing us peace, not to mention laying up treasures in heaven, BUT they are not what saves us or makes God love us anymore than He already does!