OK, I just want to poke and prod at you guys for a moment. Well, not so much at you in general, but at your understanding of God's Word. I am curious how you will answer my inquiry, or if you will at all.
What must one do in order to be saved? Think about your answer carefully. Then once you have your answer in mind, continue on.
I know lots of people who will answer that they need to believe in Christ and ask Him into their hearts...some will even throw in there that they must be baptized as well. So is that it? Is that what it takes in order to wind up in heaven when all is said and done? Which could lead me to ask you guys about your beliefs in the "once saved, always saved" mind-set, but I won't go there...this time. But I am sure if you are reading this, you have an opinion on that topic as well. But we'll save that for another time.
But my inquiry is, if you have a set of things one must do in order to be saved (i.e...believe in Him and ask Him into your heart, have a relationship with Him, maybe even get baptized and then you are all set...what do you do with Matthew 25:31-46?
Here, I will provide these verses:
The Final Judgment
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Now I am sure these people believed in Him....I mean they do refer to Him as Lord and all. Perhaps they were even baptized. So how does this square up with what so many of us believe? What about us today? There are MILLIONS, I'd bet that believe in Him, have asked Him into their hearts, and have even been baptized, but do not do these things. What does that mean for them (us)? Will we not be saved? What if we do these things sometimes? Maybe when we are pushed or prodded into it by "church" or out of obligation? We are not and cannot be saved by works, right? So what do you think about this? What are your thoughts about my inquiry?I am not going to sway you with any insight or lack thereof on my part...
What must one do in order to be saved? Think about your answer carefully. Then once you have your answer in mind, continue on.
I know lots of people who will answer that they need to believe in Christ and ask Him into their hearts...some will even throw in there that they must be baptized as well. So is that it? Is that what it takes in order to wind up in heaven when all is said and done? Which could lead me to ask you guys about your beliefs in the "once saved, always saved" mind-set, but I won't go there...this time. But I am sure if you are reading this, you have an opinion on that topic as well. But we'll save that for another time.
But my inquiry is, if you have a set of things one must do in order to be saved (i.e...believe in Him and ask Him into your heart, have a relationship with Him, maybe even get baptized and then you are all set...what do you do with Matthew 25:31-46?
Here, I will provide these verses:
The Final Judgment
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Now I am sure these people believed in Him....I mean they do refer to Him as Lord and all. Perhaps they were even baptized. So how does this square up with what so many of us believe? What about us today? There are MILLIONS, I'd bet that believe in Him, have asked Him into their hearts, and have even been baptized, but do not do these things. What does that mean for them (us)? Will we not be saved? What if we do these things sometimes? Maybe when we are pushed or prodded into it by "church" or out of obligation? We are not and cannot be saved by works, right? So what do you think about this? What are your thoughts about my inquiry?I am not going to sway you with any insight or lack thereof on my part...
2 comments:
I don't have an answer, and I won't until I get to ask Him face to face what it means, but I do have an opinion (as always).
I believe if you truly have a relationship with the Lord and He lives in you, it will only be natural to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick and those in prison, etc. If Christ is in you, how can you not show love, compassion, and hospitality to others?
FEW! Great care should be taken when we see that word Jesus used to describe how many will actually go into Heaven. I don't think His choice of words was without meaning. MANY! Another word He used to describe the number of people who would say to Him, "Lord, Lord." When FEW and Many are taken in context, we may gain significant insight into how He may actually judge, how "real" his stated critera may be, and what the results may be for us. Wouldn't it be sad (eternally) if our response to His judging critera was to simply say, "In my life, I really didn't come into contact with many people who were hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or in prison." I doubt that response
will "hold water" with Him, and I know I will not bet my eternity on it doing so.
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