Ever contemplated the implications of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats? I've been mulling this parable over this morning, and I'm seeing something that I've never heard taught before.
Some teach that this parable will be fulfilled after the Millennium, but the context seems to suggest it will actually take place after the second coming. As the text states, it occurs after He "comes in His glory... [to] sit upon His throne" (Matthew 25:31). Since this throne He is referring to will be where He sits after His coming (i.e. to earth), it must therefore be a reference to His earthly throne in Jerusalem, after He returns and sets up His earthly kingdom.
When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the angels are with Him, then will He sit upon the throne of His glory. And all the nations shall be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left. (Matthew 25:31-33)
Here is where it gets interesting: If that is the case, then these sheep and goats are people who survived the tribulation period between when He returned and caught away His saints and when He later returned in power with the angels of His glory to destroy the Antichrist and his armies at the battle of Armageddon. These are people who were not raptured, yet will nevertheless inherit eternal life for having helped His people during the time of the tribulation.
Notice what He tells them:
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you who have been blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I hungered, and you gave Me food to eat. I thirsted, and you gave Me water to 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 sin prison, and you came to Me."
Then the righteous will answer, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungering, and fed you? Or thirsting, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You?" And having answered, the King will say to them, "Truly I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of these, the least of My brethren, you did it unto Me." (Matthew 25:34-40)
Why would He distinguish between these righteous ones and those He refers to as His brethren? If they themselves were already His brethren, He would not have used this language. Rather, the language suggests they were merely those who helped His brethren in their time of need.
Now what are the implications of this? Notice how the wicked are judged on the basis of how they in turn did NOT help His brethren, and that in the end, He will assign them to eternal fire whereas He will reward the righteous with eternal life:
Then He will say also to those on His left, "Depart from Me, those who have been cursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the Devil and His angels. For I hungered, and you gave Me nothing to eat. I thirsted, and you gave Me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you did not take Me in. I was naked, and you did not clothe Me. I was sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me." Then they also will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see you hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?" Then He will answer them, saying, "Truly I say unto you, in as much as you did it not to one of the least of these, neither did you do it to Me." And these shall go away unto eternal punishment, but the righteous unto eternal life. (Matthew 25:41-46)
There is no mention made of these righteous ones "believing on the Lord Jesus Christ," nor are they judged righteous on this basis. They are judged righteous on their deeds alone. The likely reason here is because we today are saved by grace through faith. But faith in what? Faith in the belief that Jesus is the Son of God. But when this parable is finally fulfilled, He will now be sitting on His throne displaying Himself to all the earth that He is God, and the time for needing to have "faith" in this will be over. It will now be obvious, and faith in His divinity will no longer be in question.
Does it not demonstrate the importance God ultimately places on our actions where salvation is concerned?
This is the most controversial thread I believe I've ever posted, so I will simply open it for discussion. This will be the first time (and possibly the last, LoL) where I openly share something in public after first seeing it. Usually I sit in something for many months and study it through, but I will simply open the flood gates and see what happens for a change.
Blessings in Christ, and thanks to any who reply
Hidden In Him
There's enough there to fill about 15 threads.
