Jesus Takes It Personal by (Ed Allen)

Jesus Takes It Personal by (Ed Allen)
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Matthew 25: 31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 

34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

 (Observation) Jesus separates “all the nations” into two groups. The group on the right inherits the kingdom of heaven. Jesus sites God’s predestination and their kindness as the reason for their inheritance. He rewards their kindness to “these brothers of Mine” as if the kindness were done to Him.

(Interpretation) I suggest to you that the passage does not teach salvation by works, but rather that works are indicative of faith. Further, I suggest that until the day of judgment the group on the right does not know whether they were predestined or not, whether their names are written in the book of life or, even whether, as promised, their faith has saved them. They lived their lives as mortals taking their assurance of salvation by faith, from obedience to the commands of the bible. In other words, if they didn’t believe God, why would they bother to obey Him?  So, the passage previews for us that the same obedience by which we now, in this life, have an assurance of salvation, will be used by the Lord on the day of judgment to confirm that our faith has saved us, just as He promised, just as He predestined.

As to Jesus’ reference to “these brothers of mine,” I do not know if He is treating the believing Jews as a separate group or if he is referring to both Jewish and Gentile believers. Either way, the result is the same, provided that the group on the right is made up of individuals out of all the nations and not by nationality without regard to individual faith. I submit to you that the context of the passage and the Lord’s teaching elsewhere in the bible precludes corporate salvation by nationality.

 (Cross-reference) Matthew 7:12  “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Ephesians 2: 8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Hebrews 11: 6 “And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

What do you think?