Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: Matthew 25:31-46 A Litmus Test for Salvation?

  

          For a little bit now, we have been looking at several commonly misunderstood and misapplied verses or passages in the Bible to seek to understand what they actually mean so that we don’t fall prey to those misunderstandings and misapplications ourselves (or continue to hold to any of them if we already have). It is my hope that such has been a benefit to you. Before we turn the page from this series of articles (and there are so many others we could continue with!), I want to look at one more that seems to be making the rounds a lot today. I’ve been especially hearing it in political debates over certain policies. The passage is Matthew 25:31-46 regarding the final judgment where Jesus speaks of Himself separating the nations into two groups at His return. He compares this to a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats and putting one group on one side of Him with the other on the opposite (v. 32). The ones in the position of the sheep are invited to come into God’s kingdom that they have inherited and which has been prepared for them (v. 34). Those in the place of the goats on the other hand will be told to depart from Jesus to go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (v. 41). These represents believer who will enter into eternal life and unbelievers who will undergo eternal punishment (v. 46). And Jesus points out that the major characteristic of those on the right who are welcomed into the kingdom are that they fed, gave drink, housed, clothed, and visited Him when sick and in prison (vv. 35-36). When they question when they had done that, He points out that it was whenever they had done it to the least of His brothers that they had done it to Him (v. 40). On the other hand, the ones on the other side are characterized has not having done the same to Jesus because they did not do such to the “least of these” (vv. 42-45).

            Often, this passage is taken to be speaking of the need to care for the poor. Or, it is argued that this teaches that the treatment of the poor is what matters most to Jesus, above and beyond any other concerns. I even heard a politician recently say that this treatment of the poor is what we will be judged and saved by! Is that what this passage actually says? Not when we look at the details of it in light of what the rest of Scripture teaches.

 

The first thing we need to understand here is that this passage is NOT speaking about the poor, needy, and suffering GENERALLY of the world but of other Christians in PARTICULAR. Jesus is clear in the passage that He specifically refers to "these brothers of Mine" (v. 40). Who would Jesus' brothers be? Earlier in chapter 12 where His biological brothers and mother are reported as wanting to see Him, He points out that it is His disciples who are such. "But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?' And stretching out His hand towards His disciples, He said, 'Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:48-50). The same is the case in Matthew 23:8 and 28:10. Also, when Jesus talks about "the least of these" in other contexts, He usually refers to His disciples. We see this in Matthew 18:6, 10. The ones which He speaks of that the sheep fed, gave drink, housed, clothed, and visited are persecuted believers who are in great need and suffer on account of that persecution. Some of which will be put in prison on account of their faith.

 

There are two points Jesus is making in this parable: One is that Jesus is so connected with His people that however you treat them can be said to be how you treat Him. That’s seen in Him equating Himself with His needy followers that whatever was done or not done to them is the same as if it were done or not done to Him. This has something to say to those who think that they can have Jesus while having nothing to do with His church. He so much identifies with the church that to neglect the church is in essence to neglect Him. At least, that’s the way He takes it. We notice this as well when He appeared to Saul also known as Paul on the way to Damascus. He didn’t ask him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting My church?” or “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting My followers, disciples, or people?” No. Instead, it was, “Saul, Saul, why are You persecuting Me” (Acts 9:4, emphasis mine). According to Jesus, to persecute Christians who belong to His church is to persecute Him. So, however you treat believers is also how you treat Jesus.

 

The second point made in this parable is how you treat God's people reveals whether you have saving faith or not because true faith will result in a love and affection towards Christ's followers leading you to care for and serve them. Jesus can’t be indicating that doing such makes you saved or earns you salvation because the Bible is clear that our salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and not by any works whatsoever we have done or could ever do (Ephesians 2:8-9). To turn the treatment of believers into factoring into the basis of our salvation, even in the slightest, would be to contradict everything else Scripture says about our salvation. This evaluation by our Lord of the two groups the nations can be divided into is not to DETERMINE who is a sheep or goat but to DEMONSTRATE the identity of each. It is best to see the treatment of those in Christ's family as being FRUIT or evidence of one who has been saved by God's grace alone through their faith alone rather than the ROOT or cause of such. A true believer will demonstrate their faith by caring for other believers and seeking to minister to them when they are in need. The unbeliever without faith would not have such concern because they wouldn't view them as their own family.

 

Now, does this mean that we should not be concerned for the poor, needy, and suffering of this world or neglect to do good to them? Absolutely not! Just that this passage is not speaking of such here and should not be used to guilt people into supporting or not supporting a particular political position. The question for us from this passage is not "Are we tangibly caring for the poor and suffering of the world?" but "What is our relationship to the church, God's people, and what does that say about our faith?" We can talk about the importance and need to help the poor from another passage that actually deals with such. But this passage is not that and therefore shouldn’t be treated as if it does.

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Passages: The True Giant-Slayer in 1 Samuel 17

It’s a story just about all of us are familiar with. Many of us have heard it since we were little in Sunday School. We can think back to the Bible storybooks read to us early on and seeing the pictures of the small shepherd boy with the sling and stone in his hand standing in front of the towering giant of a man. It quickly became my son John’s personal favorite Bible account. And no matter how old we are now, it continues to capture our attention whenever we hear or read it again. Of course, I’m talking about the beloved, wonderful, and unforgettable narrative of David and Goliath found in 1 Samuel 17. How many sermons have we heard or books read that encourage us to be like David and defeat the giants in our lives with just a small stone of faith? Or to discover the champion in you to slay the giants of worry, fear, doubt, bitterness, ingratitude, and a host of other things? Some have even gotten creative to take the five stones and connect them to five ways you can go about killing such “giants” you may face. I admit that’ll preach. It has! The only problem is, it is not the point of the passage at all. And to apply it in such a way actually winds up missing it’s much greater point with the far better application it holds for us. So, what’s the story of David and Goliath really all about?

First, we have to realize that this is not a showdown between the man David and the giant Goliath. Oh, it’s much more than that! Goliath curses David “by his gods” in v. 43 and David acknowledges that he comes in the Lord’s name and not his own (v. 45). He states it will be God who delivers the giant into his hands so that all will know that He is God who does not save by sword or spear and that the battle is His instead (vv. 46-47). The author of the account even appears to go out of his way to emphasize Goliath’s mocking or derision of God’s people which is a mocking or derision of God Himself who the people belong and the defender of them (vv. 10, 25, 26 (2x), 36, 45). So, this actually is between the one true God Yahweh and the false gods of the Philistines. Like was seen in the Exodus with God defeating the so-called gods of the Egyptians with the plagues He brought upon them (Exodus 7-12; 12:12 in particular), His making the statue of the Philistine god, Dagon, in their own temple fall down to “eat the dust” as the serpent (1 Samuel 5:3-4; Genesis 3:14) and later with Elijah on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-40). In every single one of these cases, God shows Himself supreme and utterly defeats the gods which do not exist. This is not the defeat of and victory over Goliath by a small shepherd boy as it is the defeat of and victory of the false gods of the Philistines by Yahweh God Himself. He just used the weakness of David to show His mighty strength as He loves to do (1 Corinthians 2:27-29; 2 Corinthians 12:9).

            The real battle here actually goes back much farther than David and Goliath and points into the future of something much greater to take place. To truly understand what’s going on, we have to go all the way back to the book of Genesis. To Genesis 3:15 to be exact. What is known as the first proclamation of the gospel. When God is delivering His declaration of judgment upon the serpent for the role he played in leading Adam and Eve to sin, He said, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Basically, there will be war between the serpent and the woman from this point on that will continue throughout the generations to come. That is until one specific descendant of the woman will defeat the serpent (bruise him on the head) even though the serpent will temporarily wound him (bruise him on the heel). Precisely what will take place with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Satan will wound him in the role he plays with His death but it proves not to be fatal as seen in His resurrection. And, through such, He defeats the devil. All of the Bible can be said to be the unfolding of this prophecy. If it helps, you can think of this as the thesis statement of the Bible. When I was in college and seminary, my professors required me to have a thesis statement in every paper I wrote. A short summary in one or two sentences that stated what I intended to argue in the paper. (As you can imagine, I always struggled with these. I’ve never been good at being concise as my sermons and newsletter articles often attest to!) This means that the story of David and Goliath must be read in light of this promise. We must ask ourselves then how this connects to the storyline of the ongoing war between the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan pointing forward to that one Seed who will ultimately defeat him.

 

            You see, David not only was chosen by God to be anointed king but also to continue the line of THE anointed king, the Messiah, and establish His royal linage (2 Samuel 7:12-16). And there are several parallels to note between the two kings that God in His providence must have orchestrated so that David and his activity serve as a type or shadow of who Jesus would be and what He would do to redeem us from our sin. This was to help the people recognize Him when He came. For instance, both are shepherd-kings born in Bethlehem who can be said to be a “man after God’s own heart”. Jesus says in John 10 that He is the good shepherd and earlier that the Father has given those who belong to His flock to Him. Both are unimpressive by the world’s standards. David was viewed as the least likely to be king among his brothers. So much so his own father did not call him in from the field for consideration when Samuel came to anoint one of them king (1 Samuel 16:11). His brothers and King Saul never expected him to come out on top facing this giant (17:28, 33). Isaiah 53:2 tells us of Jesus, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should desire Him.” Nathaniel at first couldn’t believe that anything good could ever come from Nazareth where Jesus was raised (John 1:46). They both possess a zeal for God and concern for His glory. That is what led David to step up to accept Goliath's challenge in the first place (1 Samuel 17:26, 36). Certainly, that is true of Jesus as the disciples recognized after witnessing Him overturn the tables in the temple (John 2:17). They both endured contempt by their brothers. Jesus’ own brothers at first did not believe in Him and thought Him to be crazy (John 7:5). None of David’s brothers thought him serious to take on Goliath. David and Jesus were filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit (1 Samuel 16; Isaiah 62; Luke 4) and both are said to “come in the name of the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:45; Psalm 118:26; Matthew 21:9).

 

            And Goliath doesn’t resemble our pride, lust, fear, failure, or any of the things he often is connected to but that sinister snake who first appeared back in the garden of Eden. Like him, the giant is the enemy of God and His people. He pridefully mocks and derides God. (Again, a major emphasis in this account.) And, perhaps even more striking, is the fact that we are told that Goliath’s armor in Hebrew is actually described as being “scale-armor.” What animal has scaly skin? A snake, right? And of all the places that stone could have hit on that mammoth of a man, God has it go smackdab in the middle of his forehead. Certainly no coincidence! Remember that prophecy in Genesis 3:15? Where was it the Seed of the woman is said to bruise or crush of the serpent? His head. Jesus later defeats the devil not with five smooth stones but two planks of wood and three nails. And just as David used Goliath’s own weapon to finish him, it could be said that Jesus used Satan’s own weapon of death to defeat him. This is a picture of the gospel in miniature. A coming preview if you will of the greater work David’s greater Son would do against the devil himself.

 

            Here’s the true application for us today from this story. Jesus has already defeated the giant who opposes and mocks Him and His people. We can be confident that we share in that victory if we belong to Him through faith like the Israelites shared in David’s victory as their champion. You see, what we need is not to be strong and brave like David but to have Jesus as our champion. Don’t try to fight the giant yourself! He is too big and too strong. You don’t stand a chance against him! Rather, we must trust in the One who has already defeated him. Who knocked him down with His death and resurrection and will come to finish the job chopping his head off so to speak when He returns.

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: Jesus is Knocking . . . But at the Wrong Door . Revelation 3:20

 

           It is a very popular verse to use in evangelistic messages. Many a pastor has quoted it at the end of their sermon to appeal to any unbelievers present in the congregation to receive Christ. Several of us can picture in our minds the painting which has Jesus standing at a door without any handle from the outside and having His fist in the air as if He were patiently knocking on it. The verse is Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” It is clear here that Jesus certainly is knocking on a door. The only problem is that the way it is often used and applied has Him knocking at the wrong door! Hence why I include this verse as one of those “Inigo Montoya passages”: “You keep quoting that verse. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

 

            As always, context is the key. When we look at the verses surrounding this one, we discover that Jesus is not knocking on the door of an unbeliever’s heart hoping that he or she just might finally let Him in. No. It is a door of a church. And not just any church at that but a very lukewarm one which is described as being neither cold or hot in relation to the Lord leading God to desire to spit them out of His mouth just like people did of the dirty water of the city there (vv. 15-16). It was a very prideful worldly church thinking that they were doing well and had all that they needed only to be ignorant of their true poor and needy spiritual condition (v. 17). This was the church of Laodicea. One of seven churches Jesus has John write a letter to at this time. Jesus even explicitly specifies at the end of the letter that this message is what “the Spirit says to the churches” (v. 22). So, this is not a call for unbelievers to be saved but a group of believers to repent and be renewed again in their zeal for the Lord (v. 19). This church had become so preoccupied with other things that they had in essence pushed Jesus out of the congregation with Him now being on the outside so to speak knocking to be let back in!

 

Some believe that Jesus here may be alluding to Song of Solomon 5:2 where the husband there knocks on the door of the bedroom to encourage his wife to let him in and continue to express her love for him. If Jesus did indeed intend to direct us to that picture, He could be showing that the same thing is happening with them. He is there as their husband knocking for them to open the door and express their love for Him once again. That love which had become so putridly lukewarm. It could also be connected to the parable Jesus told of slaves who were waiting eagerly for the return of their master from a wedding to open the door to him immediately when he comes back and knocks. The master then will have them sit at the table with him serving them (Luke 12:36-37). This is very similar to the image Jesus gives to this lukewarm church of Laodicea. Jesus may be reminding them that His coming is very near so they better be ready to let Him in. And the only way to do that would be to answer His call to repent of their worldly lukewarmness and self-righteous self-sufficiency (Revelation 3:19).

 

Rather than this being an evangelistic plea, it serves as a warning to believers in the church today. For us to guard against becoming lukewarm in our devotion to the Lord and succumbing to the thinking that we are something spiritually when we are not. To entertain the thought that we have what we need on our own and no longer need Christ when the reality is that we are nothing without Him (Romans 7:18), have nothing without Him (1 Corinthians 4:7), and can do nothing without Him of any value for His kingdom (John 15:5). The last thing we should want is for it to appear that Jesus is on the outside needing to be back in to dine or fellowship with us.

 

Furthermore, nowhere in Scripture are we ever told that Jesus is simply standing outside the door of our hearts patiently knocking hoping we might just let Him in. In fact, it actually is the opposite. Luke tells us that it was the Lord who opened up Lydia’s heart to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul (Acts 16:14). He didn’t wait for her to open up her own. If He doesn’t open our heart, we would never let Him in. He certainly wasn’t patiently knocking on the door of Paul’s heart when He confronted the man on the road to Damascus and dramatically changed and transformed him (Acts 9:3-7). We are never instructed to open our heart to let Jesus in. But we are continually, over and over again throughout the pages of Scripture, called to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation (Mark 1:15; Acts 2:38; 20:21; 26:20). That should be the evangelistic appeal for us to make. Not one that hadn’t been given to unbelievers in the first place. I’m not even sure it is helpful to direct unbelievers to ask Jesus into their heart for that matter. What does that even mean? And can that be done without repentance and genuine faith in Christ which alone saves? I think the many who have done so without bearing any fruit of repentance and persevering living faith which results in works (Matthew 3:8/Luke 3:8; Matthew 13:8, 23; James 2:14-26) provides the evidence that it indeed can be without such and give a countless number a false assurance of their salvation which they do not possess. I’m not saying that someone who has prayed to ask Jesus into their heart isn’t necessarily saved. Just that it wasn’t from them doing or asking such. It would have been through coming to Him with an attitude of repentance and placing their trust in Him alone to serve as their Savior and Lord. I probably prayed a dozen or more times to ask Jesus into my heart in my youth before I realized what repentance and faith really meant and looked like. And it was that repentance and faith that actually made the difference.

 

So, the questions we should be asking ourselves are as follows: “Have we pushed Jesus out of our fellowship so to speak where He is left outside knocking to come back in?” “How may we have become lukewarm or began to be such like the church Jesus stood knocking at?” And “What can we do to ensure that this doesn’t happen to our congregation as well as us as individuals?” Remember the blessed promise of restored fellowship He gives to this church as well as any others who allow themselves to grow lukewarm in their affection for Him. “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him to and will dine with him, and he with Me.” As G. Campbell Morgan well said, “The only cure for lukewarmness is the re-admission of the excluded Christ.”

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee