Matthew 13:47-50
“Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every
kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down
and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the
righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
What
a great analogy, many of us who have fished at some point used a throw net to
get bait, and much of the time you throw away the bad bait and keep only the
good. Jesus is saying that at the end of
the age the angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous. But that can be a real problem with many,
because of their definition of “righteous”!
In this case only God’s definition of the word has meaning, so where do
we attain this being right in the sight of God.
First, what it is not: it is not how well you perform at home, at work,
or even in your charity, for Scripture tells us, “For
by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians
2:8-10) So this being in right standing
with God only happens after we have by His grace been saved by the faith that
God alone has given us. And the good
that we do is because of our relationship with Christ, and it was all planned
out before we entered into Christ, and He entered into us.
So this
righteousness is obtained by the grace and faith given to us by God, and the
apostle Paul is stating this in his letter to the Roman church, “Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace
in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2) What
is the make up of a person who is living out a righteous life; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against
such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the
Spirit. Let us not become
conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22-26) That’s big if it is the Spirit who is in
charge; who is in charge of you, the flesh or the Spirit?
Do you recall that often I’ve told you Jesus is Truth, so
when Jesus tells us that angels will separate the evil from the righteous, is
it not of the utmost importance to make sure that you are using God’s
definition of “Righteous.” “The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
From
the Back Porch,
Bob
Rice
No comments:
Post a Comment