True enough. Particularly your last line.
I'm curious as to what you think Jesus meant in Matthew 25:31-46?
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal
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Reading in context this entire chapter, I believe the oil mentioned throughout scripture ,has various meanings, oil is a healing ointment, a valuable traded commodity for incence,food,bathing etc. many were highly esteemed for owning oils,it indicated wealth,status and power to those who possessed it, it was extremely valuable,but here it signifies or represents the Holy Spirit which produces the light of life in all men, which is given by God through Jesus when they come into faith in Christ.
Jhn 6:63 It is
the spirit that gives life;
the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
but some have the form of godliness or indication of being saved and heaven bound as Jesus alludes to several times in scripture, but deny the power of life inside and understanding of scripture that only comes through the Holy Spirit
2Ti 3:5 Having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:
from such turn away.
Rom 8:9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
1Cr 2:12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
2Cr 1:22 he set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
I think the starting point or prerequisite in understanding this or any of the parables is found in Mark, where Jesus says in Mark 4:13, that if you can not understand the parable of the sower who sows ,how is you can understand any parable.
Jesus is clearly portraying the life or light of God, that being the Holy Spirit) is found in the flame of the lamps, in which is the only way to see and be prepared for the coming of the groom( Christ)
I also believe the oil (spirit) which is apparently personal,gives the individual light needed to see the groom, when they heard the cry he was coming.
It's intersting that the foolish could not pursue the groom, even with the light of the other wise virgins lamps and so as to find their way to the door of the house where the marriage dinner was prepared.
The lack of oil in certain lamps obviously determines who was not prepared, either by denial,ignorance or total laziness, because they all seemed to have experience and knowledge of this event as they all were initially prepared but some neglected to fully prepare.
They had many things in common, they were all looking for the appearing of the groom ( Christ), they were all virgins,pure from the world,they all had the same equipment,oil,wicks,lamps and lighting apparatus which were obvious requirements for safe travel at night.
Maybe the key here is the source of oil and price to be paid was different which may have hindered them from being adequately prepared.
Either way, the amount of oil was the distinguishing factor that would point to who was wise and who was foolish, who was really the bride and who was not ,who would be separated from the groom forever and who would not, who the groom would recognise and accept and who he would shun.
Back to the verses I mentioned previously ..it is the indwelling presence of Holy spirit that Jesus promised he would send in John 14, 15,16 that will be the deciding factor of who is who and who is in and who is out.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
,,,and the fruit of the spirit coming from good trees will prove who is who, although many look good on the outside, many are dead and lost inside, according to Matt 7 Jesus speaks of not Judging until you have examined your own life and when sin is removed than you can help your brother with his problem, enter through the straight and narrow gate ,indicating count the costs of following Jesus, he also speaks of false christians who call out ,Lord, Lord and do all kinds of acts of service, wonders and might deeds, but Jesus claims , I never knew you.
It seems to come back to association....." family, foundation, and fruit"
What family do you belong to, Christ's or some other.
What foundation are you building on, pleasurable,easy, quick gradifications this life offers, for time will decalre for all to see
What is your fruit ,it may look good to others and the individual ,but ultimately it will come down to what it produces, life and blessing for others and to God or self.
in the wise and foolish men, who both built houses with possibly the same materials, using similar tools and expereinced the same weather conditions but their foundations were radically different which determined who stayed and who perished.
For the record, I too believe that salvation is a gift and that we cannot earn our way into Heaven through our good works. On the other hand, I believe that there will be a time when we stand before God to be judged of our works. When that happens, I certainly hope to be counted among the sheep. I don't want to be among those who has to say, "Uh... didn't I just have to believe?
I believe you are correct in these statements.....and the assurance you hope for is something that we can have without doubt, It all comes down to having the Holy Spirit within that gives any who come to him the full and confident assurance and guarantee heaven and christ are yours
2Cr 1:22 he set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
1Jo 5:13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.