Quote:
Originally Posted by Raptor
One of the outstanding points related to this subject is the overwhelming absoluteness indicated by many of the verses and parables. For example, Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone saying to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of My Father in the heavens. Many will say to Me in that the day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare unto them, ‘I never knew you; depart you from Me,’ those working lawlessness.
"Will not enter" is, well, not entering, quite absolute. So possibly, the way to understand it is applying the distinction between Kingdom of the Heavens and Kingdom of God explained earlier. Those believers that did works that were not approved by the Lord would still be in the KoG, but not permitted to enter the KoH. So they would miss the entire realm of the KoH, not just the ruling and reigning. Yet they are saved and in the KoG. (They are in US, but not in CA  ).
(of course, there will always be those that try to use the back door and explain it away saying, "oh, those are not believers"). |
Yes, those are sobering verses for believers (I too firmly can't see those verses referring to unbelievers, for good reason . . .)!
Personally, as I've alluded to on here a number of times, there is often fear in me when I read such verses. And fear of the Lord and His judgements (Bema for believers) is presented as a (generally, with possible exception below) healthy thing in scripture. However, my word studies of both OT and NT shows that the
overwhelming preponderance toward us - especially believers in the NT - is that of love. To put it in a secular form, the best coach loves his players and wants the very best for them . . . he wants them to win (which is a win for all concerned)! However, he also isn't shy about letting them know the results of messing-up and not winning, but the main motivation is his care, concern and desire for them to reach their best.
To me, the servants in Matthew 25 illustrate this well. The Master was delighted when the two faithful servants did well! He told them that they had been faithful in a FEW THINGS (think "My yoke is easy and My burden is light"), and now they may receive the reward.
When it came to the unfaithful servant, this servant dwelt in the realm of fear, knew his master was a hard man, and hid (reminiscent what Adam & Eve did) his Master's portion.
And even in this parable, it's 2 to 1, that is, two faithful servants to one unfaithful, which shows me the emphasis is on the positive (love)!