Thanks for your response but I was just being honest about how I have always interpreted Matthew 25:31-46. As Christians or sheep we already have the love of Christ in us and as we are led by the Spirit in our calling we are fulfilling these things and in this passage of scripture it is seperating the sheep from the goats. I was not implying Christians should not do these things because I think we already are but it is the goats that are in trouble for not doing these things and they are hurting Christ when they don't.Christ said vs 40 "And the King shall answer and say unto them,Verily I say unto you,inwasmuch as ye have done it unto MY BRETHREN,ye have done it unto me."They are not taking care of his people the sheep his brethren. It is OK if we disagree though.melanie wrote:Abel that is not correct.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that 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 to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
This has nothing to do with unbelievers.
It is clearly directed to those that proclaim to believe in His name.
When Jesus walked on this earth His greatest condemnation was not reserved for the adulter, the thief, or the tax collector, nor the prostitute.
The hypocrites, the Vipers, those that perverted the Word of God that Jesus held most accountable were not the unbelievers but rather the most religious pious of the time, the religious elders. The Pharisees.
They held the law, He instructed us to listen to them insomuch that they correctly speak the law but never to follow them as their hearts and actions betrayed them.
Abel it is a cop out to suggest Jesus was not speaking of believers. It is clearly obvious he was.
I think it is a typical misconception that has spread amongst Christianity to excuse a heart that is not willing to accept that without love, not worldly love, but rather the kind of love that existed in Christ that we will remain preaching to the choir but never getting on our hands and knees and in humility loving the very least of us.
Love sets us free.
It's our greatest commandment.
Unbelievers know no better but we do.
If we take His name then we better live by it.
That is what this scripture speaks of....
God doesn't reward anyone by works, it doesn't matter how many times you have read your scriptures, but how many times you've lived it.
It matters not how clearly you understand the law if your heart betrays you, what I mean by that is at anytime you place yourself above anybody, you look down on anyone, you hold someone in contempt, you are indifferent , you hold anything but love against another then you are doing so outside of the will of God.
I'm not saying this because I've nailed it, sooo far from it.
I fail everyday but I'm aware of what's required.
Love.
It was interesting to me how a post about just simply loving and understanding what is required of us, Having a heart that extends to all, to those that are least deserving turned into very quickly a question of salvation
Questions were asked about Jews and Muslims and even Christians.
I leave that up to God,
For He knows what we could possibly not.
When love and kindness and genorisity and thoughtfulness is what is required to truly reveal the heart then surely Our Father is the one in charge to expose us.
And we will be.
By His standards we will be judged.
By Jesus' words, self proclaimed belief does not cut it but real world application. You can't say you love others and not live it, you can't say you care and do otherwise, you can't say you feel for the downtrodden then be indifferent. You can't mock, look down upon, place yourself above, think yourself more worthy, be arrogant or ever think that you are in favour because we are all Our Fathers Children.
He loves the least of us as much as the First.
The least of us will be the first and the first the last.
A beautiful statement of how Jesus lived His life....
The meek shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven
Let's get a little less impressed with ourselves cause we all fail but in failure is beauty and growth when we can embrace each other in love and humility to grow together in a path towards God.
I probably could have worded myself alittle better. At the same time though the bible tells us to love others,it also gives us wisdom about what kind of friends we should pick,husbands and wives,etc so it is in this context when it comes to loving others.
Some people we should avoid for a time,it is righteous judgment and we can be easily tricked if we are not aware of who we are associating with.Some people live in bondage and are in a situation that they cannot get out of like an abused person and some take loving to the extreme and think they must forgive them and love them despite the abuse,when they really need to find a way to get away from them and not be so forgiving to them unless/until they repent of the abuse.There is Godly wisdom to loving others to consider but I think all true Christians genuinely desire to show Christ-like love to others.
I pretty much agree with everything else you said.