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The question that drove our four-week study of the Sheep and Goats was whether our pursuit of social justice determines our eternal destiny. We concentrated on identifying the various characters in the story, the actions on which the judgment is based, and how the story meshes with everything else we know about salvation by faith.
In all honesty, our greatest concern was probably whether or not we are a “goat”. Do we need to fear …
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In our examination of the question of whether our pursuit of social justice will determine our eternal destiny, we have been looking at the Judgment of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25:31-46. So far, we have:
Set the discussion of this judgment in the context of the Olivet Discourse, which was given in response to the disciples’ question of the timing of Jesus’ coming and the end of the age (Part 1).
Seen that there …
In Part 2 of our look at the Olivet Discourse, and the question of whether our pursuit of social justice will determine our eternal destiny, we began to examine the judgment spoken of in the Judgment of the Sheep and Goats, that will mark the end of the age.
As we compared the judgment in Matthew 25 with other judgment passages in the New Testament, we discovered that there are three distinct judgments spoken of, and …
In Part 1 of our look at the Olivet Discourse and the question of whether our eternal destiny will be determined by our pursuit of social justice, we overviewed the Discourse, and made the following observations:
The Olivet Discourse answers the disciples’ question about the sign of Christ’s coming and the end of the age.
During the interval between Christ’s First and Second Comings, His disciples should expect disaster, war, false prophets and apostasy.
Immediately preceding His return …
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About 5 years ago, I was sitting in a meeting with many other Christian leaders when a person with a certain celebrity status was given the opportunity to address the gathering. His role was to call the church out for its lack of involvement in global social issues, such as AIDS in Africa, poverty, and social justice. The primary Biblical basis for his challenge was Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:31-46. He argued that Jesus …
In this week’s article, I want to return to some questions raised earlier. In the article, “But Won’t The Know We are Christians By Our Love?”, we ended with three questions for further exploration. The first related to the story of the Good Samaritan. Having examined that, we are now ready for the second question – “Doesn’t Scripture say that true religion is about caring for widows and orphans? “
Indeed, James 1:27 says, “Pure and …
Because I want this exploration of loving and hating like God to be practical, not just theoretical, I am going to take this week’s article in a different direction, and reflect on recent events in my life.
In the last 5 months I have given both of my daughters in marriage. I have known that these days were coming since the girls were little. In anticipation of this time, I have observed many other Fathers-of-the-Bride, both …
Looking at Jesus’ example, we were surprised to see that, after healing a leper, He tells the man to keep it quiet. This seems very odd. Our instincts are to broadcast our good deeds. Yet Jesus is telling this guy to keep His deeds a secret. And not just here. Time and again, Jesus suppresses information that would seem helpful to those around Him.
Consider other examples:
Jesus is asked to go heal a sick, 12 year …
It is easy to come away from the story of the Good Samaritan feeling overwhelmed. I mean, how can I show mercy to everyone that I encounter who is in need? Even acknowledging that such mercy will be inconvenient, persistent, messy, and personal, if I try to emulate all that the Samaritan did with every homeless or needy person that I come across – not just giving them a few dollars, but committing to help …
In our look at Part 1 of the story of The Good Samaritan, we saw that the story was a response to a religious leader who was attempting to justify himself in the eyes of the Law. Although religious, he did not come to Jesus as to The Christ, but as one still under the condemnation of the Law – an unbeliever. Thus, there is nothing in the story that directly addresses our responsibility, as …
