To understand the parable of the Wheat and the Tares it's critical to understand what the Jews of Jesus' day believed would happen right after the coming of the Messiah. After ousting the Romans, there was to be huge court hearing called the Judgment of "Fire." This "fire" was not literal, but a metaphor representing the intensive scrutiny the Messiah would apply to the ACTIONS of every person, in order to determine who would be granted citizenship in the independent, earthly, eternal, theocratic Jewish State the Messiah would begin establishing, and who would be exiled. The Apostle Paul explained what would happen at the Judgment in I Corinthians 3:11-15. The judgment "fire" would "burn up" all the WORKS of people (make a note--NOT the PEOPLE THEMSELVES) which are either patently evil OR works that were only superficially good, because they were, for example, only done for show! (As when Jesus explained how the Pharisees loved to make donations for others to see, those who had "already received their reward"! Now, if a person had repented of sins beforehand, then he would be forgiven and still admitted to citizenship, BUT there would be NO REWARDS if all his works were otherwise deemed unworthy! Of course, of those who had repented of sins and, from there, gone on to perform good works from a sincere heart, there would be rewards too, like getting a really good job in the new government of the Messiah, and a nice mansion to boot! Paul used the metaphor of "wood, hay and stubble" to represent the works that would be burned up, and "gold, silver and precious stones' to represent the purely good works. What, then, happens to those who don't get citizenship? Well, they are expelled and exiled from the Kingdom until they can prove they have repented and later on, come back for an appeal! (Though Jesus made it clear sinners and publicans would win their appeals long before the Pharisees, who would be the LAST to get in!) Now, let's look at the parable of the Wheat and the Tares which, just so it's clear, was first spoken in Aramaic, then translated into Greek and finally, re-translated into English...which makes it a bit difficult to understand the antecedents! The parable talks about the "things that offend." THINGS, the WORKS that will not prove worthy and will be "burned up." In many English translations, it's easy to confuse what happens to the Things That Offend and Those Who Practice Lawlessness, because of the strange word order. But in the original Aramaic, it's clear it will be the WORKS That Offend that will be "burned up in the fire," and the PEOPLE who practiced lawlessness will be exiled. The good news is that one need not understand Aramaic or Greek grammar to be so sure it's not the people who will be burned? Here's why: Because PEOPLE getting burned alive don't just merely cry, as their teeth are chattering!!! People getting burned alive are screaming at the top of their lungs, and they are most certainly NOT so COLD that their teeth begin to CHATTER! NO! What Jesus was trying to say is that there will be a whole bunch of very religious people at the Judgment who, because they were so outwardly religious, will be fully expecting, not only citizenship, but many rewards for all their superficial pious acts...but who will be very shocked and dismayed when they see all of their "pious" works go up in smoke! Then, they will be escorted out, and sent into exile, "tossed out into the cold" as it were! So, as they are being sent away they will be begin to cry uncontrollably ("weeping"), and as they find themselves on the outs of the Kingdom of God, "in the cold," their teeth will begin to chatter ("gnashing of teeth")! The main point of the parable is how it might be difficult to know which persons are truly righteous in their hearts and who is just making a show of it, but that on the Judgment Day (by the way, there will be only ONE Judgment Day), God will tell the difference! Oh, but how the false preachers and teacher of today love to distort the meaning of this parable, trying to make is seem like God is some sort of Cosmic Nazi who plans to torture people in the worst possible way, for eternity, by taking advantage of the ignorance most people have about the beliefs of the Jews in Jesus' day, and the poor language employed (perhaps not by accident) in so many bible translations! Rick Lannoye, author of www.amazon.com/Hell-No-Certain-There-Place/dp/1477401938
Greetings Rick, I pray all is well with you my brother in Christ. I wanted to reply to your message and give some food for thought. I agree with you that there is no eternally burning hell nor will there ever be. Yet, there are many things I say respectfully that you have mentioned that are inconsistent with scripture. #1. Knowing what the Jews of Jesus day believed. (While I believe having a historical contextual understanding of the customs and beliefs of an era are necessary, this still must be filtered through the word of God. Just because the some or all Jews believed something doesn’t make it TRUTH. If we followed this argument we would led to believe there are no angels or resurrection as a sect of Judaism did (Matthew 22:23-32). Or we would be led to believe you can divorce your wife for any reason (Matthew 19:3-11), or be led to believe that health and wealth were a sign you were saved or under the approval of heaven and the opposite were under God’s disapproval (Matthew 19:23-25, John 9:1-3). Or the belief that being Jews automatically entitled them to the kingdom (Matthew 3:9, John 8:33-41) The last belief is what caused many of the Jews to be unprepared to receive Jesus. This was the belief that Jesus was coming to set up the kingdom of glory at his first coming, instead of dying for the sins of the world (John 6:15). Even after his death and resurrection the disciples still didn’t fully comprehend Jesus’s mission (Acts 1:6) Majority of the people of Jesus day were in error due to the religious teachers of His day and this is the very reason why Jesus wanted his disciples to beware of the teachers of Israel (Matthew 16:6-12). This is apart of the reason why Jesus needed to come and sweep away the many misconceptions of His day. This was necessary because it is the truth alone that could set the people free (John 8:32). Conclusion: Respectfully I say the beliefs of the people of Jesus’ day is insufficient evidence to establish a belief system on, unless the people’s belief can be verified by scripture. #2. The Judgment (This topic is one that trips many people up because they see different verses related to the FINAL JUDGMENTS and do not put them in there proper chronological order. The Bible speaks of primarily two judgments: 1. A pre-millennial judgment 2. A post millennial judgment. The Bible speaks of two groups that will be judged, during these judgments, which is the righteous and the unrighteous (Ecc 3:16-17, 12:14). This is an important fact. The pre-millennial judgments proceeds the 2nd coming of Christ and is the judgment of the believers. Scripture is plain that Judgment begins with believers (1 Peter 4:17-18, Revelation 11:1 - Measure = Judge) Does the scripture teach the judgment of believers before Christ’s coming and if so why? Daniel 7:9-14 teaches that sometime after the Roman Empire and proceeding the kingdom of glory, there was to be a judgment (i.e. pre-millennial judgment). How do we know this is the judgment of believers? There are three reasons and of the three I stated one already (Acts 4:17-18). The second reason follows the feast of Old Testament scriptures which were are typological prophecies. There were seven feasts of the Jewish year that all pointed to some aspect of Christ’s earthly and heavenly ministry. (Space will not permit me to detail every aspect but we will touch on a few). Jesus died on the first feast which was Passover on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan), so that the 2nd death would Passover all those that believe (John 13:1-2, 18:28, 1 Cor 5:7). One the 15th day of the first month, Jesus the manna, the bead of life, the unleavened bread remained in the grave on the feast of unleavened bread and his body saw no corruption because there was no LEAVEN/SIN in him (Exodus 16:23-24, John 6:48-51, Acts 2:25-31). He then rose from the grave on the Feast of First-fruits on the 16th day of the first month he being the first fruits (1 Cor 15:20) but he rose with him an harvest of deceased saints (Matthew 26:50-53). 50 days after the feast of first fruits was the feast of weeks/harvest (Leviticus 23:15-15), which was the day of Pentecost the day on which the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:3-5, 2:1-4). As we can see Jesus had been fulfilling each of the feasts in their order, which means the three remaining feast would be fulfilled in their order as well. The last of the feast the Feast of Tabernacles is associated with the coming of Christ and the kingdom of glory, which the scriptures testifies of (Leviticus 23:40, Revelation 7:9, 19:6-9). It was the last feast of the year that happened on the 15th day off the 7th month. It was also called the Feast of Ingathering because the final harvest of the year happened at this time (I.e. harvest of grapes, etc), so in the type so is the antitype. The final harvest of earth happens at the coming of Christ (Revelation 14:14-20). What does this have to do with the judgment someone may ask? Five days before the Feast of Tabernacles on the 10th day of the 7th month was the feast called the day of atonement. This feast was regarded by scriptures as a day of Judgment and day of final decisions which Jews still believe till this day (jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2093-atonement-day-of) On this day proceeding the feast that is associated with the coming of Jesus, was the feast where believers were to pass into judgment before God (Leviticus 16). As we can see “Judgment” does “begin at the house of God” Why are believers judged before the coming of Christ.? The answers is quite simple. This is the third and final reason for a pre-millennial judgment. Jesus says in Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I come quickly: and my reward is will me, to give every man according as his work shall be” There are two keywords to notice here which is “reward” and “work”. Scripture teaches that we are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8), but we are judged by the QUALITY OF OUR FAITH or WORKS (2 Cor 5:10, 1 Peter 1:17, James 2:14-20). When Jesus comes he said his reward would be according to our works. Therefore, our works must be assessed before the reward that is given at the coming of Christ, and as was already quoted Ecc 12:14 teaches us that works are evaluated during the judgment. Simply put, Daniel 7 teaches before the kingdom of glory a Judgment takes place during which time, judgment is given in favor of Believers and it is then and only than after the judgment that they possess the kingdom of glory (Daniel 7:21-22, 25-27). Continued…..
….Continued #3. Exiled and readmitted into the kingdom (Respectfully, I say this is the most troubling of all you shared. Maybe you are or aren’t but this teaching appears to come from a universalist. You mentioned that professed believers would be exiled and permitted to appeal and enter back into the kingdom. You provided no scriptural reference for this assertion. I believe that a believer previous to the coming of Christ can be separated from God’s presence, and repent and be restored to God’s favor. Which if this is what you mean, then I can agree. But, the exile spoken of in the Parable of the Tares, and Matthew 13:47-50, 22:1-13. 25:1-30, all speak of this happening at the end which is the 2nd coming of Christ. There are no scriptures that speak of people being exiled and readmitted back into God’s kingdom at or after the coming of Christ. Where does the scripture teach these exile will be? We will address this in the next section. #4. No punishment for wicked works (This I have to respectfully disagree with as well. You make mention that the works and not the wicked will be burned up based on one text from 1 Cor 3:11-15. The cloud of witnesses (2 Cor 13:1) in scripture confirms and testifies that both the wicked and professed believer (false believer) will end up in the same place. Jesus and the scriptures make this point too clear for misconception. John the Baptist compares God’s people to trees and says all that do not bear GOOD FRUIT will be cut down and cast into the fire, Jesus says the same in John 15:5-6, and Matthew 7:15-20,. It’s not only the bad fruit but the tree itself that is cast into the fire. In the same chapter of Matthew 7 in verse 22-23 , after people present their works as evidence of why they should be saved Jesus says “I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME”. This he says repeatedly to the lost, I DON’T KNOW YOU (Matthew 25:10-13). But, where does he tell those who professed to be his followers to DEPART? Matthew 25 in describing the judgment says of the professed believer “DEPART FROM ME, YE CURSED, INTO EVERLASTING FIRE”. In both instances referenced not just the “wicked works” but the wicked person is cast into the fire. This is the same as the Tares being cast into the fire. As Titus said they may have made a profession of faith in God but their very works denied Him (Titus 1:16). As was stated there are two judgments for two groups, the righteous and the wicked. The scriptures makes plain these TWO judgments no just ONE. The wicked have a separate and distinct judgment. When does scripture say this takes place? At the coming of Jesus scripture teaches that the wicked receive the first phase of their judgment just previous to the beginning of the Millennium. The wicked are slain at the coming of Jesus (Revelation 19:11-21), and remain dead during the 1,000 year Millennium (Revelation 20:5), after the Millennium is finished God will resurrect the wicked for the THE FINAL JUDGEMENT (i.e. post millennial judgment)to receive their reward. Where are the exiles spoken of in Matthew 13, 22, and 25, etc? Revelation 20:9 teaches that they are OUTSIDE the city of LIGHT (Revelation 21:23), still cast out into the darkness of the earth that had been made a heaping destruction/bottomless pit at the coming of Christ (Revelation 20:1-3, 2 Peter 3:10-12). What then is the final reward of the wicked, that they are resurrected and judged to receive? The final reward of the wicked is the lake of fire, this lake comes as a result of fire being poured our of heaven from God (Revelation 20:7-15). Will this lake of fire burn forever. No. The scripture teaches that both wicked angels and wicked humanity will be burned until they eventually are burned into ashes (Malachi 4:1-3, Ezekiel 28:18). This is the reason why Jesus says that the day of (final) Judgment will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which Peter says turned them “into ashes (Luke 17:28-30, 2 Peter 2:6). I hope and pray that nothing I have said came across as me hating or angry with my brother in Christ. To the contrary, all that has been spoken has be done in LOVE. I Pray that our FATHER OF LIGHT will continue to lead us both. Many blessings on you and your household. Forgive the lengthy reply.
@@uchemekowulu6385 Matthew 25:41b and 25:46a are what scholars call "interpolations," phrases that were added to a copy of the text, in this case, probably by a 2nd Century copyist who completely misunderstood what Jesus was talking about, and made a comment on the side of the copy he was making, which was later on, included in the main body of the text by an even later copyist! But if you'll read I Corinthians, Chapter 3, there Paul the Apostle explains more fully what the Judgment of "Fire" was really all about--NOT a punishment in which people are actually tortured with fire, but a very close examination of the works people did during their lives in order to see whether or not they were evil, good or only superficially good, that is, works done only for show! The word "fire" is but a mere metaphor that represents how the WORKS of people, will be tested, in the same way ore is subjected to high heat, and if there is real gold contained in it, the heat melts away the dross and leaves only the pure gold. Likewise, all the talk about a fire on Judgment Day in Jewish apocalyptic tradition, is about WORKS, not people, getting burned or not burned up! What happens afterwards is either immediate citizenship with some getting extra rewards and others getting exiled. Jesus made it clear that, in time, all those exiled will be given chances to become citizens, but that it will be the religious self righteous who will, presumably, after many rejections, get their "green card," but only after the "sinners and publicans" get in way before they do!
@@ricklannoye4374 Greetings Rick, Hello again. Thanks for sharing your hypothesis. It still lacks the proper evidence, for it’s claims. Let’s say that those who copied that portion of Matthew did so incorrectly. Did the copyist of Isaiah, Jude, Thessalonians, Revelation, etc, (Isaiah 24:1-6, Jude 1:7, 2 Thess 1:9, Revelation 20:9) all make mistakes. You haven’t provided an explanation for those, unless you’re saying all the text that discuss God destroying the wicked with fire are all interpolations. As to the works and not the people being destroyed, a person would have to do a lot of spiritual gymnastics to get around all the text that say what God will do to the wicked. Here is one from the Old and New Testament that I haven’t quoted. Psalms 37:20 “But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” Matthew 5:29-30 “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast [it] from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not [that] thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast [it] from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not [that] thy whole body should be cast into hell.” These text are to plain to misunderstand. “the whole body” shall be “cast into hell”. You said “Jesus made it clear, that in time all those exiled would be given chances to become citizens”. As a student of scripture, I like to learn. Can you provide the scripture references where Jesus “MADE IT CLEAR”? The only reference you used was 1 Cor 3. Again, from a place of brotherly love, this message comes to you. Let us be ever so careful in how we interpret scripture and teach scripture to others. For God has given us this warning: Revelation 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.”
@@uchemekowulu6385 I address all of these passages and many more in my book Hell? No! Why You Can Be Certain There Is No Such Place As Hell, but let me just take one of the verses here to explain, like Jude 1:22-23a, "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire." Now, unless you think that, in the afterlife, you'll be standing at the edge of the Lake of Fire, where people are just about to fall in, and then you're job will be to catch them in the nick of time...then this passage is clearly a METAPHOR! Jude was making a comparison! He compared helping people who were having doubts about their Christian faith and on the verse of leaving to someone who standing to close to a campfire and just about to fall in and get burned. So he said to his readers to help them not to fall away from the faith, that's all!
Thank you Nelson for posting these great messages 🙏✨
To understand the parable of the Wheat and the Tares it's critical to understand what the Jews of Jesus' day believed would happen right after the coming of the Messiah. After ousting the Romans, there was to be huge court hearing called the Judgment of "Fire." This "fire" was not literal, but a metaphor representing the intensive scrutiny the Messiah would apply to the ACTIONS of every person, in order to determine who would be granted citizenship in the independent, earthly, eternal, theocratic Jewish State the Messiah would begin establishing, and who would be exiled.
The Apostle Paul explained what would happen at the Judgment in I Corinthians 3:11-15. The judgment "fire" would "burn up" all the WORKS of people (make a note--NOT the PEOPLE THEMSELVES) which are either patently evil OR works that were only superficially good, because they were, for example, only done for show! (As when Jesus explained how the Pharisees loved to make donations for others to see, those who had "already received their reward"!
Now, if a person had repented of sins beforehand, then he would be forgiven and still admitted to citizenship, BUT there would be NO REWARDS if all his works were otherwise deemed unworthy! Of course, of those who had repented of sins and, from there, gone on to perform good works from a sincere heart, there would be rewards too, like getting a really good job in the new government of the Messiah, and a nice mansion to boot!
Paul used the metaphor of "wood, hay and stubble" to represent the works that would be burned up, and "gold, silver and precious stones' to represent the purely good works.
What, then, happens to those who don't get citizenship? Well, they are expelled and exiled from the Kingdom until they can prove they have repented and later on, come back for an appeal! (Though Jesus made it clear sinners and publicans would win their appeals long before the Pharisees, who would be the LAST to get in!) Now, let's look at the parable of the Wheat and the Tares which, just so it's clear, was first spoken in Aramaic, then translated into Greek and finally, re-translated into English...which makes it a bit difficult to understand the antecedents! The parable talks about the "things that offend." THINGS, the WORKS that will not prove worthy and will be "burned up." In many English translations, it's easy to confuse what happens to the Things That Offend and Those Who Practice Lawlessness, because of the strange word order. But in the original Aramaic, it's clear it will be the WORKS That Offend that will be "burned up in the fire," and the PEOPLE who practiced lawlessness will be exiled.
The good news is that one need not understand Aramaic or Greek grammar to be so sure it's not the people who will be burned? Here's why: Because PEOPLE getting burned alive don't just merely cry, as their teeth are chattering!!! People getting burned alive are screaming at the top of their lungs, and they are most certainly NOT so COLD that their teeth begin to CHATTER!
NO! What Jesus was trying to say is that there will be a whole bunch of very religious people at the Judgment who, because they were so outwardly religious, will be fully expecting, not only citizenship, but many rewards for all their superficial pious acts...but who will be very shocked and dismayed when they see all of their "pious" works go up in smoke! Then, they will be escorted out, and sent into exile, "tossed out into the cold" as it were! So, as they are being sent away they will be begin to cry uncontrollably ("weeping"), and as they find themselves on the outs of the Kingdom of God, "in the cold," their teeth will begin to chatter ("gnashing of teeth")! The main point of the parable is how it might be difficult to know which persons are truly righteous in their hearts and who is just making a show of it, but that on the Judgment Day (by the way, there will be only ONE Judgment Day), God will tell the difference!
Oh, but how the false preachers and teacher of today love to distort the meaning of this parable, trying to make is seem like God is some sort of Cosmic Nazi who plans to torture people in the worst possible way, for eternity, by taking advantage of the ignorance most people have about the beliefs of the Jews in Jesus' day, and the poor language employed (perhaps not by accident) in so many bible translations!
Rick Lannoye, author of www.amazon.com/Hell-No-Certain-There-Place/dp/1477401938
Greetings Rick,
I pray all is well with you my brother in Christ. I wanted to reply to your message and give some food for thought. I agree with you that there is no eternally burning hell nor will there ever be. Yet, there are many things I say respectfully that you have mentioned that are inconsistent with scripture.
#1. Knowing what the Jews of Jesus day believed. (While I believe having a historical contextual understanding of the customs and beliefs of an era are necessary, this still must be filtered through the word of God. Just because the some or all Jews believed something doesn’t make it TRUTH. If we followed this argument we would led to believe there are no angels or resurrection as a sect of Judaism did (Matthew 22:23-32). Or we would be led to believe you can divorce your wife for any reason (Matthew 19:3-11), or be led to believe that health and wealth were a sign you were saved or under the approval of heaven and the opposite were under God’s disapproval (Matthew 19:23-25, John 9:1-3). Or the belief that being Jews automatically entitled them to the kingdom (Matthew 3:9, John 8:33-41) The last belief is what caused many of the Jews to be unprepared to receive Jesus. This was the belief that Jesus was coming to set up the kingdom of glory at his first coming, instead of dying for the sins of the world (John 6:15). Even after his death and resurrection the disciples still didn’t fully comprehend Jesus’s mission (Acts 1:6) Majority of the people of Jesus day were in error due to the religious teachers of His day and this is the very reason why Jesus wanted his disciples to beware of the teachers of Israel (Matthew 16:6-12). This is apart of the reason why Jesus needed to come and sweep away the many misconceptions of His day. This was necessary because it is the truth alone that could set the people free (John 8:32).
Conclusion: Respectfully I say the beliefs of the people of Jesus’ day is insufficient evidence to establish a belief system on, unless the people’s belief can be verified by scripture.
#2. The Judgment (This topic is one that trips many people up because they see different verses related to the FINAL JUDGMENTS and do not put them in there proper chronological order. The Bible speaks of primarily two judgments: 1. A pre-millennial judgment 2. A post millennial judgment. The Bible speaks of two groups that will be judged, during these judgments, which is the righteous and the unrighteous (Ecc 3:16-17, 12:14). This is an important fact. The pre-millennial judgments proceeds the 2nd coming of Christ and is the judgment of the believers. Scripture is plain that Judgment begins with believers (1 Peter 4:17-18, Revelation 11:1 - Measure = Judge) Does the scripture teach the judgment of believers before Christ’s coming and if so why? Daniel 7:9-14 teaches that sometime after the Roman Empire and proceeding the kingdom of glory, there was to be a judgment (i.e. pre-millennial judgment). How do we know this is the judgment of believers? There are three reasons and of the three I stated one already (Acts 4:17-18).
The second reason follows the feast of Old Testament scriptures which were are typological prophecies. There were seven feasts of the Jewish year that all pointed to some aspect of Christ’s earthly and heavenly ministry. (Space will not permit me to detail every aspect but we will touch on a few). Jesus died on the first feast which was Passover on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan), so that the 2nd death would Passover all those that believe (John 13:1-2, 18:28, 1 Cor 5:7). One the 15th day of the first month, Jesus the manna, the bead of life, the unleavened bread remained in the grave on the feast of unleavened bread and his body saw no corruption because there was no LEAVEN/SIN in him (Exodus 16:23-24, John 6:48-51, Acts 2:25-31). He then rose from the grave on the Feast of First-fruits on the 16th day of the first month he being the first fruits (1 Cor 15:20) but he rose with him an harvest of deceased saints (Matthew 26:50-53). 50 days after the feast of first fruits was the feast of weeks/harvest (Leviticus 23:15-15), which was the day of Pentecost the day on which the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:3-5, 2:1-4). As we can see Jesus had been fulfilling each of the feasts in their order, which means the three remaining feast would be fulfilled in their order as well. The last of the feast the Feast of Tabernacles is associated with the coming of Christ and the kingdom of glory, which the scriptures testifies of (Leviticus 23:40, Revelation 7:9, 19:6-9). It was the last feast of the year that happened on the 15th day off the 7th month. It was also called the Feast of Ingathering because the final harvest of the year happened at this time (I.e. harvest of grapes, etc), so in the type so is the antitype. The final harvest of earth happens at the coming of Christ (Revelation 14:14-20). What does this have to do with the judgment someone may ask?
Five days before the Feast of Tabernacles on the 10th day of the 7th month was the feast called the day of atonement. This feast was regarded by scriptures as a day of Judgment and day of final decisions which Jews still believe till this day (jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2093-atonement-day-of) On this day proceeding the feast that is associated with the coming of Jesus, was the feast where believers were to pass into judgment before God (Leviticus 16). As we can see “Judgment” does “begin at the house of God” Why are believers judged before the coming of Christ.? The answers is quite simple. This is the third and final reason for a pre-millennial judgment. Jesus says in Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I come quickly: and my reward is will me, to give every man according as his work shall be” There are two keywords to notice here which is “reward” and “work”. Scripture teaches that we are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8), but we are judged by the QUALITY OF OUR FAITH or WORKS (2 Cor 5:10, 1 Peter 1:17, James 2:14-20). When Jesus comes he said his reward would be according to our works. Therefore, our works must be assessed before the reward that is given at the coming of Christ, and as was already quoted Ecc 12:14 teaches us that works are evaluated during the judgment. Simply put, Daniel 7 teaches before the kingdom of glory a Judgment takes place during which time, judgment is given in favor of Believers and it is then and only than after the judgment that they possess the kingdom of glory (Daniel 7:21-22, 25-27). Continued…..
….Continued #3. Exiled and readmitted into the kingdom (Respectfully, I say this is the most troubling of all you shared. Maybe you are or aren’t but this teaching appears to come from a universalist. You mentioned that professed believers would be exiled and permitted to appeal and enter back into the kingdom. You provided no scriptural reference for this assertion. I believe that a believer previous to the coming of Christ can be separated from God’s presence, and repent and be restored to God’s favor. Which if this is what you mean, then I can agree. But, the exile spoken of in the Parable of the Tares, and Matthew 13:47-50, 22:1-13. 25:1-30, all speak of this happening at the end which is the 2nd coming of Christ. There are no scriptures that speak of people being exiled and readmitted back into God’s kingdom at or after the coming of Christ. Where does the scripture teach these exile will be? We will address this in the next section.
#4. No punishment for wicked works (This I have to respectfully disagree with as well. You make mention that the works and not the wicked will be burned up based on one text from 1 Cor 3:11-15. The cloud of witnesses (2 Cor 13:1) in scripture confirms and testifies that both the wicked and professed believer (false believer) will end up in the same place. Jesus and the scriptures make this point too clear for misconception. John the Baptist compares God’s people to trees and says all that do not bear GOOD FRUIT will be cut down and cast into the fire, Jesus says the same in John 15:5-6, and Matthew 7:15-20,. It’s not only the bad fruit but the tree itself that is cast into the fire. In the same chapter of Matthew 7 in verse 22-23 , after people present their works as evidence of why they should be saved Jesus says “I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME”. This he says repeatedly to the lost, I DON’T KNOW YOU (Matthew 25:10-13). But, where does he tell those who professed to be his followers to DEPART? Matthew 25 in describing the judgment says of the professed believer “DEPART FROM ME, YE CURSED, INTO EVERLASTING FIRE”. In both instances referenced not just the “wicked works” but the wicked person is cast into the fire. This is the same as the Tares being cast into the fire. As Titus said they may have made a profession of faith in God but their very works denied Him (Titus 1:16).
As was stated there are two judgments for two groups, the righteous and the wicked. The scriptures makes plain these TWO judgments no just ONE. The wicked have a separate and distinct judgment. When does scripture say this takes place? At the coming of Jesus scripture teaches that the wicked receive the first phase of their judgment just previous to the beginning of the Millennium. The wicked are slain at the coming of Jesus (Revelation 19:11-21), and remain dead during the 1,000 year Millennium (Revelation 20:5), after the Millennium is finished God will resurrect the wicked for the THE FINAL JUDGEMENT (i.e. post millennial judgment)to receive their reward. Where are the exiles spoken of in Matthew 13, 22, and 25, etc? Revelation 20:9 teaches that they are OUTSIDE the city of LIGHT (Revelation 21:23), still cast out into the darkness of the earth that had been made a heaping destruction/bottomless pit at the coming of Christ (Revelation 20:1-3, 2 Peter 3:10-12). What then is the final reward of the wicked, that they are resurrected and judged to receive? The final reward of the wicked is the lake of fire, this lake comes as a result of fire being poured our of heaven from God (Revelation 20:7-15).
Will this lake of fire burn forever. No. The scripture teaches that both wicked angels and wicked humanity will be burned until they eventually are burned into ashes (Malachi 4:1-3, Ezekiel 28:18). This is the reason why Jesus says that the day of (final) Judgment will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which Peter says turned them “into ashes (Luke 17:28-30, 2 Peter 2:6).
I hope and pray that nothing I have said came across as me hating or angry with my brother in Christ. To the contrary, all that has been spoken has be done in LOVE. I Pray that our FATHER OF LIGHT will continue to lead us both. Many blessings on you and your household. Forgive the lengthy reply.
@@uchemekowulu6385 Matthew 25:41b and 25:46a are what scholars call "interpolations," phrases that were added to a copy of the text, in this case, probably by a 2nd Century copyist who completely misunderstood what Jesus was talking about, and made a comment on the side of the copy he was making, which was later on, included in the main body of the text by an even later copyist!
But if you'll read I Corinthians, Chapter 3, there Paul the Apostle explains more fully what the Judgment of "Fire" was really all about--NOT a punishment in which people are actually tortured with fire, but a very close examination of the works people did during their lives in order to see whether or not they were evil, good or only superficially good, that is, works done only for show! The word "fire" is but a mere metaphor that represents how the WORKS of people, will be tested, in the same way ore is subjected to high heat, and if there is real gold contained in it, the heat melts away the dross and leaves only the pure gold. Likewise, all the talk about a fire on Judgment Day in Jewish apocalyptic tradition, is about WORKS, not people, getting burned or not burned up! What happens afterwards is either immediate citizenship with some getting extra rewards and others getting exiled. Jesus made it clear that, in time, all those exiled will be given chances to become citizens, but that it will be the religious self righteous who will, presumably, after many rejections, get their "green card," but only after the "sinners and publicans" get in way before they do!
@@ricklannoye4374 Greetings Rick,
Hello again. Thanks for sharing your hypothesis. It still lacks the proper evidence, for it’s claims. Let’s say that those who copied that portion of Matthew did so incorrectly. Did the copyist of Isaiah, Jude, Thessalonians, Revelation, etc, (Isaiah 24:1-6, Jude 1:7, 2 Thess 1:9, Revelation 20:9) all make mistakes. You haven’t provided an explanation for those, unless you’re saying all the text that discuss God destroying the wicked with fire are all interpolations. As to the works and not the people being destroyed, a person would have to do a lot of spiritual gymnastics to get around all the text that say what God will do to the wicked. Here is one from the Old and New Testament that I haven’t quoted.
Psalms 37:20 “But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.”
Matthew 5:29-30 “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast [it] from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not [that] thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast [it] from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not [that] thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
These text are to plain to misunderstand. “the whole body” shall be “cast into hell”. You said “Jesus made it clear, that in time all those exiled would be given chances to become citizens”. As a student of scripture, I like to learn. Can you provide the scripture references where Jesus “MADE IT CLEAR”? The only reference you used was 1 Cor 3.
Again, from a place of brotherly love, this message comes to you. Let us be ever so careful in how we interpret scripture and teach scripture to others. For God has given us this warning:
Revelation 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.”
@@uchemekowulu6385 I address all of these passages and many more in my book Hell? No! Why You Can Be Certain There Is No Such Place As Hell, but let me just take one of the verses here to explain, like Jude 1:22-23a, "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire." Now, unless you think that, in the afterlife, you'll be standing at the edge of the Lake of Fire, where people are just about to fall in, and then you're job will be to catch them in the nick of time...then this passage is clearly a METAPHOR! Jude was making a comparison! He compared helping people who were having doubts about their Christian faith and on the verse of leaving to someone who standing to close to a campfire and just about to fall in and get burned. So he said to his readers to help them not to fall away from the faith, that's all!