Subscription Lists
Thoughts of a saint and slave
by Sam Isaacson
Jesus continues his parables about the Kingdom with this perhaps uncomforting parable:
‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 13:47-50)
A thought before we dig in
Before we start looking at the depths of this parable I feel led to draw out a simple truth. A lot of the people Jesus was telling this parable to, such as Peter, had previously been fishermen, and this parable concerns fishermen. So here’s the simple deal: Jesus meets us exactly where we are. He can be ‘all things to all men’ (1 Corinthians 9:22). Just a thought.
Uncomforting or reassuring?
The essence of this parable is: the evil will be thrown into the fiery furnace, and the righteous will not. This can be read, therefore, in two ways: (1) fear, because I know I am not righteous and therefore the lake of fire is my destiny, or (2) relief, because I know I am not evil and therefore am safe. So the choice is yours – which camp do you see yourself in? Well, whatever you think, our ultimate answer must come from the Bible, and the Bible is pretty clear about this: ‘None is righteous, no, not one’ (Romans 3:10). In case that’s not clear enough it is developed: ‘there is none who does good’ (Psalm 14:1), ‘there is none who does good, not even one’ (Psalm 53:3), and my favourite: ‘the wickedness of man [is] great in the earth, and…every intention of the thoughts of his heart [is] only evil continually’ (Genesis 6:5). In case we are in any doubt of what God thinks, Paul clarifies for us: ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23).
So here’s God’s view. We are all evil. We are all intended for the fiery furnace. Do you think you are one of the righteous? Well, God says you are not, so you are calling God a liar and are guilty of the sin of pride, the sin which both Martin Luther and C. S. Lewis correctly identified as the root of all other sins. If you do not find this parable uncomforting then you are lying, you may not be a Christian, or you are dead.
But I thought God loves everybody!
You are correct. In fact, ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:16). And the Bible does not just leave us hanging on this ‘everyone is evil’ thread. We saw earlier that ‘all have sinned’, but Paul does not stop writing there; let’s just see what he goes on to say:
‘…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.’ (Romans 3:23-26)
We’ll quickly look at three key words. Firstly we are justified by God’s grace. This is a big deal; we are evil yet God the just pours out his grace upon us! Secondly we receive redemption; we are set free from the prison cell of evil! As Christians we have the freedom to choose not to sin – how amazing! Thirdly Jesus is a propitiation. He is our substitute; we fully deserve punishment because we are evil, yet the punishment for our sin is delivered to him! The price of our sin has been paid in full.
Good news – but what does it mean?
The consequence is simple, and we are brought back to the parable. Jesus talks about only two groups of people, the evil and the righteous. By default we have seen that we are all evil, and we have also seen that only through believing in Jesus can we be justified, redeemed, and propitiated. Yet check out 2 Corinthians 5:21: ‘For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’ So here’s the real deal if you have completely surrendered your life to Jesus: you are evil, yet through Jesus’ sacrifice you are counted as righteous!
If you have never surrendered every part of your life to Jesus, why not do it right now? Accept his gift of righteousness, and avoid being thrown into the lake of fire. If you have, then celebrate with me! Thank you Jesus!
Rate it:
Receive the newest devotional each week in your inbox by joining the "Thoughts of a saint and slave" subscription list. Enter your email address below, click "Go!" and we will send you a confirmation email. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your addition to this list.