Table of Contents
Parent: JesusWordsOnly
The Goats
We see in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Jesus clearly teaches here the message of James chapter 2. You must do works of charity (feed and clothe) to Jesus' brothers-those who do the will of God. However, if you fail to do works of charity for those who needed food and clothing when you had the means-you will be sent to hell. Like James says, if you do not feed and clothe your spiritual brothers when you can, such faith is dead. Such faith cannot save you. There are perhaps no two more alike passages in all of Scriptures, outside of Synoptic parallels.
Because James chapter 2 is a thorn by itself to the "faith alone" view, none of the major commentators has ever drawn the parallel to (Matt. 25:30-46). The latter makes it that much harder to explain away James chapter 2.
Daniel Fuller encourages us to assess this Parable of the Sheep and the Goats without any preconceived ideas. He exhorts us to allow Jesus to challenge our core Pauline doctrines:
To the objection that...(Matt. 25) and (Col. 3:23-24) 15 lead us right back to Rome and salvation by works, my answer is twofold.
- Bob Wilkin, Has This Passage Ever Bothered You? (Matt. 25:31-46) - Works Salvation? http://www.faithalone.org/news/yl988/88marchl.html (last accessed 11/05).
First, we must determine, regardless of consequences, what the intended meaning of each of the biblical writers is. We must let each one speak for himself and avoid construing him by recourse to what another writer said. Otherwise there is no escape from subjectivism in biblical interpretation. (Fuller, supra, "Biblical Theology" fn. 22.)
Thus, reading Jesus through the overlay of Paul is wrong. You cannot press Jesus' words down so they fit Paul. Such conduct is reprehensible. In fact, the duty to construe Jesus free from other writers is an imperative. The very validity of other authors, such as Paul, turns on whether they transgress Jesus' teaching. As 2 John 1:9 teaches us, "Whoever goes beyond and doesn't remain in Christ's teaching, doesn't have God. He who remains in the teachings [of Jesus Christ], the same has both the Father and the Son." Jesus is the standard whether Paul is valid. If you refuse to read Jesus' meaning apart from Paul, and you are unwilling to see the differences, you are rejecting your duty to test Paul as 2 John 1:9 requires.
15.What is it about (Col. 3:23-24) which many believe implies salvation by faith plus works? Paul writes: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons." (Col 3:23-25) Unless parsed narrowly, this tells someone who is serving Christ that any wrong they do "shall receive for the wrong which he had done"and emphasizes you are not given any different escape than non-Christians. God has "no respect of persons." Matthew Henry sees this meaning: "There is a righteous God, who, if servants wrong their masters, will reckon with them for it, though they may conceal it from their master's notice. And he will be sure to punish the unjust as well as reward the faithful servant." The "no respect of persons" is also explained by Matthew Henry who states: "The righteous Judge of the earth will be impartial, and carry it with an equal hand ...not swayed by any regard to men's outward circumstances and condition of life. The one and the other will stand upon a [single] level at his tribunal."