How do you then explain Matthew 25 31-45?
31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was l;.éthirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
2007-12-26 15:09:04 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
37 Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40 The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41 Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44 They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
2007-12-26 15:10:25 · update #1
I agree with you.....
Jesus also noted that "not everyone saying to me Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom".
It doesn't make sense for a person to say they just believe and then can carry on in their life in any manner they choose. It is a constant proving to Him that we want to be with him, and we can show that by acting like the many examples he left for us.
2007-12-26 15:48:45 · answer #1 · answered by Dana C 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Salvation is through the grace of God. But, those of us who are saved will be rewarded by our works. I've heard it explained like this......if you did a lot of good things in your life, you will receive a cup that is overflowing w/blessings. If you did a little, you will receive a thimble overflowing w/blessings. Either way, you get what you've earned but both people have abundant blessings from God.
The verses in Matthew are separating those that accept Him as Savior from those who don't. After that, rewards will be given accordingly.
2007-12-26 23:24:50 · answer #2 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Verse 41 doesn't say that those who neglect good works will receive lesser blessings. It says very clearly that such people will go to hell, regardless of any faith they may possess.
2007-12-26 23:39:48 · answer #3 · answered by PaulCyp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that you may possibly have salvation without works but many parts in scripture talk about glory and reward and such and if you have done no works then you are only saved and have no glory, reward or inheritance. So I believe works are important.
2007-12-26 23:15:23 · answer #4 · answered by Herb W 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." this verse says it is not by works but by grace and through faith. However the verses that you are quoting is also true- however, no one can do anything for Jesus, unless they are IN JESUS. So faith without works is dead.
2007-12-26 23:21:29 · answer #5 · answered by AdoreHim 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
FAITH is the fire in the fireplace and WORKS are like the smoke that comes out of the chimney.
We are not saved BY good works. We are saved FOR good works.
2007-12-26 23:20:50 · answer #6 · answered by jubka1 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
"For even as you have done it to one of the least of these my children you have done it to me."
My favorite Bible verse.
Second favorite is Exodus 22:18 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." This one just adds a bit of whimsy to an otherwise boring book.
I also like "By their works you shall know them."
And my all time not-from-the-Bible atheist saying, "I pray that God isn't too picky."
2007-12-26 23:18:09 · answer #7 · answered by valcus43 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
When we know Jesus and love Him we automatically want to reach out to the hurting. He makes us so that we don't want to be selfish. It becomes our nature to reach out to others. Without Him we live in sin and selfishness, that is what sin is all about. We are saved by grace, not works, but once we are saved we want to do works out of our love for Jesus.
2007-12-26 23:17:37 · answer #8 · answered by godlovesjacob 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A more succinct point to this is James 2:26 where it says: "Faith without works is dead."
There's a reason it's called EXERCISING faith. There's work involved.
2007-12-26 23:13:24 · answer #9 · answered by Epitome_inc 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
salvation is simple:
2 things to believe and 1 thing to do.
1 to believe: We're all sinners
2 " : Jesus is a savior
1 thing to do: Pray and ask The Trinity into your heart and for forgiveness because of the previous two things.
2007-12-26 23:15:45 · answer #10 · answered by jesus freak 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋