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Without a Garment
What does the garment represent in the parable? Why should rejection of it be, literally, a matter of eternal life or death?
Unless one believes in once-saved-always-saved, then what is the problem with the idea that God, at some point in history, ultimately and finally separates the wheat from the tares (Matt. 13:24–30), the wise from the foolish (Matt. 25:1–13), the faithful from the unfaithful (Matt. 25:14–30), and those who are truly covered in His righteousness and those who aren’t (Matt. 22:1–14) from among those who have professed to follow Him, especially when some of them have done and might still do horrible things, and maybe even in His name, too?
Will there not be some kind of final reckoning among the true and the false who claim the same promises of salvation that we always do, especially in a religion whose basis is that you are saved by what someone else has done for you?
Think it through: if salvation were purely by our works—it would be easy; just tally up our works. Either they add up or they don't. Period. But in a faith where salvation rests on the merits of what someone else has done for us, a faith in which the righteousness needed for salvation exists in someone other than ourselves, the issue gets more subtle, more nuanced. Hence, a judgment by One who never makes a mistake would seem more necessary here than in a religion where works are the standard, would it not?
And that is what this parable is all about: God separating the true and false from among those who have professed to follow Him. And what is the deciding factor? Whether or not they have been clothed in the wonderful garment of righteousness that Christ has freely offered to all.
This parable draws a significant distinction between being a member of a church and being a sinner saved by the righteousness of Christ. They clearly aren’t the same thing, are they? Look at your life, your deeds, your actions, your words, your thoughts, your attitude toward friends and enemies. Do they reflect someone wearing Christ’s robe of righteousness or someone who has just come to the feast?
| WEDNESDAY | June 8 |
What does the garment represent in the parable? Why should rejection of it be, literally, a matter of eternal life or death?
Unless one believes in once-saved-always-saved, then what is the problem with the idea that God, at some point in history, ultimately and finally separates the wheat from the tares (Matt. 13:24–30), the wise from the foolish (Matt. 25:1–13), the faithful from the unfaithful (Matt. 25:14–30), and those who are truly covered in His righteousness and those who aren’t (Matt. 22:1–14) from among those who have professed to follow Him, especially when some of them have done and might still do horrible things, and maybe even in His name, too?
Will there not be some kind of final reckoning among the true and the false who claim the same promises of salvation that we always do, especially in a religion whose basis is that you are saved by what someone else has done for you?
Think it through: if salvation were purely by our works—it would be easy; just tally up our works. Either they add up or they don't. Period. But in a faith where salvation rests on the merits of what someone else has done for us, a faith in which the righteousness needed for salvation exists in someone other than ourselves, the issue gets more subtle, more nuanced. Hence, a judgment by One who never makes a mistake would seem more necessary here than in a religion where works are the standard, would it not?
And that is what this parable is all about: God separating the true and false from among those who have professed to follow Him. And what is the deciding factor? Whether or not they have been clothed in the wonderful garment of righteousness that Christ has freely offered to all.
This parable draws a significant distinction between being a member of a church and being a sinner saved by the righteousness of Christ. They clearly aren’t the same thing, are they? Look at your life, your deeds, your actions, your words, your thoughts, your attitude toward friends and enemies. Do they reflect someone wearing Christ’s robe of righteousness or someone who has just come to the feast?
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