2. SALVATIONChapter 3.
The
Secret of "Sheep & Goat"
First,
let's read the account of
those who go to hell for not doing good things when they have to.
Here’s the whole verses.
When the Son of Man
comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
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.
"He will put the sheep
on his right and the goats on his left."...
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.'- ("List of Good things" follows after) -
…
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.'- ("List of Bad things" follows after) -
(Matthew 25:31-43)
The verses above are
in Matthew chapter 25.
Those verses are
referenced a lot by the believers
who insist on 'the salvation
based on works.'
Sheep go to heaven
by doing good things.
Goats go into the lake of fire
by doing bad things.
"Therefore,
you have to do a lot of
good things to be saved
and go to heaven."
That is what they believe
and insist on.
"However,"
"they are misguided."
I would like to ask those
who insist that the above verses
prove their belief that
you can go to heaven only
if you do good things.
Have you ever seen
anyone who does 100% good things in his/her life?
Have you ever seen
anyone who does 100% bad things in his/her life?
What would they answer
to this question?
No matter how good he is,
there are times he does bad things.
No matter how bad he is,
there are times he does good things.
Listen carefully!
There is only one man
in human history who has lived perfect life without any sin at all
- "Jesus Christ."
We all live as follows.
"There is no exception."
Mail me if you have any objection.
"Let me tell you something amazing."
Actually it's a common sense,
but it's something we've never thought of.
Whether they are in the group of sheep or in the group of goats,
they are all the same
in terms of nature of sin.
The people of both groups
will die after living the life
as above, right?
"Then, Why!"
Goats go to hell and sheep
go to heaven?
"You, believer!"
"There's only one answer."
They are not judged
by their good-doing or
bad-doing in their lives.
However, they are judged by
whether or not
they were covered
with the blood of Jesus.
"Read carefully."
「 There is now "no condemnation" for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 」
(Rome 8:1-2)
[dictionary]
Condemnation:
concluding one of being guilty
「 There is now
no condemnation 」
That is the promise of God.
God made the promise to you
as follows.
Those who are forgiven
by the blood of Christ will
"never be condemned!"
You are free from the law
of sin and death!
"Focus!"
01 Sheep
What makes sheep
different from goats is,
they, sheep, are free
from the law of sin and death.
Because they have received
the sign of the promise that
says God will never condemn them for their sins.
"Other than that,
their sins are no different from those of goats."
That's why the King does not care
about their sins and judges them
only by their good deeds,
even though they are also sinful
as well.
「 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin
the Lord will never count
against him." 」
(Romans 4:6-8)
Their sins are
not seen to the King,
for all their sins are forgiven
by the blood of Jesus.
Think about why they were
initially called "sheep" in the verse.
They are the "sheep"
who were born again in
the blood of Jesus Christ and
all their sins are forgiven.
They know His voice and follow
Him wherever He goes.
02 Goats
What makes goats different
from sheep is that they are
"servants to sin and death."
"They have never been forgiven for their sins
by the blood of redemption."
Their shepherd is not Christ.
That's why the King does not see their good deeds and judges them only by their evil deeds.
Unless their sins were covered,
their good deeds didn’t
help them any good.
Think about why they were initially called "goats" in the verse.
These are the children of Satan,
and they have never been
born again.
If you are not the child of God,
you are the child of Satan.
"There is no
grey-zone."
"Everyone."
If there's even one sin left,
you'll go to hell.
No matter how many
good things you do,
you go to hell because of a single sin which you forgot to repent.
However,
that is not the only problem.
As I said, it’s not they go to hell because they don’t repent enough
of their evil deeds.
They go to hell because
they don't do good things when they have to.
If you are one of those
who want to go to heaven
by good deeds and
enough repentance of sins,
listen to me carefully now.
The true meaning of that verse,
which convinced you that
you can go to heaven
by praying hard for repentance,
is actually
"You are all going to hell."
In the King’s sight,
all sins, including the sins of not doing good things when you have to,
are bad enough for hell
unless you are covered with
the blood of Jesus.
Are you still confident that you can go to heaven with your own efforts?
The verse, which convinced you of
‘the salvation based on works,’
is actually a powerful proof of the gospel of grace!
If there's even one single sin
left that you forget to repent,
you go to hell.
If you don't do good things
when you are supposed to do,
you go to hell.
"Repentance
sin alone is not enough
to avoid hell."
Actually, the parable of
‘sheep and goats’ points to
a certain verse in the Bible,
which you’ve ignored while trying
to go to heaven by repentance
and holy deeds.
「 Jesus answered,
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 」
(John 14:6)
"It’s your choice, now."
You can go to heaven,
by the "gift" of God's grace that unconditionally forgive you 100%,
or
by "paying for" your sin with continuous repentance and good deeds without a break.
I bet, if you choose the latter,
you won’t join the Rapture
or go to heaven.
"Eternity is up to
your choice."