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There are two very basic and distinct doctrines which everyone must understand clearly if they want to go to Heaven and if they want to receive anything from God. The first doctrine is how to become a child of God and the second doctrine is how to get blessings from God after you become His child. Satan, as 'the father of lies', has his ministers deliberately confusing the two and mixing parts of each together to produce false doctrines. Anyone who believes these false doctrines will either go to Hell or they will be cursed by God. Either way, they will not go to Heaven and receive blessings from God. Therefore, it is critical that we know what the word of God
says about these two very basic and distinct doctrines.
Probably the most important rule for avoiding doctrinal error is to consider the context of any Bible reference that someone gives you. When Satan tempted Jesus
, he quoted the Bible. But, he took his quote out of context in order to pervert it. And, the ministers of Satan do the same thing today. They know that most people are too foolish to verify what they claim. Therefore, verify all claims about the Bible before you accept those claims if you want to avoid proving that you, personally, are a fool.
At the start of this chapter is a basic outline of the chapter, which you can verify. It gives the context of this chapter. The outline of the chapter shows us that we must be saved before we can receive blessings, or punishment, for our obedience, or disobedience, to the personal commands of Christ. In addition to what happens in this life, we receive eternal judgment based upon our works. God truly judges the heart, as shown in the last part of our chapter, but God uses our repeated actions to reveal the motivations of our heart.
We see the same doctrine in Ephesians 2:8-10. (For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
) Your physical life started at conception and you had no part in your conception. Likewise, you had no part in the start of your spiritual life. That is called being born again
and that was strictly by grace
. But, after you were physically conceived, you started moving. That is called works
and the same is true spiritually. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that God is working in us after we receive spiritual life and He is working to get us to produce good works
.
Thus, we see grace
and works
and there is no conflict between them. There must be grace
before there are works
, but there must be works
, after you are spiritually conceived, or you are not alive. And, this is true both physically and spiritually. If a baby is conceived but stops moving, stops producing works, it is stillborn.
After we are physically born, we are punished by Godly parents for doing wrong and rewarded for doing right. And, if we continue to do right then we receive recognition ceremonies such as graduations.
God uses the physical to teach us spiritual truths. Ungodly men want you to believe their lies without you thinking about them. Your physical life started with your conception. You had nothing to do with your conception. The same is true spiritually. That is what Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us. Your spiritual conception was completely done by God through His grace
. Yes, you had to agree to receive the ongoing personal relationship which God offered you, but that was not a work
. Read Ephesians 2:8-9 again and understand what it really says then we will move on.
After conception, the baby moves even before it is born. That is a work
. If the baby stops moving it is 'stillborn'. It is 'dead'. Likewise, if a person does not produce works
after they receive God's life in them, then they are spiritually 'dead'. They will not go to Heaven but will end up in the lake of fire
. Read Ephesians 2:8-9 again and understand what it really says. God is working in the lives of all truly saved in order to get them to let Him produce good works
through their lives.
Now, ministers of Satan teach many false doctrines but there are three main doctrinal errors which confuse people about these two main true doctrines. The first lie claims we will 'get a mansion in Heaven right next door to Peter' simply because we claim to be saved. This lie is based upon preachers telling people to 'ask Jesus to be your Saviour' with the belief that 'Jesus, as Saviour, must go on paying for all of my sins even as I live a life of sin chasing all of the lusts of the flesh and of this world'. Romans 6 is written directly against this lie. The judgment at the end of our chapter also teaches against this lie. In addition, this lie teaches that God is a fool. It denies the true character of God which we find in the word of God
.
The Biblical truth is presented in the second parable of our chapter. People who are truly saved and yet refuse to do the works
, which produce a spiritual profit for God, will have tears an average of mote than twice a week for more than 1,000 years.
The second lie claims that our works
must be seen by men and they must be the works
dictated by some religion of men. Yes, our works
should be seen by men but there is a critical difference between should
and must
. In addition, as Ephesians 2:10 teaches, our works
must be based upon God working in our life and the only person who must
see them is God. The word of God
tells us that Lot was saved in spite of living a life of sin which made him a city leader in the city of Sodom.
The third lie claims that we must do a work
before we can be saved. That work
could be being circumcised or being baptized or even 'saying the sinner's prayer' and basing your hope of salvation on the fact that you said the right prayer and not putting your hole in the person Who is 'God in human flesh'.
In summary, a truly Biblically saved person must have God motivated works
in their life after their spiritual conception and not before. In addition, these works
should
be seen by men but the only being Who must
see them is God.
Now, we see this same pattern throughout the Bible including in our chapter of Matthew 25. In our chapter, we have the parable of salvation first. Then we have the parable of works. Then we have the judgment. There are no works
by the virgins in the first parable. The second parable is all about works which are based upon what God provides. Therefore, as we saw before, we have grace
and works
and there is no conflict between them. In addition, the second parable required the people to receive what they use to do the works
before they produced the works
. And, the context of our chapter teaches salvation before producing Godly works
. Further, as the last part of our chapter teaches, any works
which are not based upon what God provides by grace
are rejected and punished. Therefore, we must first have grace
before we can produce works
, but the two are separate with the grace
produced by God and the works
produced by us when we use the grace
from God.
Now, returning to what our parable says, we see that the first sentence in our chapter starts with the word Then
.
That word means 'as a result of what came before'. In the prior chapter we had prophecies of future tribulation, including the great tribulation
. And, people were required to remain faithful, even while facing a martyr's death. In addition, The judgment at the end of our chapter is based on what people do during the great tribulation
. Thus, the parables in our chapter are surrounded by teachings on the great tribulation
. Therefore, as a result of what God will require of saved people during the great tribulation
, saved people who live in the 'Church Age' have no basis for complaining about what God requires of them.
The first sentence also starts the 'Parable of The Ten Virgins', which is a parable for the church age. Life starts at conception, not birth. Jesus started the church during the Gospels by providing the spiritual conception of the church. It was not born until after He returned to Heaven, but it was spiritually alive at the time that He gave this parable. And, our parable is, symbolically, telling the difference between good religious people who do not have the indwelling Holy Spirit (oil
) and those who do have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Since God gives the indwelling Holy Spirit to all saved only during the 'Church Age', this parable is about the 'Church Age'. In particular, it was given after Jesus
had spiritually conceived the church and just before He paid the price to have the church born at Pentecost.
Throughout all time, God requires people to accept an ongoing personal relationship with Him in order to be saved. We are in the 'Church Age' and, during the 'Church Age', all truly saved are given the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is what our parable is telling us. The virgins with oil in their lamps symbolically represent the truly saved while the virgins without oil in their lamps symbolically represent lost religious people.
In the 'Parable of The Ten Virgins', the people who went to Heaven had the indwelling Holy Spirit while the people who were refused entrance relied on religious doctrines. In order to be truly saved, and to receive God's indwelling Holy Spirit, we must do what God wrote in His word and not rely upon religious traditions.
After we are saved, our chapter tells us to produce a spiritual profit for God. That is what our second parable is about. Those people, who produced the greatest spiritual profit for God. received the greatest reward. Those saved people who refused to produce a spiritual profit for God were punished. But, the point is that God saves us and gives us the indwelling Holy Spirit so that we can produce spiritual works. People who are truly saved and refuse to product spiritual works proved that God wasted His salvation on them. Therefore, an important consideration of true salvation is the expectation that God has for the results of His salvation.
In the last part of our chapter, the word of God
returns to the great tribulation
and what God required of those people. So, in the middle of two sections of the Bible which tell us about the requirements during the great tribulation
, we are told to produce a spiritual profit for God if we are truly saved. And, people complain about what a terrible requirement this is from God.
Next, in our first parable, our sentence (Matthew 25:1) tells us that this parable is about the kingdom of heaven
. Therefore, it is about true Biblical salvation. Only the truly saved get into the kingdom of heaven
.
Next, our sentence tells us that the kingdom of heaven
is likened
. This is what tells us that this is a parable. And, when you take a selfie picture, the picture is like you but is not you. In the same way, this parable tells us what the kingdom of heaven
is like but the parable is far shore of the true thing.
Next, our sentence tells us that the virgins
took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom
. Externally, they were all the same because they were all virgins
and all had lamps
. However, our second sentence tell us that five of them were wise, and five were foolish
. And, our third sentence tells us why the Bible makes this distinction. It says: They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps
.
In our parable, the oil
symbolically represents the indwelling Holy Spirit. Notice that both groups had lamps
, which means that each had the external evidence of giving light. And, in the Bible, light is used symbolically for understanding. Those without the oil delivered the understanding which comes from religion. Those with oil were supposed to deliver understanding that comes from God's Holy Spirit. If the saved are not careful, they will deliver what comes from religion. This is especially true if they do not pray for God's guidance before speaking.
Next, realize that all were virgins
. All had a pure life. The lost looked just like the saved from a physical point of view. We can not truly know if someone is saved or not, by looking at their physical life, because we do not have the spiritual sight for that. That is, if they claim to be saved. Think about Lot who was a saved man even while being a leader in Sodom. Think about Jesus
promissing to say: depart from me, ye that work iniquity
to religious people who lived clean lives, attended church, gave to charity and even did miracles (Matthew 7:23; Matthew 25:41; Luke 13:27).
Next, our parable tells us: While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
(Matthew 25:5). We are commanded to watch
. But most people are like Peter and the other disciples in the Garden. They let devils make them weary and fail to pray. The Bible promises a special blessing to saved people who do truly watch
.
Next, our parable tells us that And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
(Matthew 25:6-7). When people are made aware that they will soon meet Jesus, such as when they know that they will die, they try to get their life in order so that they will get a good judgment. However, as we read in Matthew 25:8, And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out
. However, they waited until it was too late. Our parable teaches that they were rejected because there was not enough time left for them to get the required oil before the door was closed.
There is a doctrinal error which claims that 'God is a God of the second chance, the third and the millionth chance. So long as you are alive you can get saved.' However, that goes against the Bible which says: (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
{2Corinthians 6:1}. In addition, Genesis 6:3 says: And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years
. Further, Romans 3:11 says: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
What we see here is that we do not seek God but God comes to us and offers salvation. However, if we continue to reject God God can refuse to give us another chance to be saved even though we are still physically alive.
Therefore, we do not seek God but He seeks us and offers us an ongoing personal relationship which is true Biblical salvation. God promises everyone one chance to be saved but the word of God
makes it clear that God does not have to offer a second chance. That's what Genesis 6:3 told us and if God does not offer a second chance then we die lost. That is what happened to Pharaoh. He hardened his heart then God hardened his heart so that he would never get saved.
We have a similar thing that happens today. Every time that we refuse to respond to God, we harden our heart a little and it becomes harder to respond the next time. So, even if we get another chance, it is harder for us to respond.
Returning to our parable, we read: And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut
(Matthew 25:10). Receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit, which is symbolized by having oil in the lamp, is for the 'Church Age'. When the 'Rapture' happens, the 'Church Age' ends and people go back under the Mosaic Law. It will be too late for anyone who had a chance to get saved and rejected it. The Left Behind series teach doctrinal error. Those people who are left behind will never be saved. 2Thessalonians 2:11-12 says: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness
. And, the final message of our parable is that Jesus will say: But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you no
(Matthew 25:12).
One error that many people make is to believe that the Biblical definition of words know / knew is: 'thoughts kept in the head'. However, Genesis 4:1 and Genesis 4:25 tell us that: And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare (a son). Therefore, the true Biblical definition of this word includes: 'an ongoing personal intimate relationship'. Yes, these people had a pure life according to religious doctrine, but they did not have an ongoing personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ as their personal Lord. Therefore, they did not have the required oil (indwelling Holy Spirit) and they waited too late to do what God required. They were permanently prevented from going to Heaven, which meant that they went to Hell.