“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 13:47-50
Devotional Thought For The Day
Obviously, for those who want to be spared the “fiery furnace” and the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” of that place, the critical concern is the distinction, the criteria used, to identify the “evil” and the “righteous.” Scripture is plain and clear, that the distinction is not in regard to our behavior but rather in regard to faith versus unbelief. Jesus said it as succinctly as possible: “He that believes the Son has everlasting life; he that does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” [John 3:36] This is the way it must be, for “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” [Rom. 3:23], and “there is not a righteous man upon the earth that does good and never sins” [Eccl. 7:20], so that “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” [1 John 1:8] In that God’s requirement for our behavior is that we “be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” [Matt. 5:48], it is clear that “by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight” [Rom. 3:20], that is, declared to be “righteous” by God and His angels, for we are among the “all” that have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and to say that we have become “perfect” is to deceive ourselves and reject the truth, to call God a liar and cast His Word from us. [1 John 1:10]
Just as clearly, the Scripture asserts that it is faith, and faith alone, that “justifies” a person in the sight of God, so that in God’s judgment we are “righteous” in spite of our sin. This “justification” is not without great cost – to accomplish this for us God sent His Son as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, and punished Him, “made Him to be sin for us” [2 Cor. 5:21], so that by faith in Jesus, faith in God’s great love and His gracious forgiveness and mercy in Christ Jesus, we might become “the righteousness of God.” Paul speaks of the surpassing worth of this “righteousness of God” which is received by faith in Jesus Christ in Phil. 3:8,9. So, those who make it to heaven are described as having “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” [Rev. 7:14] This is what faith is all about, receiving this wondrous blessing of God’s great sacrifice, Christ’s great work, by simple faith – in humble repentance for our great sin, and joyful gratitude for God’s love. All of this is reiterated over and over again in God’s Word, Holy Scripture, the Bible! So the critical matter, the ultimate great evil and rebellion, is rejecting this free and gracious gift of eternal life and salvation through unbelief.
The “net” which is the kingdom of God is wide and broad enough to “catch” every single human being, yet it is also quite “narrow” – for only those who have faith in Christ, which negates all faith and trust in ourselves, negates our ability to “perform” and “work” our way into the status of the “righteous,” are in the “narrow” and “hard” way that leads to life. [Matt. 7:14] They trust in God alone, and not one whit in themselves, knowing that only the blood of Christ can cleanse away their sin and make them “righteous” in the sight of God – by His gracious mercy and forgiveness alone. This is obviously so very easy, and yet it is impossible for human beings to choose this narrow way, and our sinful nature is constantly urging us to unbelief, rejection of God’s gracious mercy, and back to trust in ourselves – but with God all things are possible, and by His miraculous power some come to faith and become part of the glory of God’s salvation, thanks and praise be to God. Sadly, the rest, those who cling stubbornly to the foolish notion that their works and their own “righteousness” will ultimate save them, in rejection of God’s great gift to us in Christ Jesus, remain among the evil [in spite of the supposed “goodness” they accomplish], and they will be thrown into the fiery furnace.
Often we look at God’s will, and real blessedness, in regard to the various aspects of life, behavior, religiosity, worship, and reverence for God, as being either “broad” or “narrow.” I suspect that the influence of our sinful nature and its inherent unbelief and rebellion against God is like centrifugal force – constantly pushing us away from God. The further away we get [the broader] the more likely we are to fall away from God’s influence altogether. On the other hand, for our new nature, the new creation in Christ Jesus, God is like gravitational force, always drawing us in closer to Himself, to a more narrow path. The “net” of the kingdom catches all, and God’s salvation is provided for all – in Christ Jesus. Those who receive this gift by faith, and who are born again to new life in Christ, have this gravitational pull toward God, toward greater repentance, greater faith, greater humility and gratitude to God. Without this new life of faith, human nature pushes further and further away from God, whether in wretched evil or increased effort to gain “righteous” status by our own behaviors, our own “good” works. Thus the critical importance of remaining firm in our faith that Christ alone is our righteousness, the very righteousness of God, received by faith alone!
Scripture Cited
1 John 1:10 “If we say we have not sinned we are calling God a liar, and His Word is not in us.”
Phil. 3:8,9 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, thanks and praise be to You for providing us with all that we need to be accounted righteous in Your sight, and for drawing us to faith and trust in You alone by the power of Your Gospel and the Holy Spirit. Thank You for the broadness of Your salvation, Your atonement for all and Your will that all be saved by faith, and also for the narrowing influence of Your love that draws us ever to greater closeness to You and greater blessedness. Amen.