Your Questions About Christian Salvation Scriptures

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It is important to first correctly identify those described in the account in Matthew Chapter 25. Note that in verse 40, our Lord Jesus refers to these good deeds as having been done to his ‘brothers.’ It is true that many feel ‘brothers’ is applied to all human beings. Is that so? Not according to Jesus himself who identified his brothers at Matthew 12:50. Who are they? Those who do the will of his father. It is vital that we understand this because on another occasion, at Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus addressed those calling him Lord while they pointed to their powerful works. He called them workers of lawlessness. Elsewhere in scripture lawlessness is pointedly called sin. [1 John 3:4]. Why would such wonderful works be called sin by our Lord? Because these ones were not doing the will of his father in the heavens.

What about the poor, the hungry and other suffering ones? Interestingly, at John 12:8, Jesus told his followers that they would always have the poor with them. Even under the perfect Mosaic law, there were poor people. Though the law made provision for them, poverty still existed. And in Jesus’ composite sign of the last days, at Luke 21:11, he plainly spoke of food shortages among other devastating situations. Have these things proved to be true? We can look around and see that they have. It is undeniable that the poor are still with us – more so now than in the first century.

What is the point? There can be no doubt that Jesus wants us to help others; after all, we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. At the same time, however, we must also keep in mind that every single human being is not Jesus’ ‘brother’ simply by being a human being. In Matthew 25, Jesus was specifically rewarding the sheep who had done good to his brothers. And the sheep are obviously a different group. If we want to be among those sheep to whom Jesus gives everlasting life; if we want to have the approval of the King Jesus; if we want to be no part of those who call him Lord and yet are practicing lawlessness, we need to understand exactly who make up Jesus’ brothers – and who make up his sheep. So that we can be part of the sheep that do good to them.