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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Who are "the least of these?" | Matt 25:40 | R D Miller | 219358 | ||
I believe this verse may be mistranslated and the passage Matt 25:31-46 is misinterpeted in many different ways by many conventional interpretations. I believe the passage is not about charity at all nor is it about how the sheep vs the goats treated believers. I believe this passage is about how we present ourselves to God. When the goats say: 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' They are not saying, "Lord, We didn't recognize you. Thats why we didn't take care of you." They are actually saying, "Lord, we did all of those things. Didn't you see us?" The goats are responding to Jesus with contempt, not curiosity, or amazement. Just like the Pharisee in Luke 18:12...'I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' Jesus told that story (the Pharisee and the tax collector) "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else." vs. 9 I believe Matt 25: 31-46 also describes those confident of their own righteousness (the goats). Therefore I believe "the least of these" refers not to the poor or believers but to every person who will stand before God. And what divides the sheep from the goats is not how we responded to "the least of these" but whether we are willing to declare ourselves, individually, the "least of these." Thanks for making this discussion board available. |
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2 | Who are "the least of these?" | Matt 25:40 | CDBJ | 219361 | ||
Greetings, One must keep the verses in context. Matthew 25:31-33 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. The sheep are true believers and the goats represent unbelievers, who think they will be accepted “due to their own personal works” apart from believing in Christ, i.e. grace function. The sheep responded out of love because of who they are, i.e. the children of God; they are functioning out of the filling of the Spirit in the true function of “AGAPE” love for those who were in need so it wasn’t necessary for them to be hypocrites as the goats were; they didn’t care who it was that was in need they just knew that they needed help! CDBJ |
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