The Reality Of True & False Conversion
Looking Through The Right Biblical Lens
It is vitally important to understand this doctrine from the correct biblical lens as some may use this as a means to judge others. This doctrine is not one we use as a weapon to wield against our weaker brothers and sisters or even the unsaved, but rather only as something we use to examine ourselves before the Lord as it says in Philippians 2:12 to workout our OWN salvation with fear and trembling. Sure the Lord instructs us to look for their fruits, but he also instructs us in Matthew 13:24-30 to not separate the Wheat from the Tares lest we uproot the wheat too when trying to remove the tares from amongst us.
What this means is God allows both the Tares and the Wheat to grow together in his Church despite knowing which is which. We as Christians may suspect someone else is not saved as they bear no good fruit , but it is not a license for us to then chastise, harass or otherwise, bully others with our knowledge of this. Rather it is for the purpose of identification (Romans 16:17-18) and for the express purpose of being aware that it is our duty to faithfully share with them the Gospel that they might be saved. Too many Christians take true and false conversion as a means to be hostile to unbelievers, or deceived unconverted sinners who claim Christ in the Church. This also means that ministries that focus on uprooting the Tares are in violation with scripture which tells us not to uproot the tare as they are undoubtedly harming the wheat as well. This then becomes a sin against Christ, as denoted in 1 Corinthians 8:12 to cause our brothers and sisters to stumble due to our knowledge.
The Wheat spoken of in Matthew 13:24-30 are God’s people who demonstrate this by their fruits (Matthew 7:16-21) and the Tares are the many who act as Christians, say similar things as Christians, but are indeed not Christians as demonstrated by their actions. They are what the Bible refers to as the Tares, and as you will see the same type of unconverted person displayed in the following sections:
Wheat and Tares
Good and Bad Fruit
Rock Foundation and Sandy Foundation
Wise and Foolish Virgins
The Talents
Sheep and the Goats
Good and Bad Fish
Again I must remind you that, the information in here is intended to be a warning to you and not a tool to use against others. The scriptures are clear in regards to the fate of the unvonvertted, however they are written for YOUR knowledge, to cause YOU to repent, and to know who is a brother or sister or not. Not for you to use as a weapon in some unholy crusade against unbelievers.
The Wheat And The Tares Parable
Jesus Christ teaches us not to remove the Tares from the Wheat in Matthew 13:24-30, and one of the reason’s Christ chose Tares or Lolium Temulentum or Darnel Plant compared to Wheat, was in part due to the fact that both plants look identical before maturity, or before essentially our final day. The Wheat growing in the field, and the Tares growing in the field are externally almost identical. Which reminds me of how the Wise and Foolish Virgins also looked identical externally, but in both cases, it was something internal that makes the difference.
It is this internal difference that also matters, as the Tare or Darnel plant is poisonous to humans, but when they grow side by side of each other its almost impossible to tell the difference outwardly. When wheat grows, it starts as a grass, grows into a budding stalk, and eventually becomes a long stalk with equal spread seeds of wheat growing on it that tend to bow down to the sun (Son in this Parable by Jesus). Where In contrast when a tare grows, it starts as a grass like wheat, grows almost identically like wheat, but when it reaches maturity, though it looks like wheat, it does not grow with equal distanced seeds on the stalk in a parallel and perpendicular fashion i actually grows more like a zig zag pattern and stands tall and proud against the sun with no submittance onto it.
Wheat bows under the weight of its seeds, the good fruit it produces healthy for the eater is a fruit of humility, Tares stand proud and tall and their fruit is poisonous only suitable for Doves to consume, or again The Holy Spirit to consume come the day of judgement.
It is no surprise that Christ who is God used a perfect example in this particular parable of true and false conversion from Him. What we can learn from the Wheat and the Tares is:
That they outwardly are nearly identical to each other untill the time of harvest (death).
One produces a healthy edible fruit to all (service to one another, good fruits for the Lord and to others), one produces a poison (selfishness, pride and bad fruits that only God can consume in His wrath).
One bows to the Sun (Son) and the other stands proud and unwavering in its own self righteousness.
When you look at the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, you will also notice from the outside they were identical, but in each parable, whether it's the wheat and the tares, the sheep and the goats, the wise and foolish virgins, the Lord chooses one for his kingdom, and another for Hell and damnation. And there is always one common theme amongst them all. What they produced are the results of their "faith".
Jesus makes it clear as a command to not remove the Tares from the Wheat by your own hands through a desire to only have Wheat. If you start trying to remove the Tares, you will find you uprooted just as much Wheat because you do not know who is who.
Does this mean we should never mark and separate from those false teachers or brothers/sisters who turn away from the faith given to us in the Word of God? The answer is also no, as the bible expressedly tells us to do so in Romans 16:17—18 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
There will be a sorting of Wheat from Tares, but it is not our job to try and sort it out, it is God and his angels’ job to do that. In some cases we may never know here on earth who was Wheat or Who was truly a Tare, but in the end there will be a sorting for us all.
The Good and Bad Fruit Trees
Jesus gives us a direct warning to watch out for False Prophets, and to know people by the fruit they produce in their lives. He instructs us that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Many Christians will attest that the lying the used to do with ease brings nothing, but great burden upon them. In this way though we are still sinners, those who are saved are opposed to sin in such a way, that it is a great burden to sin, similar to the feeling of holding your hand over a lit candle. It is painful and increases in pain and suffering the longer you spend time sinning. You can find our precious Lord speaking on these things in many places in the Bible such as in Mathew 7:15-23, Matthew 12:33; Luke 6:43–45.
We covered Once Saved Always Saved in a VR YouTube video, where we break down True and False conversion based on the good and bad fruit tree that Jesus speaks about. You can view that video here if you wish where we discuss many of the same things we will today.
What we can learn from Jesus Christ when He spoke on the good and bad fruit trees, is to be mindful and watchful of false prophets or in other words Tares.
We see this same style of contrast from our Lord in many verses where he compares two similar looking things with another. It is always in reference to how people look the same on the outside, but inwardly in their hearts there is a difference. That difference is those in the church who are saved, and those who are not. Here is a list of where you can find these comparisons we will cover today.
The Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)
Good Fruit Tree and Bad Fruit Tree (Mathew 7:15-23, Matthew 12:33; Luke 6:43–45 )
The Two Foundations (Matthew 7:24-27, Luke 6:47–49 )
The Wise & Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)
The Talent Parable (Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:11–27 )
The Sheep and The Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)
The Lukewarm Water (Revelation 3:14-19)
The Seed Sower Parable (Matthew 13:18-23, Mark 4:13–20; Luke 8:11–15 )
The Fish Parable (Matthew 13:47-52)
You may be wondering why Jesus delivers these lessons in Parables and not plainly, and Christ provides His reasons for why in Matthew 13:13-14 where he says:
“Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:”
God rewards those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6) and in this we see how God veils things to the unbelieving so that it is a judgement upon them, but by His Spirit He reveals the truth of these parables to those who are saved.
I was a confessing Christian for years before I truly repented, and before that point I had read these same verses and was unable to understand them.
The idea that God does in fact hide or reveal Truths in plain sight requires another teaching altogether, but a good place to start aside from the verse provided above, is to read John 1:40-50 in how the men of lowly estate were able to instantly recognize the Messiah King of Israel, where the religious people of the day did not and instead crucified him.
In the passage pertaining to the Good and Bad Fruit Trees, Jesus makes it clear that we must look for fruits. The reason for this is the same as it is with the wheat and the tares and every other parable we will look at, and that is in all their stages of growth they are identical, but much like a tree that bears forth fruit, it takes time to see who is who, only when the fruit is fully developed can you see which is which and can know who is truly for God and saved, or unfortunately not.
The Fruit Tree Parable surmises that God will cast out all those false or evil fruits into Hell, and He lists what it is they will say to Him, and then later gives His response to them. The passage of scripture from Matthew 7:15-23 gives insight into how this verse is referring to professing Christians (one of the many reasons Easy Believism doesn’t work):
Have we not prophesied in thy name?
And in thy name have cast out devils?
And in thy name done many wonderful works?
These are clearly professing Christians who are False Converts, not atheists as some have tried to say since when does any unbeliever do any of those things described? Atheist's strictly do not prophesy or rather “declare divine things by revelation” in the name of Christ whom they don’t believe exists. The word used there for “prophesied” or “prophēteuō“ means exactly that, to speak what is true by divine revelation. However it is important to note, one can "Prophesy" falsely as others have in the OT and still do to this day, and not be divinely inspired.
Atheists, Buddhists, Muslims, and Jews (Aside from the Sons of Sceva in Acts) do not try to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, and certainly only those trying to follow Christ try to perform “Wonderful Works” in His name. Yet He gives them His reply which is:
“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
That departing spoken of above, is being sent to Hell as other verses declare such as Matthew 13:47-50. So what can we learn from this is that works do not justify, even if someone appears to be very Christian on the outside with all their mighty wonderful works, if they are inwardly ravenous wolves, who work iniquity, or in other words “Those who exercise, perform, commit, wickedness or iniquity/sin willfully.” They will be sentenced to Hell as there was no clear turning from sin internally.
Does this mean if we sin once as Christians we go to Hell? No… and there is another teaching on sinless sainthood coming out soon. However, it does mean “And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” (Galatians 5:24). I Highly recommend you read all of Galatians 5 to understand Matthew 7 and the Fruit Tree Parable.
In summary what this means is that those who are known of by Christ are those who follow him. Think about it this way:
If you are a servant in a far away land, and there resides a King, the King of all of the Heavens and Earth. With billions of inhabitants. If someone who thinks they are an emissary of that King, and goes about doing things in the Kings name, like raising charity, or feeding the poor. Perhaps even winning battles, all on their own accord, by no counsel or instruction of the King.
Do you think that righteous King will be impressed with how you misrepresented him? While in one hand you do good, in the other you break his laws willingly?
Would that good righteous King condone your actions as though it was done on his behalf by his decree? The King knows you not! As if he did you would of been sent by him and abided in him and done his will yet you did not, you continued in your sin thinking that so long as you do works unto the King he would be well pleased in you.
In that same way brothers and sisters, the King of all of the Heavens and the Earth is not impressed with our filthy rags of righteousness (Isaiah 64:6). Therefore we must be known of by Him, by following His decrees and surrendering unto Him. It is not that we know Him, but that He knows us. We must be in His court, not in ours.
The Two Foundations Rock and Sand
In the same chapter as the Good and Bad Fruit, Jesus Christ talks about those who built their foundation either upon the rock, or upon the sand as we read in Matthew 7:24-27 and Luke 6:47–49.
The parable shows us many things: First it shows a choice happened internally (Repentance) in two people. One chose to listen and do the words of Christ, the other did what he or she wanted. This internal change for those who listen and adhere to Gods word is what dictates how that same person lived their lives.
For example, those who chose to build upon the sand will be swept away when the rain and floods come, but in contrast to those foolish people (what God calls them) there are those who are wise, who again: Hear his sayings, and do them, and thus it is them building their house upon the rock, who is that same rock which is spoken of in Matthew 21:44 which is Christ Jesus.
The man who chooses to build his house on the sand will be considered a fool and the fall of the fool will be great. We must not just be a hearer of the word but a doer as it says in James 1:22.
We learn from this Parable from Christ our Lord some very important things:
There is a wise man who follows and does Gods word and builds upon the Rock.
There is a foolish man who follows his own way and builds upon the sand.
Winds and rain are coming to both, one will stand the other will fall.
Build upon the Rock which is to say: Do the things which Jesus said.
The Wise and Foolish Virgins
Next in our list of what Jesus taught about on true and false conversion is the Wise and Foolish Virgin parable. We find this passage of scripture in Matthew 25:1-13. Something to pay attention to in this is how Christ continually uses an equal number of participants. If there is one sheep, there is one goat, if there is a wheat, there is a tare, and in this case there are 10 virgins all of which, took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Jesus tells us out of the 10 virgins who waited for the Bridegroom (Christ), 50% of the virgins were wise and 50% were foolish. The wise took oil in their lamps and the foolish none. Think about that for a second...
These women knew they were going to see the bridegroom, so some took great care to prepare themselves for his return, having enough oil in their lamps to last the journey and wait for as long as the bridegroom tarried. However long they might wait, they made sure they had enough. The 5 virgins were wise because they were thoughtful, prepared, and ready for the bridegroom when he came. Now contrast that to the foolish virgins who despite knowing the bridegroom was coming, they failed to get enough oil in their lamps. Let’s read the passage and break it down.
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five [were] foolish. They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”
All of the virgins here are waiting on the bridegroom, and what this is talking about is professing Christians who know our Lord is coming back and are waiting. Notice how Christ describes those who prepared themselves carefully for the Lord as wise, and those who did not as foolish. Notice also this is how he previously described the person who built his house on the rock in the previous section compared to the person who did not. In all these parables one is wise by choice, and another a fool by choice, you must determine which you will be.
“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 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.”
This slumbering is a reference to the Church which at large is living their lives and doing their best to either serve God with their lives or in the case of the foolish, to serve themselves. They are all sleeping because they are waiting upon the return of Christ whether consciously or not. When the bridegroom came there was a cry which woke them all out of sleep and they all trimmed (or brightened) their lamps for the coming of the bridegroom.
“And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, [Not so]; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.”
Oil is widely understood throughout the Bible as being the Holy Spirit, and in context the oil is is that which gives light to the lamps which were often not much different then how our old glass lamps worked. These lamps, lit the way in a dark night. If these virgins ran out of oil, they had no way to see where they were going. In ancient Hebrew times the bridegroom procession was usually accompanied by 10 maidens, who when the call was made, sometimes in the middle of the night, they had to go out and find the Bridegroom and go with him to the wedding feast, much like our own rapture where by the call will be made and we will meet with our bridegroom (Christ) in the air. Now the foolish virgins, who had not the Holy Spirit, where unable to light the way to find the bridegroom. I want to bring two verses to mind here. First is how the Holy Spirit is the one who leads us into all truth, by definition if you are led of him, you will have Truth in accordance to His word (John 16:13-14, John 14:26). Second i want to point to 2Timothy 2:15 which tells us to study to show ourselves approved unto God. When we take the context of all these parables of Christ, we can clearly see those who have enough oil in there lamps where those who studied the Holy scriptures and obeyed them, so when Christ came they were fully prepared and had the brightest light to guide their way to him. The confused and foolish virgins instead of doing their part, asked of the wise virgins to give them the way, to share the Truth, and to do the work for them, but there was only enough Faith in a person to carry themselves. I cannot have enough faith for you, this is why we all must workout our salvation with Fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). The wise virgins instructed the foolish to go and buy for themselves (Isaiah 55:1) that which is of God.
“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. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”
The wise Virgins met with the bridegroom and began the marriage feast with him, and afterwards the 5 virgins who were foolish came and said Lord open unto us, but the door was shut and he said “I know you not”. Clearly if this was a reference to to having more biblical knowledge alone then it would not hinge upon Christ knowing you. Much like the last section, Jesus said the same thing, he will not let you in if he does not know you. If someone knows everything about someone, let’s say a popular Actor, but that actor has no affiliation with that person, do you think that the same actor would open his doors to a stranger who may know him but he does not know? Clearly not, in the same way except multiplied in value eternally, the King of all the Heavens and Earth needs to know you. Now let’s look at Revelation 3:20 which Jesus states “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
To be known of God is to open the door, to have the Holy Spirit in your lamp full with extra at hand, to build upon that Rock of salvation, to not just know of God but be known by him, and to this wise he gives us the Parable of the the least of these (see Matthew 25:31-46).
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Jesus concludes his parable with a command to watch, be prepared, and live like he is coming at any time. This is not to say we are to live as though the rapture could come at anytime as that’s pretribulationism which is something we will cover at a later date.
Think about what kind of person, who knows they need oil for their lamp, but does not take oil with them to keep their lamps lit? That's like knowing you need an arrows for a long journey of foraging and hunting, and then bringing the bow, but with only one arrow. It is pointless to bring a bow with only a single arrow for a long journey, and the same is true with a lamp with not enough oil.
For them it is perhaps more of a religious act, not an act of necessity. Instead of having true heart felt conviction of their sins, they bring that which gives the appearance of salvation, with no real substance. Much like the wheat and the tares no one would know from the outside which virgins were foolish and which were wise until the time came for the harvest, or to trim their lamps and the foolish had no oil. A modern vernacular might be “All talk no walk.”
There are those who seek God diligently with Faith (Hebrews 11:6) and those who do not. It reminds me of Matthew 15:8-9 and Isaiah 29:13 which summarily says “These people draw nigh unto me with their lips but their heart is far from me”.
The Parable of The Talents
We find this parable of the Talent in Matthew 25:14-30 and in Luke 19:11–27. Jesus teaches us here that there are those who are given talents. Which in modern vernacular does not equate a skill or ability someone is good at like how we use the word Talent in the phrase “Talent Show. Instead a Talent was the equivalent of a sum of money.
A talent in biblical times was worth about 6000 Drachmas or Denarii, when we see that the average basic worker made about a coin a day, 6000 Drachmas was the equivalent of about 16.5 years of working. For a skilled laborer they could earn more then a single coin a day, so perhaps for a very skilled worker it represented 5 years of labour. It was certainly a lot of money, and in our modern terms it was the equivalent of about $350,000.
In this parable we see a very rich man leave to his servants his wealth, to one he gave 5 talents or about $1.7 million dollars, no another he gave about $700k, and to another $350m. The one with 5 talents traded his master wealth and made 5 more talents to make 10 talents total, so he went from $1.7m to $3.5m. The next servant doubled his master wealth again and turned his $700k or 2 talents into $1.4m or 4 talents. Two were faithful, but the man with 1 talent instead took his masters money and hid it in a hill.
The master came back and reward each servant who took his gift and built upon it much like the man who built his house upon the Rock. The Master says to his faithful servants both “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
When the Master turned to the slothful servant (lazy and unwise much like the unwise virgins) he asked for what was his and the servant blamed the Master for being a hard man who reaped where he did not sow, as though to pass all the responsibility unto God. In reality this is a guise for the slothful servant, that servant blames God instead of taking responsibility for his lack of actions. Much like how Christians expect others to do the work theya re called to do in life for the Lord. The Master (Jesus Christ) says unto the wicked and slothful servant after telling him he could of at least been wise and put in the bank for the interest alone “Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
In this Christ sends that servant who did not do well into the fires of Hell. And such will he do to all who are slothful and wicked in their gift of eternal life the Lord has given them. This is not teaching that a person can loose their salvation, but rather then the person rejected their salvation by their very life and actions. Christianity is not about moments of goodness, or works that bring Glory to God, it is about everyday, and endurance we continue in till we die.
The Sheep And The Goats
Jesus teaches us yet another Parable of the Kingdom of God in Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus Christ comes and separates all the nations. He places the Sheep on His right hand and the Goats on His left. In the Parable the Lord says those beautiful words to his sheep we all wish to hear: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
The sheep inherit the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world and this is where Jesus shows us the difference between the Sheep and the Goats.
Jesus tells them when He was these things they sought after His needs.
Hungry
Thirsty
A Stranger
Naked
Sick
And In Prison
The sheep where beweildered and said “Lord when did we ever do these things to you? When where you hungry, or thirsty, a stranger and we took you in, or naked and clothed you and sick and in prison and helped you?”
And Jesus replied with words that guide me as a constant reminder in life and ministry “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
The Sheep had great love for their fellow man, and took care of their needs as it says in God’s word in John 13:35 that all men will know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another. One who lacks love for his brothers or sisters in Christ, and is rather unconcerned and perhaps even hateful will find him or herself in the next group of people.
The sheep are not just hearers, but doers of Gods word and will (James 1:22, Matthew 7:21), and they love others as themselves, and the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37-40). This is a key difference between goats and sheep, the sheep are servants (Matthew 23:11) the goats are not. There next line in the passage of scripture we are looking at is Jesus saying this to the goats “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” and then he gives that same list he gave to the Sheep:
Hungry
Thirsty
A Stranger
Naked
Sick
And In Prison
When Jesus was Hungry, Thirsty, A Stranger, Naked, Sick, and In Prison Or in other words, when people in need where in that place, the goats, that while being pastors, or ministry leaders, or otherwise, neglected the needs of the people that were considered least of these.
For both the Goats and the Sheep Christ tells them “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it unto/not to me.”
In summary, if a Christian lives theirs lives without meeting the needs of those God sends them, and is selfish and unwise, they will find themselves cast into Hell as clearly their heart where never the Lords. Any Christian who loves the Lord know when he or she sees someone in need, they do their upmost to help. Often it is the most poor person who gives the most, and thus the danger of wealth. Matthew 6:21
The Good and Bad Fish
In Matthew 13:47-52 we see Jesus describing the same sort of separation between those who are wicked:
The Tares producing poisonous fruit.
The Tree producing bad fruit.
The Foolish ones who built their houses upon the sand.
The Foolish Virgins with no oil.
The Wicked Slothful Servant who wasted that which the Lord gave.
The Goats who did not do the will of the Father.
The Bad Fish which are discarded.
In this passage He is describing how the Kingdom of Heaven is like casting a great net and pulling up all manner of fish, and those fish which are good are kept in vessels and those which are bad are thrown away. To be more accurate, those who are bad fish are severed from among the just by the angels (not us) of God, and are cast into the furnace of fire which is Hell and the Second Death.
Summerizing It All
Now if you have gotten this far, you may have some questions. Questions that may look something like this:
Does this mean I can never sin?
Do I have to be perfect to enter Heaven?
Is my works what earns my place in everlasting life?
Can i loose my salvation?
And to those questions I can certainly sympathize with the reader. We just read about how there will be a separation among both believers and non believers. Meaning there will be a sorting of us regardless of what we said with our mouths. There will be many professing Christians who will be sent to hell as it clearly says in Matthew 7:21. There likewise will be every unbeliever cast into hell alongside them. So then what is the difference between the two?
Well part of this answer is impossible for some to understand. Meaning what i’m about to reveal will remain veiled for you untill you truly repent unto the Lord. Thousands of Christians who were deceived and lived a life of sin can attest , just like myself, that you cannot understand the mysteries of God unless he reveal it to you, and we see ample proof of this from scripture such as the Holy Spirit leading us into all Truth in John 16:13 and how God the Father is the one who reveals truth to all in Matthew 16:17.
The good news is if you are reading this and desire to know the truth, you can know it, and the door is always open to you.
The Mystery of True and False Conversion
The single difference between all the above listed parables, whether its Sheep or Goats, or Wise and Foolish Virgins is one singular thing. True faith, true belief, and true repentance. I have taught on this in many videos in the past, so i wont go into much detail here. But it works like this:
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
When someone meets the Lord truly, and they truly repent, there is a fundamental change from the inside out. The works that someone does, are not what earns salvation, but rather evidence of that salvation being theres.
A person who has surrendered their lives to God, and have had contrition in their heart, and have repented of their sins, is going to be fundamentally changed, and thus their actions follow suite. We know this from the following verse:
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. ”
Do you understand? If you do not yet, it is because you have not repented before the Lord truly, you love your sin, and deep down you refuse to let go of it, but in the end it will drag you to Hell. You must repent. Turn from your sin fully inwardly and give it God. When you do this God will give you everlasting life, put His Spirit inside you, and change your heart.
By this change and your faithful obedience, you will live a life that is pleasing to God for you will do His will and fulfill that which He has for you. The goats are those who intellectually believe in the Lord but their heart is far from them. No different then the Pahrisees whom the Lord said
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” Matthew 15:8, Isaiah 29:13.
So what must you do to inherit eternal life? You must Repent and believe the Gospel! Mark 1:15
