"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you..."

Mykuhl

Mykuhl

Matthew 25:31-46, verse 40: "...Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to the least of these My brethren, you did it to me"(NKJV). Verse 45: "...Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to Me"(NKJV).

Brothers and sisters I bring up these verses in context as a sober reminder and a warning to watch how we treat our brethren in Christ. Since we are members of the body of Christ the way we treat each other is the way we are treating Jesus. Please, with all love I am asking all of you to remember this. I am praying that I always remember this as well. As, a part of this I believe it is important to remember the words that Paul wrote as well in: Hebrews 10:24-25, to gather together in order to give us the opportunity to serve one another.

Thank you, and God bless you all!
 
You make an absolutely excellent point... Often times, we feel like we have to really go the extra mile and treat those of "The world" well -so we don't misrepresent the gospel.... But once we bring them INTO the church - it's another matter altogether... We "claim" the gospel and the blood - but we live lives which epitomize the ways of the world - vanity, lust, revelry, addiction, scandal, anger, fear, hate, greed, etc.. Grinding down those around us to gain advantage over them... and we succeed marvelously...

Now, though - read the next couple verses and think for a minute what it SAYS.....

There's ONE group who professes to NEITHER SERVE, nor KNOW Christ - and yet they have COMPASSION on His Brethren......

There's the SECOND group - who profess to BOTH SERVE, AND KNOW Christ - and yet, they have NO compassion for His Brethren....

And WHICH group does Jesus Cast Out and which ones are given their inheritance.....

Thanks
 
JohnC said:
You make an absolutely excellent point... Often times, we feel like we have to really go the extra mile and treat those of "The world" well -so we don't misrepresent the gospel.... But once we bring them INTO the church - it's another matter altogether... We "claim" the gospel and the blood - but we live lives which epitomize the ways of the world - vanity, lust, revelry, addiction, scandal, anger, fear, hate, greed, etc.. Grinding down those around us to gain advantage over them... and we succeed marvelously...

Now, though - read the next couple verses and think for a minute what it SAYS.....

There's ONE group who professes to NEITHER SERVE, nor KNOW Christ - and yet they have COMPASSION on His Brethren......

There's the SECOND group - who profess to BOTH SERVE, AND KNOW Christ - and yet, they have NO compassion for His Brethren....

And WHICH group does Jesus Cast Out and which ones are given their inheritance.....

Thanks
Click to expand...

I read over the whole story twice again and the two groups are the righteous on His right hand and the cursed on His left hand. Nowhere does it state that either group professed to know or not know Christ. What it does state is one group was righteous and other group cursed. The righteous group showed compassion to Him(His brethren), while the other group did not. There righteous group was given eternal life and the cursed group everlasting punishment. Based on my understanding of what the bible teaches on who is righteous; they righteous group are those that displayed faith(active faith)in Him while the cursed group are those that displayed no faith in Him.
 
Contrast the answer of the "Righteous" - vs 25:37-39 vs the "Unrighteous" in vs 25:44

The "Righteous" say "When did we ever do anything for you?"
The "Unrighteous" say "When did we ever FAIL to do anything for you?"

This really surprised me when it really sank in.... See - WE would expect that the one who KNOWS who Jesus is - and claims to be serving Him are the "Righteous"... and WE would expect that the one who does NOT know Jesus and doesn't claim to be serving him is "Unrighteous".....

Now, think of this in lieu of Matt 7:21-23 "Not all who call 'Lord, Lord'" ... These people were working mighty works but practicing lawlessness - evidencing the Power of The Lord.. but they were NOT bearing the Fruit of The Spirit - the evidence of a changed heart and the indwelling Spirit...

It also makes me reflect that I sure am glad that I don't rely on my OWN righteousness to become God's....

Thanks
 
You are right that this relates to what is taught in Matthew 7:21-23. It is also supported by what is taught immediately before and immediately after that in verses 13-20, and verses 24-27. I find it interesting how Jesus uses 3 different ideas surrounding the "I never knew you" section to reinforce His point.
 
It's not about how we treat our fellow Christians, it's about how we treat everyone (heathens included).
One of the philosophical defintions of evil is "those that demand praise regardless of performance", that is precisely what those who say "when did we ever fail" are doing.
 
Yes we ought to treat everyone like how Jesus did, even not our own like the samaritan woman he gave living water to drink.
 
It is like charity..the right hand doesnt know what the left is doing. If you practise charity simply in order to have praise of others, thats wrong motives. But if you give in secret, our of a cheerful heart with no expectation of that person giving you anything back, you will be rewarded in heaven.
 
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