Dr Paul Allen

Abraham Bloemaert - Landscape with the Parable of the Tares among the Wheat - WGA02280 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 13:47 –50 “So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous” (v. 49). The parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:24–30, 36–43) is probably not first and foremost about the presence of people who profess the Christian faith falsely in the institutional church. However, this does not mean that  Jesus has nothing to say on the subject. The parable of the net apparently deals with the fact that those who do not really know Christ will “worship” beside true believers in the visible covenant community. Several hints in Matthew 13:47–50 indicate that the parable of the net is about the church. First among these is Jesus’ use of a fishing metaphor (v. 47). He calls His disciples to be “fishers of men” and four of the Twelve — Peter, Andrew, James, and John — were professional fishermen ...

English: "Satan Sowing Seeds" by Felicien Rops, pencil, around 1872 320px wide (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 13:36–43 “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear” (v. 43). This passage contains Jesus ’ interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:36–43), which presents problems for the twenty-first century person. Simply put, it is difficult to discern whether or not this parable teaches that unbelievers will exist alongside believers in the visible covenant community until the return of Christ . Many godly scholars teach that the parable in question is concerned mainly with the church and the authenticity of the faith of its professing members. Scripture, of course, teaches that we will often be unable to distinguish those who profess faith falsely from the true believers in the institutional church until Judgment Day. Yet this point is probably not th...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 13:47-50 "So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous" ( v. 49 ). The parable of the wheat and the tares ( Matt. 13:24-30 , 36-43 ) is probably not first and foremost about the presence of people who profess the Christian faith falsely in the institutional church. However, this does not mean that Jesus has nothing to say on the subject. The parable of the net apparently deals with the fact that those who do not really know Chr...

Matthew 13:36-43  "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear" (  v. 43 ). This passage contains Jesus' interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the tares ( Matt. 13:36-43 ), which presents problems for the twenty-first century Bible student. Simply put, it is difficult to discern whether or not this parable teaches that unbelievers will exist alongside believers in the visible covenant community until the return of Christ . Many godly scholars teach that the parable in question is concerned mainly with the church and the authenticity of the faith of its professing members. Scripture, of course, teaches that we will often be unable to distinguish those who profess faith falsely from the true believers in the institutional church until Judgment Day. Yet this point is probably not the emphasis of the parable of the wheat and the tares. Christ says the field represents the "world," no...

Image via Wikipedia Yes, no, no and yes. First, we rightly affirm that there is a form of love that God has for each and every living human. We all bear His image and that is sufficient to elicit His love in a certain sense.   Sometimes called His love of benevolence, the Bible teaches that God has a general good will toward men, such as was announced to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14). This does not mean, however, that we ought to embrace a bland universal brotherhood of man and universal fatherhood of God perspective. This love of benevolence, while real, does not undo the reality of the wrath of God on those who sin against Him.  That, we should understand, includes our own children. The love of benevolence does not keep the judgment of God from descending on His creatures, including the very young. So while we can safely affirm that God loves them benevolently, this doesn’t mean by itself that our children are safe from His just wrath. Th...