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“Two Kinds of People”
Categories: faith, obedienceAccording to Romans 5, there are two kinds of people: those who are in Christ and those who are in Adam. We cannot necessarily tell who is which, but God did give us external fruit by which to judge and evaluate.
From Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13, you might say there are four kinds of people because of His story about four soils. But how many of those soils supported plants which bore fruit? Only one. The other three describe three flavors of being unfruitful sons of Adam.
The next parable in Matthew 13.24ff compares good seed with weeds sown by an enemy. The land owner said to let both grow together until harvest, at which time they would be separated—the good to be saved and the weeds to be burned. “The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one” (Matt. 13.38). Jesus was describing two kinds of people in the world. But hadn’t Jesus begun His parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like...”? Indeed, Jesus reigns over the world, and His kingdom comprises all nations under heaven.
Jesus also told the parable of the dragnet in Matthew 13.47ff, in which a net gathered fish “of every kind.” Then they sorted the fish, but only into two sets: good ones and bad ones. Saving the good ones in containers, they threw the bad away. Possibly this parallels the parable of the weeds, but it seems more likely the net represents the visible church, for these fish were gathered out of all the rest of the fish of the sea. Even within what we understand to be Christianity, the Church, the Body of Christ, “the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous” (Matt. 13.49).
No matter how you cut it, only two kinds of people walk this earth. Which group are you in? How can you tell? Can you be sure?
Jesus said good trees bear good fruit (Matt. 7.17–20). A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. The tree may be ugly, growing at an odd angle, split in half by a lightning bolt, but its fruit determines what kind of tree it is.
Maybe you have been through hell on earth, have a past riddled with trouble and sin, have walked in foolishness and darkness in years gone by—but what are you now? Are you bearing fruit for Jesus now?
What fruit is Jesus talking about? “The one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven,” Jesus said (not the one who merely claims to do it).
Are you doing the Father’s will? If your next questing is, “How much of the Father’s will must I do to qualify?” you miss the point! Do you want to do His will? Do you strive to do His will? Does your conscience prick you when you don’t do His will?
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6.8)
King Saul and King David illustrate these two kinds of people.
Saul started out looking good (handsome, humble, strong, went to battle for the people). He sinned, and when confronted, he became sorrowful.
David started out looking good (handsome, humble, strong, went to battle for the people). He sinned, and when confronted, he became sorrowful.
But God rejected Saul and loved David. What made the difference? Saul indeed sorrowed, but he had to be pushed into admitting his sin, and even then he seemed more upset in losing his position and taking his punishment than in losing his relationship with the Lord (1 Sam. 15.24–34). On the other hand, David’s heart immediately crumbled when confronted with his sin (2 Sam. 12.13). He wrote, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge,” and “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51.4, 11).
Paul later distinguished, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor. 7.10). Saul had worldly grief; David had godly grief.
There are two kinds of people.
