I brought this up in another thread which had veered off-course.
In answer to your question, the entire post is not sound biblically.
I was emphasizing that the Bible places a value on words. There would be no point to the multitude of places in God's Word which discusses sheep and the Shepherd, if in reality, the Lord intended that the goats are also intended in the flock.
This whole comparison of sheep and goats being compared as saved vs. unsaved is not biblical. It is only made once in Scripture, and that is made in reference to "The Judgement of Nations" which occurs just before the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. Nowhere else is this comparison used.
In fact, goats are perfectly acceptable sacrifices in the OT.
And, sheep are often compared to the unsaved.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
--This applies to all the world.
Hebrews 13:20:"Now may the God of peace -- who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood" ( NLTse )
To all that believe on him. That is who he was addressing in the Book of Hebrews.
The sheep in Scripture belong to Christ. He laid down His life specifically for them. The goats are not among those for whom He sacrificed His life. How could the goats be among the number for whom He died?
Sheep are not being compared to goats. Give evidence of that outside of the judgment of nations.
Christ laid down his life for the sins of the world; His sacrifice is efficacious to all who believe on him.
In Matthew 26:31-46 the sheep and the goats are separated. The former enter glory with the Lord, the latter enter everlasting misery.
As I said--The Judgement of Nations.
The Lord does not know certain ones the Bible says.
The Lord knows all; he is omniscient.
The ones He does not know are the goats. Christ did not die for the ones that He did not know ( in an intimate sense, foreloved ).
He died for all; He loved all. He does not have "two kinds of love." He is divine not prejudiced.
Christ loves His sheep. He doesn't love them because they merit that love.
Here is one of your errors: that you could even think that salvation is "of merit." Who do you think believes that. There are some Calvinistic posters that believe "faith" is a work, and therefore one cannot be "saved by faith," because it would be by works. Is this what you mean?
All of us deserve everlasting condemnation. None of us have a claim on God. The Lord has the perfect right to do whatever pleases Him. He shows mercy to anyone He so chooses. On the other hand, He hardens the heart of whomever He chooses.He's God, He has the right due to His Sovereignty. Does anyone have a problem with that?! Who do you think you are talking back to God?!
You have a warped sense of the sovereignty of God as well as a misunderstanding of the love of God.
Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exodus 34:7
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
--He is merciful and forgiving. Those are two of his greatest attributes.
Jacob was not any better ( in fact he looks worse ) than Esau.But God eternally loved the former, and eternally hated the latter.Let's review. Jacob=a sheep, and Esau=a goat.
Not true. The sheep/goat differentiation is a false comparison.
The Lord knew before time (while they were yet in the womb) that Jacob would obey him and Esau would not. IOW, "faith" was the basis of God's divine "choosing."
There are so many references to the sheep and the Shepherd.Peter was told by the Lord three times to feed or tend His sheep.The Lord spoke of the one sheep that He sought at the expense of leaving the others behind. The examples can be multiplied.
The sheep are sheep before conversion.They enter this life under the wrath of God like everyone else. They are God-haters like everyone else. But, since Christ loves them, and has foreordained that they will believe -- the Father draws them to the Son.In their lifetime they are regenerated.
Yes, Jesus plainly said to the woman of Canaan:
Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
--Jesus came to seek and to save the lost?
Which lost? He first concentrated on the lost Jews. After those lost Jews were saved (his disciples and then Pentecost), they were to go to the lost Samaritans, (Acts 8), and then to the lost Gentiles (Acts 10), and so the Great Commission was carried out, and is still being carried out today. The lost are all over this world and need to be saved. Jesus died for the lost. Those that believe shall be saved.
As I said, the sheep do not become sheep. The goats do not become goats -- they are presently.Remember,the sheep=the elect= the Church=the Body=the saints= His possession etc.
Again, you have a false dichotomy.
Jesus went searching for a "lost sheep," not a lost goat.
A lost coin, not a lost goat, etc.
And concerning "the Church", there is no such thing as a Universal Church.
Ekklesia refers only to local church as the word means assembly.
The Bible uses other designations for the non-elect in addition to the word 'goats'. It employs the words 'serpents','vipers','snakes', 'foxes' ,'wolves' etc. But ultimately there will be only two groups -- the sheep and the goats.
Goats are not used until the Judgment of the nations.
The other words all have a particular meaning depending on the context in which it is used.
For example:
Nehemiah 4:3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build,
if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
--The word "fox" was used simply because they were numerous in number and did no harm. They were not innately evil. They were harmless. It was said in scorn.
Luke 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and
tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
--On this verse A.T. Roberson says:
This epithet for the cunning and cowardice of Herod shows clearly that Jesus understood the real attitude and character of the man who had put John the Baptist to death and evidently wanted to get Jesus into his power in spite of his superstitious fears that he might be John the Baptist redivivus.
--Obviously neither one has the meaning of unsaved or false teacher, etc.
A sheep is one who is eternally safe in the loving arms of Christ where no one and no thing can separate us from Him.
Christ is not a Goat-Herder. He is the Good and Great Shepherd of His sheep alone. John 10:11:"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep."( NLTse, see verses 15,17 and 18 also).
No one said Christ is a goat herder. Why would you imply he was?
