In Matthew 25, Jesus told a story about the judgment of the world. In His story, all people are divided into two groups – sheep, and goats. To the sheep, Jesus says that He will commend them for their lives, saying:

“Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me” (Matt. 25:34-36).

The sheep, in response, are less articulate. In essence, they say, “Huh?”

“When did we do that stuff? We don’t remember seeing you or clothing you or feeding you.”

Their surprise is shocking to me, because in my self-righteousness I often keep an internal list of all the things I’ve done well over the course of a given period of time. As if when that judgment comes, my response would be something like, “Yup. I remember that stuff. Glad to see you took notice, too.”

In the confusion of the sheep, we see the difference between doing good things and living good things. Doing is an act of the will – something that springs from resolve and effort. I’m not saying that it took no effort for the sheep to do the good they did, but their response reveals that these good acts had become so ingrained into the way they were living their lives that they did it because that’s just simply who they were.

Feeding, clothing, and visiting became as natural to them as eating when they were hungry. And in their response, we see again the power of the gospel.

It’s not just about getting into heaven; the gospel is about a complete change in your identity. Through the gospel, you don’t act like a sheep; you actually become a sheep. Then the most natural thing in the world for you to do is to live like what you have already become…

(This article was taken in part from my Bible study called Holy Vocabulary: Rescuing the Language of Faith.)