Notice what Jesus says in Matthew 21:28-32 "But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. {29} He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. {30} And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. {31} Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. {32} For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."

Jesus is once again focusing on one of his most preached topics in this passage. He wants the religious leaders of his time, and ours as well, to know that actions speak louder than words. The religious world of our time had better wake up to this fact or there will be tons of disappointed people on judgment day. We can’t give God lip service and expect him to be happy. Jesus seems to teach this message in every way he possibly can. In Matthew 7:21 He says,  "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." But no matter how often or how many different ways he gave this message there were many then and now who proudly proclaim to be Christians, children of God, and followers of Christ and go about living like the devil. 

It is sad to know there will always be hypocrites, but it is sadder still to see churches and church leaders who condone, approve, or even actively encourage this sinful lifestyle. We all have sinned, but we should be ashamed of those things and work diligently to get that sin out of our lives. Just pretending to be holy on Sunday will never impress Jesus or His Father.

Jesus in asking, “what think ye?”, let’s us know that He wants us to think about what we do and what will please God. We live in a world that emphasizes emotions or feelings to such an extent that how someone feels has become far more important to most people than what they think. Just ask ten religious people if they are right with God, and most if not all will respond with, “I feel. . .” or something similar. But what think ye? It is a wonderful feeling to feel safe and saved, but God won’t be determining who gets into heaven on the basis of feelings. Feelings just are not always right and we know it. It would not be good, for example, for me to decide whether to slow down and stop at an intersection based on whether I felt safe. I might feel safe going right through a red light just before being smashed by an 18-wheeler. No, we can’t live life based on our feelings alone.

Christianity is a religion based on what we can know and reason from God’s word. It is a religion of the mind first and the heart second. We must learn to do what we know is right regardless of how we feel, and then learn to feel good about doing what is good.

That brings us to the two sons in Jesus’ parable. The father gave them both the same command. The first did not feel like obeying, and consequently told the father he wouldn’t. This son’s feelings about the task may or may not have changed, but his attitude (state of mind) did change. He did what he knew was right. The other son knew what was right and told the father what he wanted to hear. He apparently didn’t feel like doing it either, however, and followed those feelings. The people Jesus was talking to thought the first son was the one who did right, but there are many today who would probably argue that if the sons didn’t feel good about doing it then it was okay for them to not do the work. They would probably say that it was okay for the second son to lie to his father so the father’s feelings wouldn’t be hurt. That is certainly what people do.

So, what do you think? Which son did right? The one who followed his feelings? Or, The one who followed his reasoning? What about you? Are there things that you are doing because it feels good or right even though the Bible teaches that it is wrong?

Jesus asks two questions in Matthew 16:26. First, "...what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” As we mentioned in our last article the answer is ‘nothing’ and in fact he has lost a great deal in the bargain. The second question is, “...what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” This is the question we want to focus on this week. Instead of thinking of ‘a man’ as Jesus asked the question, we need to make it more personal. It is always easy for us to tell what others should do or what some hypothetical person should or shouldn’t do in some hypothetical situation. It is quite different for us to look as honestly and objectively at our own lives. 

That is why we often ask a question as Jesus did to get an honest answer and then see if people will take it to heart and apply the lesson to their own lives. For example: when asked if it is wrong for someone to steal from them almost everyone would say, “yes, of course it would be wrong for someone to take something that belonged to me.” But when push comes to shove there are far fewer people who believe that principle, ‘it is wrong to take something that is not yours’ applies to them. We know it is wrong to steal, but many of us practice it on a regular basis. At this point people say ‘not me’ and some really mean it. Do you report all of your income on your tax forms? Have you ever bought or sold food stamps? Did you ever take a few supplies from your office or job? You see, most of us have never broken into someone’s house and carried out their TV, but many take things that don’t belong to them on a regular basis.

So, it is easy for us to say nothing is more valuable than a soul and nothing would be worth losing your soul. The real question is will we apply that fact to ourselves and the way we live our lives. Instead of wondering what a man will give in exchange for his soul, ask “what will I give for mine?” What answers do you come up with?

You may be thinking this is silly. Why would anyone ever make a trade that would cost his or her soul? The answer is simpler than you might think. Most of the time the soul is lost before it is even realized. Much like an addiction that starts working before the person realizes it. Maybe you have already traded your soul and don’t know it. With some it is alcohol and drugs. With others it is lust, pornography, and sexual immorality. With many it may be friends and family. With a few it is a job or a business or some other wealth building scheme. Sometimes it is apathy,  laziness, or a desire for fun and games. Maybe it is hatred, racism, or bigotry. Whatever pulls you away from God is what the devil will use to destroy your soul.

Ironic isn’t it that some of the very things God created for us to enjoy and to help bring us closer to him are the very things the devil adds to his own evil ways to try to draw us away. Who would ever imagine that the innocent little baby cooing in your arms could be exactly what Satan needs to keep you from prayer and Bible study. Sometimes Satan even uses churches and religion to keep people firmly in his grasp. When we put man-made rules and traditions before God’s word we have traded our souls for those things just as the Pharisees of Jesus day had.

What are you giving in exchange for your soul? I hope you won’t trade it, but even if you have there is good news. God is in the business of buying back or redeeming souls that have been traded. We would be happy to help you get your soul out of the devil’s hands and back into God’s. Let me know if we can help.

QITB - Questions in the Bible - is a series of articles based on questions that were actually asked in the Bible. They are on a variety of topics for that very reason, so they will be grouped in the category 'questions in the bible' on the right side.


In our world today many religions teach that salvation and eternal life are the free gifts of God and that noone has to ‘do’ anything to receive them. One belief statement I read recently said this: “When man... becomes blameworthy, his only hope is a work of grace by God alone.  ...The ground of our salvation is the shed blood of Jesus Christ; the occasion of our salvation is our believing God in this regard. Faith and faith alone being the requirement for the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, we believe that the believer is eternally saved in him.” That sounds great to most of us. It tells us that we can go to heaven without doing anything and that once we believe that God will save us he will and we can’t lose it. It sounds ‘too good to be true’. Well, when something sounds too good to be true it usually is.

In Matthew 19:16 a man comes to Jesus and asks the question, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”. This man must not have known the teaching above, so, Jesus is going to tell him about it, right? Wrong! Jesus, instead of telling the man that there was nothing he could do and that if he would just believe he would get eternal life, told him, “...but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” I guess Jesus did not know about the teaching quoted above either. Who do you suppose knows how to get to heaven better, Jesus, the Son of God? Or the man who thought up the teaching in the last paragraph?

In every area of life we see that in order to receive something we must do something. It is certainly true that we cannot get to heaven without the grace of God and it is equally true that we can’t make it without faith. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that salvation is the gift of God, but even a gift is of no use without action on the part of the recipient. Imagine if you will that I (or more likely someone rich) offered to anyone and everyone a Wal-mart gift card for $100. If that happened it would be a free gift, but it would do you absolutely no good until you made use of it. 

Let’s look at all the things you would have to ‘do’ in order to receive this ‘free’ gift. First, you would have to know about the offer, just as we must know about God’s offer of salvation. Second, you would have to believe it was true, just as we must believe God’s offer is valid. Third, you would have to get the gift card, just knowing and believing would not cause the gift card to magically appear in your hand. Whatever the method prescribed for receiving the gift would have to be followed whether it was: send your name and address, call this number, or come here to pick it up. The same holds true with salvation. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Fourth, you would have to keep the card. If you lost it or it was stolen from you it would not be the giver’s fault. Salvation can be lost or given away, fortunately, it can’t be stolen, but someone who was once saved can be lost. If that were not the case why would there be so many warnings in the Bible telling us to be faithful, hold fast, be steadfast, etc.? Finally, you would have to go to Wal-mart and use the card. You couldn’t use it at Fred’s, Piggly Wiggly, or the local gas stations. So, you see that even a ‘free’ gift requires work or obedience on the part of the recipient.

Salvation is a wonderful gift, but in order to take advantage of it you must “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”(Philippians 2:12)