What Do Jesus' Parables Mean? (Crucial Questions Series)

by R.C. Sproul

Jesus came not only to instruct and to help people understand the kingdom of God, He came also as a judgment on those who don’t want to hear the truth.

Why Jesus come

“You fool! Don’t you understand that foolishness is the antithesis of wisdom, and that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord? It’s reverence for God.”

Fear of the Lord

Him. Rather, unbelief is a moral problem. Unbelievers don’t worship because they don’t want to worship. They don’t listen because they don’t want to listen. They don’t have ears to hear because they don’t want to have ears to hear.

Unbelief

If we give forgiveness to someone who sins against us and asks our forgiveness and he does it again, we can’t say, “That’s two.” That would reveal that we didn’t forgive him the first time. If we grant forgiveness, we are saying, “I remember this against you no more.” That’s what “I forgive you” really means.

Forgiveness

The word economics or economy comes from that Greek word oikonomia, which means “house law” or “house rule.” It is the word from which we get the concept of stewardship—a steward manages the affairs of the house, but he is not the owner. By extension, Christians view everything we have, including our skills and abilities, as gifts from God, and we are called to be stewards of everything that we receive from the hand of God.

Stewardship