The Grace of God and the Parable of the Laborers--Is God Just

Everyone is pleased to have the grace of God in their life, but are we disturbed when God’s grace shows up in the lives of others seemingly more generously than in our own? I am afraid that is sometimes the case. The parable of the laborers found in Matt. 20:1-16 is an example and also an illustration of how man has a tendency to feel he knows more about what is just than God does. We judge God.

The passage is too long to quote here but I will jog your memory and summarize it for you. A man had a vineyard and needed workers. He went out to hire workers for his vineyard five different times during the day, each time sending them directly to work as they were hired. At day’s end, as was the custom back then, each was paid. A problem arose in the hearts of those hired early in the day when, at the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard paid those who came to work last, late in the day, the same amount as those who had gone to work first. They complained feeling they had been treated unjustly. “These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.” (Matt. 20:12 NKJV)

It is easy to read this account and, at first impulse, feel that indeed the earliest workers were mistreated. We have all been raised to believe in the concept of quid pro quo, pay based on the amount of work done, the more work, the more pay. The last workers in this parable did not do an equal amount of work, far less, yet received equal pay.

To an American this seems most unjust but what was the vineyard owner’s response? “Is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matt. 20:15 NKJV) The ESV reads, “Do you begrudge my generosity?” The NAS reads, “Is your eye envious because I am generous?” The bottom line is that they were jealous and angry over the generosity shown by the vineyard owner to those hired last.

One must understand, and I think we do, that this parable is about God’s dealings with those who believe and obey the gospel. It is about God’s grace, not about how people ought to be paid in the material, physical world in which we live our daily lives. God’s grace gives a man what he needs, not what he deserves. Every person who is saved is granted far more than he deserves. God’s grace is not based on works, not on how much work one has done, not on how difficult it has been, not on how long one has had to endure.

God is always just in the sense that he treats us honestly and fairly and does not go back on the word he has given. In the parable those who went to work in the vineyard earliest in the day were glad to go, to have the opportunity, and agreed that the wage set was fair and the work required was just. He did not ask of them more than they could do or were willing to do.

These early workers were blessed and enjoyed the grace of the vineyard owner. What had he done for them? He had given them work. Not every man was so blessed with a job. He had given them security. At the end of the day they knew their need to feed their family was going to be met. He had given them dignity and self-respect. They need not hang their head in embarrassment and shame as those who could not provide for themselves and their family.

Those were great blessings in that day and they are great blessings in this day. These men were treated not only with justice but with grace in being given these blessings. They should have been in a state of thanksgiving and rejoicing, and perhaps they were for a time--until the time they learned of grace given to others, grace beyond what they perceived had been given to them. Envy and jealousy arose. If we are not careful the same attitude can develop within us and for the same reason. It is the age-old complaint that men have that God is not fair. In the parable, the vineyard owner is representative of God. Was he fair? Did he do what was right?

In the parable, as the day went on, others were hired with the last being hired at the eleventh hour, quite late in the work day. When this last set of men were hired they were told, “whatever is right you will receive.” (Matt. 20:7 NKJV) When they were paid at the end of the work day what did they receive? They received the same amount as did those who had worked far more hours of the day, who had endured a much greater workload because of it, and who had borne the heat of the day. But, note what those at the eleventh hour received--they had received what was “right.” (Matt. 20:7)

How could that be? If I owned a business today and went out and hired men as in the parable and acted accordingly in paying them, would I be doing what was right? Most would say no. In what sense then could this be said to be “right”? If it was “right,” it would have been wrong to have done it the way most think it should have been done--pay based on the amount of work done.

Here is what made it “right.” Every man hired that day had an equal need--the need to feed himself and his family, if he had one, which is most likely. If it is in my power to do good and make that possible for another man, can I be righteous and fail to do it? “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17 NKJV)

Paul told Timothy to command the rich to “be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.” (1 Tim. 6:18 NKJV)

In Matt. 25 who is it that is going to be condemned on the last day? “Then he will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’” (Matt. 25:41-43 NKJV)

“But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17 NKJV) The eleventh-hour men in the parable had a need. The vineyard owner, since he had it in his power, could not have been a just man with the love of God in his heart and done anything other than what he did. What he did was good and right. If these laborers had not had need they would not have been laboring, so there was a need to be met that could not now be met by any other principle.

What was that principle? The principle of grace. God is a God of grace. If we are his children, we too must have grace for others. When we take the position everyone has to earn all he gets, then that locks us all out of heaven “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23 NKJV) Remember this parable is in reality about spiritual matters, not economics.

Many who work hard and make a living develop an attitude toward those who have been less fortunate than themselves. It goes something like this. See me, see what I have done, anyone could have done the same and would have if they had any get up and go about them and were not so shiftless. Look at me. Vanity, pride, arrogance all fit into one body made of dust to which it will in due time return. I have even heard preachers talk along this line.

It would be good to look closer at the eleventh-hour laborers. In the parable when the vineyard owner was preparing to hire the eleventh hour workers he quizzes them before doing so and asks them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” (Matt. 20:6 NKJV) Their answer is, “Because no one hired us.” (Matt. 20:7 NKJV) It was not that they were lazy, nor that they had not been seeking work. It may well have been simply a matter of not being in the right place at the right time. I say that because the vineyard owner had been seeking day laborers evidently all day long hiring it seems about any who would answer the call. He only runs into these men at the eleventh hour and yet they had obviously been where they were long enough to have been passed over by other employers, as per their answer to the vineyard owner’s question.

Why were they passed over? Was it unwillingness to work? They went to work at the eleventh hour knowing the work day was pretty much over and that they could not realistically expect anything close to a full day’s wages, yet they went being willing to work for what they could get. They had been passed over but it was not because of failure to seek work or unwillingness to work. People are passed over for employment for a great many reasons that have nothing to do with character in the least bit and yet we so often see their plight as their fault for look at us, we raised ourselves up by the bootstrap and if they have any grit about them they would do the same.

We, if we are not careful, see ourselves, because we were hired, as worthy, as talented, as deserving, while looking down on the other guy who was not hired. We can sin in our attitude toward others if we are not awfully careful and it is not just a matter of attitude but also of judging. Where is compassion and mercy? Where is grace?

I do not judge those first hired in the parable as regards their attitude toward the eleventh hour workers for their attitude was not revealed save in one particular. They, in concern for self only, lost sight of compassion for others who had a like need (provide for themselves and for their family). How easy that is to do. It is easy to do, but it is still a sin.

Were the first-hour workers treated fairly? Most certainly, for they got exactly what they had been happy to agree to. Had they been paid in private and left unaware of what the later laborers received, they would have walked away fully satisfied and content. But, as it was, they were made jealous by the generosity of another, one who gave grace.

Bible teaching is that we “rejoice with those who rejoice.” (Rom. 12:15 NKJV) The proper attitude is to be happy and thankful for the good fortune of others. I think we know this but we have to battle human nature (which tends towards jealousy and envy) and overcome it if we are to become the person of character that we need to be having the kind of attitude God would have us have. Those first hired in the parable fell short in this respect.

Jesus used the parable about the laborers in the vineyard to teach how God’s grace works for those who become Christians. We become Christians at different stages in life and in different circumstances and environments. Some have much longer to live and labor as soldiers of Christ than do others. Likewise, some suffer much greater persecution than do others with the apostles being perfect examples of that. Yet, we all, if we will live faithfully unto death, receive the same inheritance.

Is it fair? Would you have it any other way? If it is your son, your daughter, your wife, your husband, your mother, or your dad who is the eleventh-hour worker, you would have it no other way. Give praise to God for his grace. We are pleased with his promise to us no matter what hour worker we are, and rejoice in the grace he gives others. No, we would have it no other way. We will not complain, and we are overcome with joy to know there is hope, even yet, that some will come to work at the eleventh hour, even some of our loved ones.

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No Inheritance in The Kingdom of God – Part IV

This article will conclude a series on the nature of the sins listed by the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 6:9-10, Gal. 5:19-21, and Eph. 5:5-7 which Paul says will deprive a person of any inheritance in the kingdom of God if practiced and not repented of.  In Part 1 the sins of adultery and fornication were covered; Part II covered the sins of homosexuality, sodomy, uncleanness, and lewdness; Part III dealt with the sins of idolatry, covetousness, thievery, extortion, sorcery, hatred, and drunkenness.

In this article, the last article in the series, we will cover every sin listed that remains from the three text passages.  The sins to be covered are revilers, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, and revelries.  Here are texts we have been working from using the New King James Version:

1 Cor. 6:9-10	Gal. 5:19-21	Eph. 5:5-7
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Cor.  6:9-10 NKJV)	“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21 NKJV)	“For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.” (Eph. 5:5-7 NKJV)

Who is a “reviler”?  A reviler is one who is “verbally abusive.”  The Christian Standard Bible and the NET Bible translate the Greek term with that very phrase.  It is abusive language directed at another.  It is one who scolds, who angrily finds fault and reproves another with loud and angry or abusive speech.  This is a way of life with the reviler, who he or she is.  We are commanded to rebuke at times (Luke 17:3, 2 Tim. 4:2 for example) but it is how we do it that makes the difference.

What does “outbursts of wrath” refer to?  There are people who become so angry they cannot contain themselves and have what we might call a meltdown.  They become so overwhelmed with anger they cannot contain themselves, seemingly lose all control, and explode with a vitriol of abusive language directed at their target.   One writer had this to say about it, “There are persons in which these tempests of wrath take a demoniac form. ‘The face grows livid, the limbs move convulsively, the nervous organ­ism is seized by a storm of frenzy, and until it is passed, the individual is completely beside himself.’” It is a frightful thing to observe.  Such a one must repent and learn to control himself if he or she is to have any inheritance in the kingdom of God.

“Dissensions” is a reference to a lack of concord or harmony between persons.  Dictonary.com defines dissension as, “strong disagreement; a contention or quarrel; discord.”  Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says “an insurrection, uproar” and gives Mark 15:7, Luke 23:19, 25, and Acts 19:40,  24:5 as references.  Most of the references listed refer to insurrection but not always.  You can have dissension without outright insurrection.  Under this idea Vine lists Acts 15:2 and Acts 23:7, 10.  To summarize the idea seems to be of a person who sows discord, a person hard to please or satisfy, one who wants to argue and fight.

“Contentions,” another of our sins that keeps one out of an inheritance, as found in the New King James Version is in other versions called strife (CSB, ESV, NAS, NET, NRSV, RV, and YLT).  The NLT uses the word quarreling which according to Strong’s Dictionary is correct.  It says, “a quarrel, that is, (by implication) wrangling.”  It seems to refer to a person who wants to quarrel or fight rather than live with others in peace.  Paul says, in speaking to Christians, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Cor. 1:10 NKJV)  Again, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” (Rom. 12:18 NKJV)  This the contentious person is not doing.  A person has a choice about whether or not to start or engage in a quarrel, to be contentious or not.

“Selfish ambitions” is a work of the flesh Paul lists that he says will deny one an inheritance in the kingdom of God.  What the NKJV calls “selfish ambitions” other translations call rivalries (ESV, YLT), selfish rivalries (NET), strife (KJV), disputes (NAS), and factions (RV).  The Greek word is “eris” and Vine says it “is the expression of enmity.”  It would seem to be then one who is opposed to another to the extent he is determined to get the best of his opponent lacking any charity for him or her, a person who must have his way.

Admittedly, the sins of dissensions, contentions, and selfish ambitions are closely related and a little difficult, on occasion, to distinguish one from the other.  Add to that there may be overlap in that one can be guilty of more than just one of these sins.  There is also the fact that what one translation calls this another translation may call that based on the similarity of the words.  Regardless, I think we all get the general idea of what these terms in the aggregate are teaching.

This brings us to two more terms closely related, sins that keep one out of heaven – “jealousies” and “envy.”  With regards to jealousy here is a case where nearly every translation uses that singular word other than the very oldest translations like the KJV which uses the outdated word emulations.  A jealous person is not happy with the position, success, influence, or wealth of another.  It seems to make him miserable.  Perhaps he feels the other person’s success makes him smaller but whatever the case he cannot be happy.  He is unable to “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom. 12:15 NKJV) nor does he find it easy to be content even though “godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Tim. 6:6 NKJV)

In talking about envy versus jealousy Vine makes this distinction, “Envy desires to deprive another of what he has; jealousy desires to have the same or the same sort of thing for itself.” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, page 367, under Envy)  The Daily Study Bible says, “The essence of it is that it does not describe the spirit which desires, nobly or ignobly, to have what someone else has: it describes the spirit which grudges the fact that the other person has these things at all.  It does not so much want the things for itself; it merely wants to take them from the other.  The Stoics defined it as ‘grief at someone else’s good.’  Basil called it ‘grief at your neighbours good fortune.’  It is the quality, not so much of the jealous, but rather of the embittered mind.”

This brings us to “heresies.”  Here we have a word that can mislead one.  The first thought to mind may be that heresy is some kind of unscriptural false doctrine.  While that may be involved that is not really the meaning of the word.  Here is how it is translated in other versions: factions (CSB, NAS, NET, NIV, NRSV), the NLT and ESV have division and divisions respectively, and the Good News Bible simply says, using its dynamic equivalent form of translation where meaning is preferred over literalness, “they separate into parties and groups.”

Paul condemned this in the church at Corinth when he said, “It has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:11-13a NKJV)

Factions may be over doctrine as is the case in 2 Peter 2:1 but may just as well be over personal preferences.  We are not to be forming parties among God’s people but rather to be united in one mind (1 Cor. 1:10).  “Be of one mind, live in peace.” (2 Cor. 13:11 NKJV)  All of this is not to say one should not take a stand for the truth.  Paul was not creating another factious party in 1 Corinthians 1 and throughout that book when he set about rebuking that church’s sins.  One must not, however, be raising a fuss over peripheral matters.

“Murderers” shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  This sin is easily enough understood.   We know, however, this sin goes beyond the physical act for John says, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15 NKJV)  Jesus taught that “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders ….” (Matt. 15:19 NKJV)  “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” (Prov. 4:23 NLT)

“Revelries” is the last sin to be discussed in this four-part series on Paul’s statements that there would no inheritance in the kingdom of God for those continuing on in these sins.  Many translations use the word “carousing” here instead of the word revelries (see CSB, NAS, NET, and the NRSV).  The ESV, the GNB, and the NIV use the word “orgies.”  The ALT translation says “drunken orgies” and the ERV says “having wild parties.”  We get the idea.  Unfortunately, this is a relatively common sin among many of the younger college-age set.  Once one reaches the age of accountability he can die and go to perdition without living into old age.  We are all accountable for how we live and there is no sowing of your wild oats with God.

Paul adds to his long list of sins in Gal. 5:19-21 this closing, “and such like.”  It is left up to you and me to have enough common sense about us to figure out what else there is.  The list is not finished.  We have in the scriptures enough information about God’s will to take it from here.  We are taught how to live and the nature of things to flee from.  After our initial conversion (the new birth) given a little time on the milk of the word we are to move on to the meat of the word (Heb. 5:12-14).  We are to learn and grow and come to “understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph. 5:17 NKJV)

There are other lists of sins in the New Testament.  Any sin engaged in and never repented of will keep one out of heaven.  It was obviously not Paul’s intent to say here is the all-inclusive list that will do that.  May we all continue to read and study and grow in the scriptures and flee from sin.

(I add this closing note.  There are a number of good free web sites online that will allow you to compare translations.  When doubtful on what a word you come across means it is good to take advantage of those sites as they will be a great help to you in discerning and understanding your Bible.  The same goes for difficult passages as well as individual words.)

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Link to Part I

Link to Part II

Link to Part III