📖 Biblical Definition
In Matthew 25, Christ describes the final judgment using the imagery of a shepherd separating sheep from goats. The sheep are those who demonstrated genuine faith through acts of mercy — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting prisoners (Matthew 25:35-36). The goats are those who neglected these duties. The sheep inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world; the goats depart into everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46). The distinction is not earned by works but revealed by them — genuine faith produces visible fruit.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
SHEEP: An animal of the genus Ovis, remarkable for its usefulness and patience. Figuratively, those under the care of a pastor.
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Webster recognized the figurative use of sheep to denote God's people under pastoral care. The biblical contrast between sheep (docile, following the shepherd) and goats (independent, willful) illustrates the fundamental division between those who submit to Christ and those who go their own way.
📖 Key Scripture
• Matthew 25:31-33 — "He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats."
• Matthew 25:46 — "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
• John 10:27 — "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The parable is reduced to social activism, stripping it of its eschatological judgment context.
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Progressive theology uses the sheep and goats parable exclusively as a proof-text for social justice, ignoring its context as a description of final, eternal judgment. The passage is wielded to argue that humanitarian work is the essence of Christianity — that what you do for the poor is all that matters. But the parable presupposes the reality of eternal punishment and eternal life, the authority of Christ as King and Judge, and the existence of a kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world. To use this passage to promote social activism while denying the eternal judgment it describes is to gut the text of its actual meaning.
Usage
• "The sheep and goats parable is not about earning salvation through social work — it is about final judgment revealing the fruit of genuine faith."
• "Jesus' sheep hear His voice and follow Him — they are known by their obedience, not their religious performance."