Understanding Wheat and Tares

True Holiness versus Cheap Love and Grace
God desires a Holy Church. Scripture rightly divided reveals that not only is God holy, but He wants a holy people. He wants a people who are holy in all their conduct (1 Peter 1:13-16). Now, it is evident that some have tried to be holy by works of the flesh; legalism and religious spirits have had a "heyday" in parts of the Church. On the other hand, there are those who live carnal, sinful lives and change Scripture to justify their choices. They live and espouse a cheap love and grace.

In many places the pulpit has been taken over by carnal men and women who live deliberate sinful lifestyles and justify it by changing the meaning of Scripture. They are gaining many followers and are joining forces. In the past, some tried to hide their secret sins from most people, but now they are becoming more open and flagrant. Ministers and congregations are popping up all over the place that espouse and demonstrate a new way of living. They preach and talk about Jesus, love, justice, mercy, and grace while living like the world and proclaiming that heaven awaits them. They are deceived and are deceiving many others; it is a flagrant case of the blind leading the blind. God's Word warns that false teachers will lead many astray with their destructive heresies, and it is happening all around us.

Lack of Biblical Study
Second Timothy 2:15 in the Amplified Bible states: Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth. Sadly, few professing Christians, including those in ministry, personally study, correctly analyze, and accurately divide the Word of God enough to know truth from error or to discern good and evil. They are therefore easily deceived by every wind of doctrine and those ministers who, likewise, do not study, correctly analyze, and rightly divide Scripture. Those who do not know God’s Word become easy prey for false teaching, whether that teaching is done mistakenly by immature ministers or deliberately by false and carnal ministers.

Parable of Wheat and Tares
One of the many topics that is often wrongly taught is the parable of the wheat and tares. Immature ministers who don't know better and false ministers with deceitful and/or carnal motives have improperly trained church members about the parable of the wheat and tares, resulting in many professing Christians misinterpreting what Scripture teaches about wheat and tares. It begins by changing the meaning of one word in this parable. The error and the deception begin by stating that, in this parable, the field is the Church. From there, false teaching springs forth that is devastating to the holiness, purity, unity and maturity of the Church. Many doors are opened for accepting, hiding, or even justifying carnal and immoral behavior in ministers and church members.

Knowing Truth Sets Free
Those who continue in the Word will learn the truth about this parable. The field represents the world. In the world, there are both righteous sons of God and wicked sons of the evil one. The Church, on the other hand, is to be made up of disciples who have been crucified with Christ, have denied self and forsaken all to follow Him in the unity of faith with other true and like-minded disciples. Together, they are fulfilling God's will on earth and making themselves ready for the marriage of the Lamb. Always know and remember that there is a tremendous difference in wheat and tares making up the population of the world and wheat and tares making up the body of Christ. Many professing Christians, including some ministers, do not know the difference (Just as they don't know the difference in the Kingdom of God and the Church). Those ministers are not equipping the saints properly! The parable is about wheat and tares growing side by side in the world; it is not about wheat and tares growing side by side in the Church.

Conclusion
Jesus Christ is looking for a Church in His image. He is looking for a Church that has Christ formed within. He is looking for a Church that is mature, holy as He is holy, and unified in faith. He is not looking for a Church that is divided, immature, and fleshly in her conduct. He is not looking for a Church made up of wheat and tares. He is looking for a Church made up of obedient disciples who are going out into the world and ministering the gospel to the lost in the world. He is looking for disciples to be used of Him to witness truth that will turn the lost into good wheat. He is looking for a Church that is so formed in His image and so filled with His power that when the lost visit with them, they are transformed by the Spirit and presence of Christ. They come in lost and leave as wheat. They come in worldly and heavy laden and leave born again, Spirit filled, and singing the praises of God.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
(Matthew 13) 24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Parable Explained
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!