Please consider the above parable carefully. There is a lot of food for thought here.

First of all, we know when the separation will take place "at the end of the age," probably referring to the end of the Church Age.

This parable shows clearly that our salvation is established at the end of the age, not at some point in past time when we "accepted Christ."

The Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a net. It brings up all kinds of fish.

At the end of the age the good fish are retrieved from the Kingdom net and the bad are thrown away.

Notice that the good fish are the righteous and the bad fish are the wicked. The division is not between those who accept Christ and those who do not, but between the righteous and the wicked. When the Lord returns He will not be concerned about our doctrinal beliefs but about our behavior. This truth needs to be brought to the attention of Evangelical believers because we are in error on this point.

Now, here is the issue and this needs a lot of thought.

The question is where will this division take place?

Our natural reaction, I think, is that it will take place on the earth.

But please consider: at any given point in time the great majority of those who were brought in by the Kingdom net are in the spirit realm, not alive on the earth.

The division between the wicked and the righteous does not take place at the time of physical death but at the end of the age.

Since only a small fraction of those who will be involved in the separation will be alive on the earth at the end of the age (we assume), we are forced to the conclusion that the division will take place both on earth and in the spirit realm primarily in the spirit realm.

Since we have not arrived at the end of the age (I don't think), although we probably are close to it, this means the separation of the wicked from the righteous is yet ahead of us. In fact, it may be beginning already.

I think the Lord today is removing the sin from His people. This is a program of judgment and deliverance. The Spirit of God helps us judge our own conduct. When we confess our sins and turn away from them God is faithful and righteous to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This process of judgment and deliverance always has been in the Bible but appears to be emphasized today.

If we are willing to surrender to the Holy Spirit the spiritual death that is in us, we shine forth in God's Kingdom, so to speak. But if we continue with our worldly, lustful, self-centered life, then we ourselves will be removed from the Kingdom and cast into the fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

To be continued.