“The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’ “He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.’ “The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?’ “He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’”
Are we told to pull up the weeds now? No. Because we haven’t the skill and expertise and all-knowing to pull up the weed without affecting the wheat. We do not see as the Son sees. What is the weed? Not a sinning believer but unbelievers who have heard the Word but not embraced it in Spirit. We receive forgiveness by faith.
When we are forgiven, we are forgiven indeed. The wheat? Believers who have received Christ. They might not yet be perfected or fully grown as some are, but they are wheat nonetheless that are growing in His grace.
It isn’t harvest time yet at the end of the age. We are in the season where growth is taking place and seeds are still being sown and watered. The Son will instruct the angels when the time comes on how to separate the weed from the wheat. We plant, we water, we fertilise and till the soil- the Father does the sorting, the differentiating, the judging. Not us.