So how many times can you walk past a beggar and still avoid eternal punishment?
??? No one gets into heaven, no one becomes a member of God's family, on the basis of their good deeds (
Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5). It stands to reason, then, that no one loses their membership in God's family or their place in His kingdom on the basis of their deeds, either. Christ alone is the ground for our acceptance by God. So, the number of times I ignore a beggar has no bearing upon my saved status.
In any case, Christ's remarks in
Matthew 25:41-46 were in reference to
Christian brethren in need, not the average beggar on the street. Every disciple of Christ bears his Spirit, the Spirit of Christ (
Romans 8:9; Titus 3:5; 1 John 4:13) within, and as such will be the natural object of the genuine believer's love, as Christ himself is. To love Christ (the First and Great Commandment -
Matthew 22:36-38) is to love those in whom his Spirit dwells. This is, I believe, what Christ was explaining in
Matthew 25.
The apostle John wrote something very similar:
1 John 3:16-17
16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
These verses aren't indicating that one must love
in order to be saved, but that
the natural consequence of loving the Saviour, of being saved, will be to love the brethren. It is so inevitable that one who loves Christ, who is saved, will love the brethren, that Christ makes them virtually synonymous in
Matthew 25:41-46.
Come on man, you can't have it both ways. Reject the 'love of God' go to hell forever, but as a 'believer' if I eschew charitable works on occasion, it's no problem good and faithful servant, all is forgiven, come right on in! And keep turning that cold shoulder to those who've made their bed in hell.
Those in whom the Spirit of Christ dwells are moved by the Spirit to act in a Christ-like way. It is inevitable, if the believer is spiritually healthy, reasonably mature, and well-discipled, that he will bear the fruit of righteousness in his life. Such a believer will not turn a cold shoulder to the needy - especially of the household of faith. Very naturally, as an extension of his love for God, for Christ, the genuine believer will seek to help the needy.
The sort of "cold shoulder believer" you describe above is either badly in need of discipling, or is not actually a born-again child of God. More often than not, the latter is the case, I think. In any event, it is not one's good deeds that save them, that is the deciding factor in their salvation, but
in whom they have put their trust.