Short Answer
The parable of the ten virgins is about salvation, not about believers missing the rapture. It distinguishes between those who are truly prepared for Christ’s return and those who are not. Being ready means having genuine faith, not just outward association with Christianity.
The Overview
The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 is often misunderstood as teaching that some believers may be left behind because they were not spiritually alert enough. However, the main point of the parable is much simpler and more serious—it is about who truly belongs to the kingdom of God and who does not.
In the parable, five virgins are prepared with oil, while the other five are not. When the bridegroom arrives, the unprepared are shut out. This is not describing believers who are temporarily unready but still saved; rather, it represents people who were never truly prepared for Christ’s return in the first place. The distinction is between genuine faith and superficial association.
The broader message is about living with an eternal perspective. True followers of Christ live in anticipation of His return and are focused on what lies beyond this life. Those who ignore or neglect this reality show that their hearts are not truly aligned with Him. The warning is not about missing an event but about missing the kingdom altogether.
Additionally, this parable should not be used to determine someone’s place in end-times events based on their theological understanding. A person’s salvation is not dependent on having perfect knowledge of topics like the rapture or end-times details. What matters is genuine faith in Christ, not complete accuracy in every doctrine.
Key Takeaways
- The Parable Is About Salvation
It distinguishes between those who are truly saved and those who are not. - Preparedness Reflects Genuine Faith
Being “ready” means having a real relationship with Christ. - It Is Not About Missing the Rapture
The passage does not teach that believers are left behind due to lack of readiness. - Eternal Perspective Is Essential
True believers live with an awareness of Christ’s return. - Salvation Is Based on Faith, Not Knowledge
Understanding of end-times doctrine does not determine one’s salvation.
Read Full Raw Transcript
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Let’s talk to Ken. Ken, you’re on the air with Mike Fabar. How can I help? Can I help? >> Yeah, I was checking about the uh the 10 virgins. You know, five were ready and five weren’t. There’s a lot of people in that situation. What happens to those that are not ready? They’re believers, but they weren’t prepared. They weren’t looking for him. So, where do they they go through the tribulation because they’re not going to be raptured up? >> Yeah. No, I don’t I don’t think that’s
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the picture of the 10 virgins. Uh the parable of the 10 virgins is trying to make a statement about those included in the kingdom and those not included in the kingdom. Right? This is an issue of salvation, which is one of the principles of hermeneutics. If we’re going to go and interpret a text, we got to know that it’s got one simple point. And the point here is you need to be ready. You need to be thinking beyond the scope of this life, which ultimately is what kingdom people do. Now you could
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say in the book of Hebrews now this is a different concept right we should be waiting so that we don’t shrink back when he appears in shame we want to be thinking do I want to be caught doing this when the lord comes a lot of his parables speak to the vigilance of thinking about that so that we don’t start beating our fellow servant as it says or getting drunk so it is a motivation for my sanctification to live with an expectation of the coming of Christ but I think the Matthew 25 um parable of the 10 virgins has to do with
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whether or not you’re even thinking beyond the next life, which is the whole point of the Christian life. I’m not living for the here and now. I’m living for the then and there. Therefore, I have to make sacrifices now to follow Christ so that I can be included when the bridegroom returns. And and Christ knew this would be a long period of time as second Peter says that people are going to mock he’s not coming back. So I I think we need to simplify what’s going on in the parable of the virgins and we
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need to uh understand that the issue that you’re thinking of is addressed in scripture and it’s addressed in scripture when we start thinking about how we are supposed to be motivated in our holy living by the return of Christ. So, in other words, it looks like here they’re they’re shut out. And of course, they are shut out. And everyone’s going to be shut out of the kingdom that doesn’t start thinking about what happens after you die. That’s why like I think my dad’s favorite oneline opener
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for evangelism with a with a person that we don’t know, a cold contact evangelism. What do you think happens when you die? That’s a great question. It gets a man thinking about afterlife. And that’s the whole point of the 10 virgins ultimately. uh you’ve got to know that Christ is coming. There’s more to this life than this life. And if you don’t prepare now, there won’t be a time because it’s appointed under man once to die and then face the judgment. But as I said, it doesn’t mean that as some
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people try to interpret Matthew 25 that uh that principle is not found in scripture because of course it is found in scripture. We don’t want to shrink in shame when Christ returns as Hebrews 10:39 says. That’s my take on it, Ken. Does that help? >> Okay. What about uh people that do not believe in the rapture? They’re they believe in Jesus and given, you know, they’ve committed theirelves to him, but for some reason the rapture issue is just something they don’t comprehend or
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grasp, right? >> What What’s the status of them? Well, I I you don’t have to have the right esquetology to be uh a part of God’s esqueological plan. God’s esqueological plan. I think none of us can sit down and accurately put every piece in place like when is the beacy judgment going to take place or when is the marriage supper of the lamb or when is it completed or when does it start? There’s a lot of esque esqueological questions that we don’t know the details of. And
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if you say, “Well, here someone doesn’t even believe that the rapture of the church takes place as a pre-event before we have his feet touching the Mount of Olives, and we believe it happens seven years later at least.” And therefore, you’re going to say, “Well, what if my esquetology is not right about the rapture? Am I going to miss it?” No, you don’t. Your being found in Christ and being a part of Christ’s plan for his righteous people in the esqueological
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plan of heaven is not contingent on your esquetology. It’s contingent on your faith in Christ. Think about the brand new. Think about the last person to become a Christian. Right? If all of this based on second Peter 3 is that he’s delaying his coming, not because he’s slow to keep his promise, but he’s wanting all to come to repentance and there is an all a list of people that God is going to bring to faith in Christ. And so that last person gets saved, they know hardly anything. They
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don’t even know verses of assurance. They don’t know verses of a lot of things, but their faith was saving faith. Well, if God’s escatological plan happens a second after that person’s real faith, well, then they don’t know anything about esquetology, but they’re going, right? Everyone’s going. And let’s just say you and I are wrong about the rapture, that it’s going to happen at the end of the tribulation instead of the beginning of the tribulation. Or let’s just say there was no tribulation
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and all the predtoists were right that it all happened in 70 AD. Okay, I think they’re wrong, but they think I’m wrong. Well, what does that mean? Well, that means all of us, if we trust in Christ, are going to go exactly when and where God has designed this and planned this to be. So, I don’t worry about the fact that I’ve got a brother in Christ who has a different esquetology than I do, and I’ve got plenty of those. Uh, I think whatever’s going to happen, God is going to to do, and he’s going to do it
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with his his children, and you’re his child. Not if you pass the the esquetology test, but whether or not you pass the the test of faith. Very good. >> Okay. Okay, Ken, that was a great question. Really, really good. And I think a lot of people so focused on their esquetology that they think, uh, you know, this is my esquetology, so this is going to happen for me, but that’s not your esquetology. That’s not going to happen for you. And I can see where maybe a reading of Matthew 25
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would lead you to that conclusion. But I hope that I’ve addressed that well enough. Thanks for the question, Ken.
