Another group of people who are tares are the so-called Christians who do not believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Rather, they consider the Lord's crucifixion as a kind of martyrdom. We must realize that the Lord Jesus did not die on the cross as a martyr but to accomplish our redemption. The Lord Jesus was on the cross for six hours, from nine o'clock in the morning until three o'clock in the afternoon. During the first three hours, from nine to twelve, He was persecuted and damaged by man. But during the last three hours, from twelve noon until three o'clock, He was suffering, not at the hand of man, but at the hand of God. At that time God was judging Him for our sake, reckoning Him as our substitute (2 Cor. 5:21). First He was persecuted by man, and then He was judged by God. Thus, His death was not a kind of persecution and martyrdom but was to accomplish redemption for us. Some so-called Christians do not believe that the Lord Jesus died on the cross for our redemption. This means they do not believe Isaiah 53. This indicates that they are tares. In summary, if a person claims to be a Christian and yet does not believe that the Bible is inspired by God word by word, that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, even God Himself, and that the Lord Jesus died on the cross for our redemption, that person is a tare. He is not a real, genuine believer.

What then is a real Christian? A real Christian is one who realizes he is sinful, fallen, and lost. He believes in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God who was incarnated to be a man, died on the cross for our sins, and was resurrected from the dead to be the life-giving Spirit. He believes that the Lord Jesus as the Spirit is now within him as his very life and everything to him. This is a real Christian, and this is the wheat. Do not test whether you are wheat or tares according to your feelings. Your feelings are very fluctuating. In the morning you may feel you are wheat, but by the evening you may feel you are a tare. Do not trust in your feelings; rather trust in the facts. If you believe that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, that He was incarnated to be man, that He died on the cross for your sins, and that today He is the Lord and the life-giving Spirit who has come into you, surely you are wheat. Do not be preoccupied by doctrines concerning tongues, baptism, communion, headcovering, footwashing, the rapture, the tribulation, the Sabbath, and many other things. Regardless of which side you take with all these doctrines, as long as you believe that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God who died for you and who arose and who is now sitting at the right hand of the Father, you are wheat. Remember, though, that Christendom includes not only the wheat, but also the tares.

According to the Lord's clear definition in Matthew 13:38, the field where the tares grow is not our heart or the church, but the world. The Lord Jesus said the field is the world. He said the tares should be allowed to grow and live in the world lest in uprooting them some real wheat be damaged. Some have thought that the field is the church and that it is permissible for the wheat and the tares to be together in the church. This is absolutely wrong. The tares grow in the world, not in the church. It is not that there should be some real Christians and some false Christians growing together in the church. In all the local churches we only accept the real wheat. We do not accept the tares. Many denominations are full of tares. In some denominations there are many more tares than there are real Christians. What a poor situation! That is the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. It is not a real and genuine situation for the Lord. Rather, it is false. It only has the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, not the reality. In Matthew 13 the Lord Jesus likened these three parables to the kingdom of the heavens. He said the kingdom of the heavens is likened to the tares, to the great tree, and to the leaven. We must realize this is not the real thing; this is the false thing. By comparing what is mentioned in Matthew 13 with what is mentioned in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, we can see that these are two different aspects. In chapters five, six, and seven there is the aspect of the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. But in chapter thirteen with the tares, the great tree, and the leaven there is the outward appearance of the kingdom.