[jo kus]

That is a good point, -- faith is not mentioned directly in the passage. But indirectly -- the goats address Christ as "Lord" and are surprised to learn that they rejected Christ by rejecting the suffering and the poor. Sounds like the goats thought of themselves as believers.

Very good! Much like the other Matthew 25 parables. Each man was given money. Each virgin was expected to be ready. Some were, some used their gifts, some did what God required them to do. And others did not. But the sum total of people in each of these cases were all considered in the same class, initially. Matches well with Matthew 7:21 (Lord, Lord...). Of course, we know from other Scriptures that it is not works alone, but faith AND works. Thus, we understand, as you point out, that faith is indirectly involved and presumed.

Which reminds me once more: Luther never read the gospels

Yea, he was worse than Marcion. Luther would have us believe that Romans and Galatians is the "Gospel".

Regards

[annalex]

He never got past the first three chapters of these either.