Foolish . . . wise: cf the contrasted “wise man” and “fool” of Matthew 7:24, 26...Nothing to do with the status of saved versus unsaved.
On the contrary, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 1Cr 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
2Ti 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
There are may places in scripture that talks about believers being wise and the wise being foolish.
Stay awake: some scholars see this command as an addition to the original parable of Matthew’s traditional material,
All believers are extorted to persevere just as God calls all to repent. But just as it is impossible to repent without God's help (2 Tim 2:25), we can only persevere with God's help (2 Th 3:3).
Wicked, lazy servant: this man’s inactivity is not negligible but seriously culpable.
No. He knew God to be a "hard master". God is loving and kind looking out for our welfare. If he really understood God, he would not have made that statement.
The conclusion of the discourse, which is peculiar to Matthew, portrays the final judgment that will accompany the parousia.
It all fits and is complete.
I think that this chapter says what it means - that those who show mercy will be shown mercy and those who use their talents for God will be rewarded. It is reaching too far to try to label the sheep and goats the elect and the predamned. There is no evidence. And there is too much evidence that Jesus says very clearly exactly what he means.
I didn't label the sheep and the goats the elect and the damned-although that is what they are. Are you saying that those on the right are not the elect? Our views on Matthew illustrates why you believe you are saved by your works and I believe that I am saved by Christ's righteousness. These views are worlds apart like the left and the right.
Sigh.
Here we go again, trumping Jesus’ words with passages from Paul. We are supposed to interpret Paul, and the others, from the prism of the Gospels, not vice versa. Paul admonishing one of his wayward churches beats Jesus speaking in Matthew. We really are worlds apart in that respect.
In terms of the parable of the servant, repeated in the Gospels, the servant that incurs the wrath is the one who DOES nothing, not the one who IS nothing.
The sheep are judged to be sheep BECAUSE of what they have done, not because they won the everlasting lottery. The goats are judged to be goats BECAUSE of what they have not done, not because they lost the everlasting lottery.