The Parable:
The long-haired, jet-black dog started moulting! Yes, you heard me right. I was stunned too. Dogs moult?
Well, this one does. What is
moulting, you ask. It’s when an animal
loses its outer skin. And? Well, that’s it. End of story.
The dog moulted—and I think we can assume it attained another fur; what
color? Well, let’s leave that to the
imagination. I like to assume white.
“She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet
even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table’” (Matthew
15:27).
“Outside are the dogs and
sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone
who loves and practices falsehood” (Revelation 22:15).
“Watch out for those dogs,
those people who do evil…” (Philippians 3:2).
The dogs are certainly descriptive in Scripture of those who
are evil—that is, those who have hearts of sin, who do not fear God, who are not
led by the Spirit of God, who have not been born again of water and the Spirit,
who have not taken upon them the blood covering of Jesus Christ, their
Messiah. These dogs are covered in
darkness—hence the jet-black hair of the dog in our parable. They are incapable of doing that which
pleases God.
As it is written:
“None is righteous, no,
not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
-Romans 3:10-18
Why did the dog moult in our parable? The dog, representative of sinful man in his
sinful nature apart from the grace of Jesus Christ, is not in his natural self
capable of moulting. Dogs don’t moult in
nature. They do shed—just as the sinful
man will always shed the evil that is in his heart—for from the depths of the
heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34).
Yet, though dogs don’t moult, they can be acted upon. He who created them can change them. Yes, God, the creator of man, who has justly
acted upon mankind in their sin to give them the inheritance of their
wickedness and has prevented them from shedding that sin—or rather—removing it
from themselves of their own free will, has acted upon mankind by sending His
only begotten Son, Jesus, to redeem man and enable him to be born again a new
creature. This new creature is not the
dog in its innate nature. It is an
entirely new being. Not only is the
corrupt flesh moulted from off him, but the very inward parts have been changed
so that he does not desire the wretchedness of a dog. A dog returns to its vomit (2 Peter 2:12),
but the redeemed man desires nothing of sin.
No measure of desire on man’s part will change his nature, yet the power
of God is capable of all things!
“So then it depends not on
human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16).
“[Jesus said], ‘It is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter
the kingdom of God.’ And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, ‘Then who can be
saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible
with God’” (Mark 10:25-27).
What then shall we do? If we find ourselves more similar to the dog
with the black hair than the moulted animal, what shall we do? The Apostle Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. For the promise is for you and
for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God
calls to himself” (Acts 2:38-39).
The Lord never turns away an act of true repentance and
faith, and though He will immediately act upon such penitent dogs with the
power to moult and with a heart that now despises the darkness of sin and loves
the light of God’s holiness, that moulting process will take time. Yes, the inward spirit has been changed, but
the outward skin of sinful flesh remains and will slowly moult off the redeemed
saints until they have been fully purified and given the new skin of Jesus’ radiant
righteousness.
“No, dear brothers and
sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one
thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of
the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is
calling us” (Philippians 3:13-14).
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