We are judged not by our sins but what we do with our forgiveness

We as Christians tend to look to the Ten Commandments to judge how our performance measures up against God’s expectations.  And while it is true that Jesus boiled the essence of these commandments down to two: love God and love your neighbor, he spent a great part of his ministry focusing on another means by which the work of those who claim to follow him would be judged.
 
When it comes to the Ten Commandments, Jesus repeatedly showed mercy to those who broke them.  He intervened on behalf of the adulteress.  He declared that the thief who was crucified next to him would join him in Heaven.  He asked God to pardon those who were responsible for his death.  He gained such a reputation for associating with sinners that the Pharisees held him in disdain.
 
When it came to his teaching, Jesus did not focus his teaching on how we handle sin, but rather how we handle grace.  He admonishes us to judge not lest we be judged.  He used the parable of the servant who had his debt forgiven but refused to forgive the debt owed to him to drive home this point (Mat. 18:23-35). 
 
He used the parable of the Prodigal Son to show the love we should have for those who turn back to God and to not be like the “good” son who was embittered by the grace shown to his wayward brother (Luke 15:11-32).  In similar fashion, Jesus used the parable of the workers in which the ones who worked from the start of the day were given the same wage as the ones who worked only an hour (Mat. 20:1-16).  The lesson is that grace is something given, not earned and we should not feel more entitled to it than others who we might deem less worthy.
 
Jesus left his disciples with the “Great Commission” to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.  How seriously should we take this assignment?  Jesus taught the parable of the servants who were each given talents by their master.  Two of the servants invested the money to make more money for their master, while the third servant hid the talent away (Mat. 25:14-30).  This is a lesson on the gift of grace.  Two of the servants could be seen as sharing the gospel message of grace so that more souls were won to Christ, whereas the third servant accepted grace for himself but did not go to the trouble of sharing the gospel with anyone else. 
 
In the parable of the Ten Virgins, Jesus speaks of five virgins who brought lamps and oil to wait for the bridegroom, while the other five only brought lamps (Mat. 25:1-13).  This reveals a superficial attitude.  Five could not be bothered to carry the extra weight of the oil, most likely because they were not willing to entertain the idea of having to wait so long that extra oil would be required.  This speaks to Christians who are only willing to do the bare minimum to be a Christian.
 
It should be noted that we do not see Jesus admonishing “sinners”, but we do see him issuing rather stern rebukes to servants who fail in their work.  The servant who refused to forgive the debt owed to him had the forgiveness of his debt revoked and was sent to the torturers until his debt was paid off.  The servant who hid his talent away had it taken from him and was cast out.  The five virgins who ran out of oil for their lamps were not allowed into the wedding feast.
 
These lessons cut to the heart of how Christ judges the work of his servants.  We are to be active Christians, not passive Christians.  We are not to just sit back and do the bare minimum with the grace that Christ has given to us.  We are to share the message of grace with others so that they too might be saved.  We do not earn our grace through works, but once we receive grace, our work is to share it with others.