Do You Have Oil?
Do You Have Oil?
The Parable of the Ten Virgins is often used to create fear, striving, and confusion. I remember being taught that in order to have oil I must tarry, press in, and spend enough time in the secret place to get more “oil,” or else there is a risk of being shut out of the kingdom. Because of that, I never knew if I had done enough to get oil. I had zero assurance and was full of fear.
But that is not what Jesus is teaching.
The parable of the ten virgins is not about earning oil, striving for anointing, or proving devotion. It’s about one very simple reality.
Either you have the life of Christ in you, or you don’t. Either you have received the Holy Spirit, or you haven’t.
Oil in this parable is not something you accumulate through effort. It’s not a reward for spiritual performance. It represents the life of God given to those who believe.
The wise virgins weren’t more spiritual or better at pressing in in the secret place. They didn’t pray longer or harder. They had life.
And when the unwise virgins asked, “Give us some of your oil,” the answer wasn’t cruel, it was truthful. We can’t give you what only God can give you.
You can’t borrow someone else’s relationship with Christ. You can’t live on someone else’s faith. You can’t receive eternal life secondhand. We each must respond to the gospel message and either believe it or reject it.
What the wise virgins were essentially saying was, “Go and receive it while there’s still time.”
That’s not exclusion because they weren’t doing enough, it’s actually evangelism.
This story is not about believers anxiously trying to maintain enough oil so God doesn’t lock them out. It’s about every single person reflecting on this reality, Can I save myself or do I need a Savior?
There is no third category. If you are in Christ, you already have the Spirit of God. You are not lacking oil, you are not deficient, and you are not one missed prayer meeting away from being shut out. Scripture says that if anyone belongs to Christ, they have His Spirit, period.
