The oil signifies the regenerative work of the Spirit that makes the dead sinner to live, that saves this poor man and brings him to embrace Jesus Christ through faith, as He is freely offered to us in the gospel. We can go as far as to say this oil is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that always abides with His people. Some may prefer to limit the oil to representing the saving faith in the wise virgin and I don’t see the two views as significantly different. The oil is a comparison, a picture, of all these great spiritual truths. Those with saving faith are also born again. 

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Matthew 25:3-4

One of the great joys in studying the Scripture is to find an element of a particular text that seems initially obscure and mysterious but when the balance of the Scripture is searched the mysterious becomes known all for the glory of God and increase of our faith. One such example is the oil of this parable. The foolish virgins had lamps but no oil while the wise took oil in their lamps. What should we make of this oil?

When we have a question about a portion of Scripture, we should always ask ourselves: where else does God speak of these things in His Word? Does God speak about lamps and oil anywhere else in Scripture? We find He makes explicit reference to a lamp and oil in His instructions to Moses concerning the tabernacle. And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always (Exodus 27:20). The tabernacle in the Old Testament had a lamp that was never allowed go out. It demonstrated God’s presence, the Light of the world, was always with them. Keeping the lamp filled with oil was an essential job in the tabernacle. A young man named Samuel was given the task in service to the Lord – to keep the lamp filled with oil that it might not go out (I Samuel 3:3).

A lamp without oil is like a car without gasoline. It may look nice on the outside but it cannot do what it is made for. All the virgins had lamps but not all the virgins had oil for their lamps. The oil reminds us of the lamps. The lamps remind us that they need oil in order to shine. Last time we considered the meaning of the lamps and said they represented the confession of Christ by our mouths. Those in the Kingdom of Heaven all confess with their mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord. One cannot be in the Kingdom of Heaven without such a confession. Confession is essential to entrance into the Kingdom. But we see in this parable what is true throughout Scripture – confession with the mouth alone does not mean a person is a Christian. Christianity goes beyond this – A Christian is one who confesses with their mouth that which they believe in their heart.

Remember that tremendous text from Romans we considered last time when we saw the requirement for the Christian to do two things: 1) confess with the mouth and 2) believe in the heart.

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