Harder Than It Looks

We have fallen into a trap in our modern age; we actually believe that it is easy to enter into eternity with Jesus. This seems strange considering the number of warnings Jesus gave about making every effort to enter in. Me saying this might seem strange, being a guy who preaches salvation by grace not works, but it does not mean that works is not important.

Jesus stated that those who believe will be saved. That has never changed. But he also stated that we must love God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul and all our strength. This is what it means to believe. Father never wants to take second place in your heart but instead your heart must be consumed with him. Jesus also stated that his followers must deny themselves, take up their cross daily and live like he has lived. This is a must, not an "if you feel like it". So belief is more than a mental exercise, it is an all consuming thing.

We need to be careful to not allow the popular preaching and the easy teaching of this age to move us from the narrow way to the broad way. The easy going attitude in the Church is accommodating those who are Christian in name only, who are quite comfortable in living by the philosophies of this world. You cannot serve two masters, Jesus warned. You will love one and hate the other. For many Christians, if push came to shove, they would gladly drop Jesus and take up the world, since that is the thing with which they are most comfortable.

In the Bible we find an incident where the various leadership were trying to trap Jesus. When the Sadducees took a turn they tried to trap him concerning the Resurrection. They did not believe in the Resurrection. They had no idea they were talking to the Resurrection. In Jesus' correcting their outlook he said something most of us glaze over:

"People who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy to participate in that age, that is, in the age of the resurrection from the dead, won't marry nor will they be given in marriage." (Luke 20:34-35)

Did you catch it? "Those who are considered worthy to participate in that age." Considered worthy. What makes us worthy? We aren't worthy of anything from Yahweh, considering we have all fallen short of his glory. Yet, to those who believe according to Yahweh's grace, we are deemed to be worthy. But that belief is qualified by the rest of Jesus' teaching, that this belief must cost us everything that we were. Paul, the apostle, stated that he considered everything he was and achieved before he encountered Jesus to be lost, because it is only what he has done through Jesus that is of any eternal good.

Is that where we are in our belief? Has our belief in Jesus, our trust in him, replaced everything that we considered to have had any worth? Is our life, our thinking and our actions shaped by our relationship with Jesus Christ. Is our love for him far superior to our love for anyone or anything else? Are we completely sold out as a follower of Jesus, because that is what Jesus was referring to when he said "whoever believes will be saved". You may find it harder than it looks but take courage, Jesus said it would be hard.

Either Believe Or Don't

I'm a simple guy who likes simple things and perhaps I over simplify my faith, but I don't believe so. I think faith comes down to simply believing Jesus. Christianity is not something you can pick pieces of and reject others. It's an all or nothing relationship. For example, you can't say that Jesus was a good man and yet reject his divinity. By rejecting his divinity you reject Jesus.

Too many Christians treat the Bible like a super market where they can pick out what they want and leave alone that which challenges them too much. Too many Christians are battling demons when demons have no authority over them. Too many Christians are an emotional mess when their heart belongs to Jesus. Too many Christians are frightened by tomorrow when tomorrow belongs to the Lord they trust and serve. It just doesn't add up. How can we say we believe one thing and yet react like we don't?

Here is a simple verse that is suppose to be part of who we are:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)

So if this is what we are told, promised, why don't we do it? We put ourselves through so much, trying to find our own solutions when it has been promised that all we have to do is pray. Many of us testify to the fact that Jesus either gave us strength and wisdom to deal with what we faced or removed the "mountain" completely.

What is the sense of worshiping a God you aren't going to trust? What is the sense living to please him if we aren't going to obey him? What is the sense of being a "stand off" Christian when the full advantage our relationship is intimacy with Father?

Believe or don't believe; that is our freedom. Trust or don't trust; that is our decision. But don't be a hollow actor, saying you believe and trust but not actually following through on it. That is simply sad. Jesus made it clear that he only accepts our all. He is not interested in a portion or percentage of us. He requires all of our heart so then take advantage of the benefits of a whole hearted belief: Trust.

Pray and petition, with thanksgiving. Jesus said, ask, seek and knock and it will be given. If you are going to believe then believe it all. Don't live half-heartedly but with all your passion. Jesus loves you with all his passion so love him back the same way.

Are You Sure?

How sure are you of your salvation? I worry that in this age of shallow spirituality, people are failing to understand the assurance of their salvation and believe that they can become "unsaved" in an instant. But our salvation has never been dependent on us except for the decision to believe. I know I have been harping on this all week but if we do not understand the nature of our salvation the enemy will always be able to rob us of our peace.

Abraham is the definition of salvation by grace. This is how his righteousness (for the sake of a simple definition, a right relationship with Yahweh) is described:

He was fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised. Therefore, it was credited to him as righteousness. (Romans 4:21-22)

"Fully convinced" is the phrase we should use in examining our own faith. Are we fully convinced when Jesus said:

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. (John 3:16)

No other requirements than to believe. It is when we believe that a transformation takes place and we become a new creation. These are two different issues but salvation is a simple matter of belief. It is not dependent on our behaviour or actions or thought process. Believe. Such belief should produce faith which is to act on your belief, as Abraham did.

Paul the apostle told us that there is a direct relationship here between Abraham and us:

But the scripture that says it was credited to him wasn’t written only for Abraham’s sake. It was written also for our sake, because it is going to be credited to us too. It will be credited to those of us who have faith in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. (Romans 4:23-24)

And that is the assurance of our salvation. It is not dependent on behaviour, we can't earn it, we didn't buy it, it was a gift purchased for us by Jesus. So you aren't saved today and tomorrow you are not. This assurance is important as we grow and mature spiritually. We no longer focus on our salvation but growing strong in Jesus, of allowing the transformation to take place, to obey the conviction of the Spirit, to see Jesus become more and us become less.

Jesus said our sins are forgiven by his sacrifice. He said we only need to believe him in order to be saved. This is the assurance of our salvation. There is no other path, no other source, no other condition. We were the enemy of Yahweh and he sacrificed himself, laying down his life, so that we may be reconciled to him. You are not perfect but he is. You cannot measure up to him but by his grace he has declared that you do. C'est tout! It is finished.

What Do You Have To Do To Be Saved?

How is a person saved from the eternal damnation we are all heading toward? Is it by paying money to the church? Is it by living a good life, treating everyone kindly, doing good deeds? Is it by praying, reading your Bible, going to church? Is it by doing anything?

Salvation involves doing but not as we may first think. To start with, all the doing was done by Jesus. Everything that needed to be done was done by Jesus. There was nothing we could do so Jesus came and did it. There is a little bit of doing on our part but that doing is simply to believe. To believe Jesus is who he says he is and to believe that he did what he said he did.

He was not a good man. He was not a prophet. He was not an early version of Gandhi. He was not a wise man teaching about love. He was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, the one who could pay the price we could not pay, to do what we could not do. But it is a useless sacrifice if we do not believe.

Jesus' words:

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Not that "everyone won't perish" but "everyone who believes in him won't perish". He has done it all but we have to believe. Is this promise applied only to the Jews or a select group? The word "everyone" deals with that. Paul the apostle also made this matter clear:

God’s righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who have faith in him. There’s no distinction. (Romans 3:22)

The word "faith" is used here as a step beyond belief. Faith is belief in action. When we live by faith we live our lives in the belief that Jesus is the sacrifice that paid for all our sins and now we are saved from the eternal consequences of our sins. Salvation is not earned, cannot be bought, is found nowhere else other than through the sacrificial Lamb, who is Jesus. It is the reason this Lamb told us:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Now everyone is left with the choice to believe or not. And that is all you need to do to be saved; believe. What happens to you after you choose to believe is another story.

The Practical Side Of Faith

Sometimes we struggle in our faith because it wars with our flesh. We are very capable people. We can make decisions and live by them. We can plot a course for our lives and live by it. We can choose a career and be successful in it but it doesn't mean that Jesus is in it or that it belongs to the Father's will. Our flesh can desire a lot of things that look legitimate and honouring to Yahweh but that are actually contrary to the Holy Spirit.

The Law of Yahweh is holy and perfect but impossible for us to live because we are far from perfect. The Law, as presented by Moses, was an attempt to live in the flesh what first had to transpire in the heart. Its purpose was to reveal to us the righteousness of Yahweh and how much we have fallen short of that righteousness. It was to show us how much we need Jesus. Romans 10 says this:

Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that is by faith says: (Romans 10:5-6)

Now here Paul quotes Moses so I want to go directly to that passage as Moses speaks the prophetic word:

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

Now back to Romans where Paul explains:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

This applies to every promise ever uttered by Yahweh, through prophets or his Son. Salvation is just one of a long list of promises that we are to live by every day of our life. Whether we see the end from the beginning or we seem lost on a dark path, we know the promises. In knowing them we declare with our mouth and we believe in our heart that we possess them and it will happen. It is not a magic formula, it is the practical act of faith.

Our flesh wants to tell us to live by what we see, act upon what we are experiencing, but faith says trust Yahweh. However, Yahweh gave substance to our faith by filling his Word with promises for us and then he gave us his Son to open the way to those promises. He sent us the Spirit to empower us to live those promises and it is by his strength that we can declare with our mouth and believe in our heart, and walk in faith.

A cautionary note though: Scripture warns us that a double minded man cannot receive from the Father:

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8)

I realize our spirit and flesh war with each other but it is time to put that war to rest. The flesh belongs under the spirit and our spirit must have control. We live by faith not by sight. Remind yourself of that a hundred times a day. Whatever you are going through find a promises of Yahweh to apply to it, confess it and believe it and you will possess it. Deny yourself and desire above all things the will of our Father.