Endurance 03

Endurance 03 Before attempting to plot out the path of the new Christian, I think it would be good to point out a few common pitfalls. This would be things that one should avoid doing. By doing this we can trim off some of the numerous possibilities, and then we will be able to deal more handily with what is left over. I think the first pitfall comes to us from several directions. It can be said that Christ died for sin, past, present and future. This is true. But to then assume that a Christian can no longer do any wrong, and to further suggest that any effort on our part to avoid sin, is just a waist; well, that is pure nonsense! Now there are other ways in which this idea is presented, one approach has been dubbed “Greasy Grace”, and another is “Predestination.” Both of these lead to the same ultimate result. “Back-sliders” are what we call people who have gone back to living the same life they had before they were saved. This is the pitfall. It comes from becoming indifferent about your faith. Indifferent, apathetic, cold, or lazy can all be said of the person who is back-sliding. So is the person who is living this apathetic Christian life saved or lost? On one hand they have been forgiven, but on the other hand, ‘faith without works is dead.’ Since salvation is ‘by faith’, are they still saved when that faith is dead? Ultimately the question is not ours to determine. But we can look into the Word for a clue. I feel I have found the clue I need in Revelation 3:15-19. In the letter to the church (Christians) at Laodicea, God says, “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (I don’t think that is a good thing. It doesn’t sound very saved to me.) “You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy gold from me – gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. And also buy white garments so you will not be shamed by your nakedness. And buy ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I am the one who corrects and disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference.” Clearly then indifference is a bad thing, and diligence is a good thing. You can reserve your thoughts on the salvation question for a future time if you like, but at the very least this passage gives us a heading. Anything that would move us into an inactive, indifferent, or apathetic Christianity, is moving us in the wrong direction. Those things then, that move us to be active, diligent and watchful, those things are moving us in the right direction. Being a Christian is more than putting on a costume and pretending to be something that your not. It is more than signing up for a club and paying the dues. It is more than the observance of a new diet plan. We don’t start by counting the number of times we transgress God’s law and then slowly deprive of ourselves of those transgressions until we reach some desired level of righteousness! Christianity is a fundamental shift of the core beliefs. Jesus Christ becomes the foundation on which we build a completely new home, and a completely new lifestyle. Anything that remains of the old ways are probably nothing more than a pile of trash that is hindering you from enjoying the fullness of your new life. (more to come)