Post by Cindy on Feb 20, 2016 9:20:40 GMT -5
For a very long time I've tried to think of how I could explain this to my grandchildren, especially knowing that they will constantly hear about how salvation is a "free gift" and hear pastors explain it like it requires absolutely nothing from them except "to believe". Sadly, that's just not true, which is why I've been trying to think of a way to explain this to them. I can imagine many people will be aghast when they read that sentence, but I hope they'll hang on long enough to find out why I say that. God DOES offer us His salvation freely, that much IS true. But, it does cost us something to accept it. That's why Jesus constantly warned the people to count the cost before making a decision to follow Him. To understand what it costs us, it helps to read Luke 14:25-35 and Matt. 13:44–46 among other passages.
Salvation is absolutely free, but it costs us everything we are and can cost us everything we have as well. Jesus calls us to absolute commitment to Him which requires us to renounce our right to ourselves. We have to realize that even demons "believe" in Jesus. In fact, they don't just believe, they know He is God and we're told they "tremble". Not only that, but they also must obey Him when He speaks! Yet they are not saved. If that's so, then how can someone who's said a little prayer saying they believe Jesus is God and died for them, be saved, if that's all they do? How does that little prayer make them any better then the demons or Satan? Granted, they apparently want to be saved, and the demons apparently don't, but that's about the only difference I can see. Sadly, as I said before, many of them are under the impression that prayer is really all that's required of them and that with it, they now have a free ticket to Heaven they can present when they die. That's not how it works though, and my heart breaks when I think of all those who've been misled to think such a thing.
Jesus shows us and tells us over and over again what the difference is between someone who is truly saved and those who will hear Him say, "I never knew you". Those who are truly saved, are changed. Their lives are changed from the instant of their salvation and it's not of their doing. God changes them on the inside, He changes their hearts, and the change itself manifests in their words and actions, more and more as time goes by. They begin to become more like Jesus. The longer they're saved, the more like Him they are. So why are they changed and others aren't? To put it bluntly, they've counted the cost. They're willing to give up the right to their own lives and give their lives to Jesus. Basically, they're saying, "I know You are God and it's Your right to do whatever You will with me and in me. I love You and fear You and want to please You, and want You to make me like You no matter what it takes, because I know You have already given far more for me than I can ever comprehend." They're seeking Him with all their hearts and minds. They're seeking Him for who He is, not just for what He can do for them. Not just so they won't go to Hell, but because they've been deeply convicted of their own innate wickedness and evil and know they're really not worthy of anything but Hell. They realize, deep inside that He came to earth to show them how much He loved them even when they were still His enemy. That while they still hated Him and were rebelling against Him, He died an excruciating death and was raised to life again to prove all that He said, and for that, they will literally give up everything for Him, for He did the same and more for them.
Jesus gives us a pattern to live by with His own life. It's a pattern of love and self sacrifice that goes far beyond the world's ideas of what these things mean. It's to a life of doing away with self and serving Him and others that He calls us. I've often wanted to tell my grandchildren that it's far more important to me that they know God and His Word and that they live for Him, then that they pass their tests in school or go to college or become someone important in this life. I'd much rather have them be an unknown to the majority of the world, but known and dearly loved by our Father. Sure, I'll be glad for their accomplishments here, but I hope and pray that most of their accomplishments will be accomplishments of serving the Lord and others, not of having others serve and praise them. I will rejoice with the Lord for every bit of spiritual fruit that shows up in their lives and pray hard against self interest that tries to derail us. Let me leave you with a quote from one of my commentaries about the passage in Luke, so you'll know this isn't just my idea, but is God's.
Luke 14:25-35: This speaks of the need to recognize the cost of fellowship! No quick decisions! The gospel is absolutely free, but it costs everything that we are and have (cf. Matt. 13:44–46). In light of this, western modern Christianity is a weak manifestation of “what’s in it for me” cultural religion! Modern western Christians have turned biblical faith into a weekly event, a place we park our car for a few hours instead of a 24 hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week relationship of service to Christ. We only give the leftovers of our busy lives and plans to Him. We worship and praise Him with peripherals and non-essentials. This is why we have such large, beautiful church buildings and elaborate organizations and programs and NO SPIRITUAL POWER, NO CHANGED LIVES, NO WHATEVER-IT-TAKES ATTITUDES!! God forgive us for cultural, peripheral, easy believism! Biblical faith is a serious priority commitment. Nothing, nothing, nothing must be above Him (family, nation, livelihood, one’s own life). If anything precedes Him, give it away. Whatever is left, use it for Him! The Gospel according to Luke
Luke 14:33 restricts the definition of belief to that sort of belief which not only recognizes that Jesus is the Son of God, but which accepts that, as the Son of God, He has every right to control a believer’s life; that is, the belief that saves subjects the believer to the complete lordship of Christ. Saving faith is proven by much fruit (John 15:8); the ‘Christian’ who is not living a fruitful life for his Lord should seriously examine himself to ascertain, firstly, whether he is a Christian (2 Cor 13:5), and then, if he truly assesses that he genuinely placed his faith in Jesus, secondly, to what his spiritual ineffectiveness must be attributed. We find checklists of the fruits of the Spirit in Gal 5:22–23 and Eph 5:9–10. The Life of Christ
Only those willing to carefully assess the cost and invest all they had in His kingdom were worthy to enter. This speaks of something far more than mere abandonment of one’s material possessions; it is an absolute, unconditional surrender. His disciples were permitted to retain no privileges and make no demands. They were to safeguard no cherished sins; treasure no earthly possessions; and cling to no secret self-indulgences. Their commitment to Him must be without reservation. The MacArthur study Bible
Salvation is absolutely free, but it costs us everything we are and can cost us everything we have as well. Jesus calls us to absolute commitment to Him which requires us to renounce our right to ourselves. We have to realize that even demons "believe" in Jesus. In fact, they don't just believe, they know He is God and we're told they "tremble". Not only that, but they also must obey Him when He speaks! Yet they are not saved. If that's so, then how can someone who's said a little prayer saying they believe Jesus is God and died for them, be saved, if that's all they do? How does that little prayer make them any better then the demons or Satan? Granted, they apparently want to be saved, and the demons apparently don't, but that's about the only difference I can see. Sadly, as I said before, many of them are under the impression that prayer is really all that's required of them and that with it, they now have a free ticket to Heaven they can present when they die. That's not how it works though, and my heart breaks when I think of all those who've been misled to think such a thing.
Jesus shows us and tells us over and over again what the difference is between someone who is truly saved and those who will hear Him say, "I never knew you". Those who are truly saved, are changed. Their lives are changed from the instant of their salvation and it's not of their doing. God changes them on the inside, He changes their hearts, and the change itself manifests in their words and actions, more and more as time goes by. They begin to become more like Jesus. The longer they're saved, the more like Him they are. So why are they changed and others aren't? To put it bluntly, they've counted the cost. They're willing to give up the right to their own lives and give their lives to Jesus. Basically, they're saying, "I know You are God and it's Your right to do whatever You will with me and in me. I love You and fear You and want to please You, and want You to make me like You no matter what it takes, because I know You have already given far more for me than I can ever comprehend." They're seeking Him with all their hearts and minds. They're seeking Him for who He is, not just for what He can do for them. Not just so they won't go to Hell, but because they've been deeply convicted of their own innate wickedness and evil and know they're really not worthy of anything but Hell. They realize, deep inside that He came to earth to show them how much He loved them even when they were still His enemy. That while they still hated Him and were rebelling against Him, He died an excruciating death and was raised to life again to prove all that He said, and for that, they will literally give up everything for Him, for He did the same and more for them.
Jesus gives us a pattern to live by with His own life. It's a pattern of love and self sacrifice that goes far beyond the world's ideas of what these things mean. It's to a life of doing away with self and serving Him and others that He calls us. I've often wanted to tell my grandchildren that it's far more important to me that they know God and His Word and that they live for Him, then that they pass their tests in school or go to college or become someone important in this life. I'd much rather have them be an unknown to the majority of the world, but known and dearly loved by our Father. Sure, I'll be glad for their accomplishments here, but I hope and pray that most of their accomplishments will be accomplishments of serving the Lord and others, not of having others serve and praise them. I will rejoice with the Lord for every bit of spiritual fruit that shows up in their lives and pray hard against self interest that tries to derail us. Let me leave you with a quote from one of my commentaries about the passage in Luke, so you'll know this isn't just my idea, but is God's.
Luke 14:25-35: This speaks of the need to recognize the cost of fellowship! No quick decisions! The gospel is absolutely free, but it costs everything that we are and have (cf. Matt. 13:44–46). In light of this, western modern Christianity is a weak manifestation of “what’s in it for me” cultural religion! Modern western Christians have turned biblical faith into a weekly event, a place we park our car for a few hours instead of a 24 hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week relationship of service to Christ. We only give the leftovers of our busy lives and plans to Him. We worship and praise Him with peripherals and non-essentials. This is why we have such large, beautiful church buildings and elaborate organizations and programs and NO SPIRITUAL POWER, NO CHANGED LIVES, NO WHATEVER-IT-TAKES ATTITUDES!! God forgive us for cultural, peripheral, easy believism! Biblical faith is a serious priority commitment. Nothing, nothing, nothing must be above Him (family, nation, livelihood, one’s own life). If anything precedes Him, give it away. Whatever is left, use it for Him! The Gospel according to Luke
Luke 14:33 restricts the definition of belief to that sort of belief which not only recognizes that Jesus is the Son of God, but which accepts that, as the Son of God, He has every right to control a believer’s life; that is, the belief that saves subjects the believer to the complete lordship of Christ. Saving faith is proven by much fruit (John 15:8); the ‘Christian’ who is not living a fruitful life for his Lord should seriously examine himself to ascertain, firstly, whether he is a Christian (2 Cor 13:5), and then, if he truly assesses that he genuinely placed his faith in Jesus, secondly, to what his spiritual ineffectiveness must be attributed. We find checklists of the fruits of the Spirit in Gal 5:22–23 and Eph 5:9–10. The Life of Christ
Only those willing to carefully assess the cost and invest all they had in His kingdom were worthy to enter. This speaks of something far more than mere abandonment of one’s material possessions; it is an absolute, unconditional surrender. His disciples were permitted to retain no privileges and make no demands. They were to safeguard no cherished sins; treasure no earthly possessions; and cling to no secret self-indulgences. Their commitment to Him must be without reservation. The MacArthur study Bible
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