A lot of Christians today are so concerned with being saved from hell, an Eternity separated from Christ. And I believe almost all of us would be lying to ourselves if we said that we've never been concerned about where we will spend Eternity at some point in our life. Matthew 18:9 reads, "And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell."
Now with that in mind, I'm not saying that it is wrong for you to be concerned with where you will spend Eternity. Before I received Christ, just hearing the word, 'hell,' would cause me to shiver. Eventually, I received salvation through my faith in Jesus Christ dying on the cross for my sins and accepting Him as the Lord and Savior of my life. I realized that there was nothing I could do to make it to heaven other than put all my faith in God's Son, who took and washed away my sin, all of it.
The concern of spending an Eternity in hell has helped numerous people today realize their need for a Savior. However, there are so many Christians today who have accepted Jesus just for 'fire insurance.' Christians with fire insurance are those who became born again for the soul reason of escaping hell and spending an Eternity in heaven. These Christians received Jesus out of fear of being eternally separated from God, but now live selfish lifestyles, where they appear to be like non-believers in the World, lacking a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Better put, a 'Fire-insurance Christian' is a Christian who is more worried about avoiding hell than living and loving the Lord their God with all of their heart and faithfully following him.
Most of us have lived our lives before like having fire insurance is/was sufficient. It's enough to get you into heaven (considering that you truly are a born-again Christian) but it's not all that God requires of you, not even close. God calls these type of Christians lukewarm-not "hot" enough spiritually to recognize the Holy Spirit's calling and guidance and not "cold" enough to realize their need to repent and depend on God.
There was a church in Laodicea who God labeled as lukewarm. Through Amen, a faithful witness of God's creation, God says to the church members of Laodicea, "So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16). God goes on to tell these church members in verse 17 that they don't even realize that they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. The Laodicea church was "wretched" and "pitiful" because they were so content with their fire insurance, they didn't realize that they didn't know Christ as much as non-believers didn't. They were so satisfied with their fire insurance that they became stagnant in their faith, not moving forward in their relationship with Christ. They weren't growing in Christ anymore nor producing fruit. They were "blind" to their own spiritual condition. They were "naked" because they were no longer pure in Christ. It's become common for Christians today to be like the church in Laodicea. We can get so wrapped up in receiving God's grace and salvation, that we become content with it and begin to drift off to living only for ourselves again. When we do this, we are totally missing out on loving each other, proclaiming God's Kingdom, and giving Him all of the glory, which just so happens to be our purpose in life. Not just his purpose but her purpose. Not just my purpose but your purpose.
Breaking News: God blessed you to bless others. God rescued you to rescue others. God didn't just want to save you of your sins so you could escape hell and spend an Eternity with him in heaven. He also wanted you to grow and enjoy a personal relationship with him. When you make God the Lord and Savior of your life, he doesn't just remove the consequence of sin. He adopts you as his child AND he commissions you. That's right, he makes you his child and he wants you to work for him. Why? Because he loves you, desires you, and even wants you to have a role in sharing his grace with others. This should be the biggest privilege of all time. Think about it: You turn your back on God, deny him countless times, even crucify him, and his response is, "It's alright. I forgive you, I love you, I want you." Then he immediately rescues you from hell, promises you heaven, tells you nothing can separate you from him, adopts you, commissions you, enters into your heart via the Holy Spirit, and then promises to never leave you nor forsake you! Wow, what love! What a promise! God's grace is so much more than fire insurance. Fire insurance doesn't save anyone, God's grace does. Being a good person does not; putting your faith in Jesus and believing with your heart that he died for your sins does.
Romans 10:9-10- "If you confess with your mouth that 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."
Matthew 28:18-20- "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age."
God calls you to go and make disciples. Not if you go, but to go. Stop being content with fire insurance faith and start living for the One who gave it all for you and lives in You. Love God. Love one another. Make disciples. Fight the good fight, run the race, keep the faith.
Now with that in mind, I'm not saying that it is wrong for you to be concerned with where you will spend Eternity. Before I received Christ, just hearing the word, 'hell,' would cause me to shiver. Eventually, I received salvation through my faith in Jesus Christ dying on the cross for my sins and accepting Him as the Lord and Savior of my life. I realized that there was nothing I could do to make it to heaven other than put all my faith in God's Son, who took and washed away my sin, all of it.
The concern of spending an Eternity in hell has helped numerous people today realize their need for a Savior. However, there are so many Christians today who have accepted Jesus just for 'fire insurance.' Christians with fire insurance are those who became born again for the soul reason of escaping hell and spending an Eternity in heaven. These Christians received Jesus out of fear of being eternally separated from God, but now live selfish lifestyles, where they appear to be like non-believers in the World, lacking a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Better put, a 'Fire-insurance Christian' is a Christian who is more worried about avoiding hell than living and loving the Lord their God with all of their heart and faithfully following him.
Most of us have lived our lives before like having fire insurance is/was sufficient. It's enough to get you into heaven (considering that you truly are a born-again Christian) but it's not all that God requires of you, not even close. God calls these type of Christians lukewarm-not "hot" enough spiritually to recognize the Holy Spirit's calling and guidance and not "cold" enough to realize their need to repent and depend on God.
There was a church in Laodicea who God labeled as lukewarm. Through Amen, a faithful witness of God's creation, God says to the church members of Laodicea, "So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16). God goes on to tell these church members in verse 17 that they don't even realize that they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. The Laodicea church was "wretched" and "pitiful" because they were so content with their fire insurance, they didn't realize that they didn't know Christ as much as non-believers didn't. They were so satisfied with their fire insurance that they became stagnant in their faith, not moving forward in their relationship with Christ. They weren't growing in Christ anymore nor producing fruit. They were "blind" to their own spiritual condition. They were "naked" because they were no longer pure in Christ. It's become common for Christians today to be like the church in Laodicea. We can get so wrapped up in receiving God's grace and salvation, that we become content with it and begin to drift off to living only for ourselves again. When we do this, we are totally missing out on loving each other, proclaiming God's Kingdom, and giving Him all of the glory, which just so happens to be our purpose in life. Not just his purpose but her purpose. Not just my purpose but your purpose.
Breaking News: God blessed you to bless others. God rescued you to rescue others. God didn't just want to save you of your sins so you could escape hell and spend an Eternity with him in heaven. He also wanted you to grow and enjoy a personal relationship with him. When you make God the Lord and Savior of your life, he doesn't just remove the consequence of sin. He adopts you as his child AND he commissions you. That's right, he makes you his child and he wants you to work for him. Why? Because he loves you, desires you, and even wants you to have a role in sharing his grace with others. This should be the biggest privilege of all time. Think about it: You turn your back on God, deny him countless times, even crucify him, and his response is, "It's alright. I forgive you, I love you, I want you." Then he immediately rescues you from hell, promises you heaven, tells you nothing can separate you from him, adopts you, commissions you, enters into your heart via the Holy Spirit, and then promises to never leave you nor forsake you! Wow, what love! What a promise! God's grace is so much more than fire insurance. Fire insurance doesn't save anyone, God's grace does. Being a good person does not; putting your faith in Jesus and believing with your heart that he died for your sins does.
Romans 10:9-10- "If you confess with your mouth that 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."
Matthew 28:18-20- "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age."
God calls you to go and make disciples. Not if you go, but to go. Stop being content with fire insurance faith and start living for the One who gave it all for you and lives in You. Love God. Love one another. Make disciples. Fight the good fight, run the race, keep the faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment