The world seems to believe that being a Christian and receiving everlasting life simply means being a good person because good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. Going to church isn’t necessary, and telling small white lies is ok, and all you need to do is to believe in Jesus. Well, believe He is who He says He is, but no more than that.
Of course that is all a complete contradiction to the Word of God, as even the devil believes that Jesus is the Son of God, and Jesus said that no one is good except God (Mark 10:18). God wants His people to meet together and church is very necessary (Hebrews 10:25). Lies of any kind are sin (Revelation 21:8), and ‘God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16).
To be a Christian means to repent of our sins, to follow Christ, to desire Him, to fellowship with Him, to be indwelt by Him, and to bring glory to Him in our lives. It means not to be conformed to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), to seek and do the will of God. I like to think that we should be fanatics. To live for Christ, to love our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength (Mark 12:30). We are to live our lives by the example of Jesus, to love one another as we love ourselves and while the world looks lightly upon sin, we must see sin for what it is, an offense against a holy and just God, which destroys fellowship with Him. How wonderful it is to be in a relationship with God – a God who is just, loving, compassionate and will never leave us or forsake us. As Christians we are most blessed, and most fortunate being in the world, because we have been given life and hope from a God who loves us through Jesus Christ. We have a sure and wonderful hope that one day we will get to heaven no matter how often we have failed, because of God’s grace. God purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave all our sins, past present and future (1 John 1:9, Colossians 1:14). AMEN!
by Luke Messarides
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