I know that this article is probably going to cause controversy. People are going to scream, "Legalist!", or that "he's advocating a works based salvation!" However I'd like to ask that you read this with an open mind and an open heart and consider scripture outside of our culture for a moment. Christians in the years past did not believe what we believe today. Read the writings of the godly men of the past, and one thing is clear. Christianity today looks absolutely different from the christianity in the Bible, and in the days of men like George Muller, Charles Spurgeon and John Wesley.
I believe that no one can attain salvation through obeying the law. We've all probably already broken most of the commandments before we were ten. We lied, we stole, we looked at another person's goods and coveted them, we worshipped other gods, we dishonoured our parents etc. All it took was ONE sin for Adam and Eve to fall. Thus it is impossible for anyone to be perfect under the law, except for our sinless Master Jesus Christ of course.
I believe that salvation is given by the grace of God alone, and it comes through repentance of our sins and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's look at what Scripture has to say about the topic of salvation.
We must be the salt of the earth
13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
But what is saltiness? We just have to look back to the previous verses to find out the answer. (Matthew 5)
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
We must not hate our brother (Matthew 5)
22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother[b]will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
We must deal harshly and decisively with our sin. (Matthew 5)
30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
We must choose to enter through the narrow gate, and walk the narrow path (i.e. the life of a true believer is not going to be easy, comfortable, etc., it is going to be hard). Our Lord Himself makes it abundantly clear that only a few will find eternal life! We must remember that not only is the gate narrow, the path is also narrow!
13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
We must bear good fruit in our lives (Matthew 7)
Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Our profession of faith (i.e. our claim that we are Christians or followers of Christ) is worth ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! The only ones who will be saved are those that do the will of the Father. What is His will? To obey his commandments and do all that he demands of us.(Matthew 7)
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
We must hear the words of Jesus, and put them into practice. This destruction is talking about eternal destruction and not some temporal thing, because this is confirmed in Luke (see below). (Matthew 7)
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
The version given in Luke. Recall what Jesus said about those who called him "Lord! Lord!" Not anyone who calls him Lord will be saved (i.e. the self-professing Christian) but only those that do what he commanded. Note that the destruction was complete. Not a temporal destruction.
46"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
We must stand firm till the end for the Faith (Matthew 10)
22All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
We have to acknowledge Jesus before men, even if it means death or persecution for us.
This is especially true in the Middle East and in Africa and other parts of the world today that are controlled by Muslim Fundamentalists, where admitting to be a Christian may get you killed. (Matthew 10)
32"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. (If Jesus disowns us in front of the Father, we will stand condemned because the only reason we're saved is his righteous blood that was shed for us, and we are in Him. Without Jesus, there is no salvation.)
We have to be prepared to give up everything in this world for the sake of Jesus, and love Him above everything else. We have to be willing to suffer for the kingdom of God if need be. (Matthew 10)
37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
We must repent of our sins when God shows them to us
21"Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.22But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
We must be careful of our words (Matthew 12)
36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
1) We must not let the worries of this life or the decietfullness of wealth choke us and make us unfruitful for God's kingdom (any tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire).
2) We must not fall away because of trouble or persecution.
3) We must produce other fruits (disclipleship, evangelism, etc.), that is win others to Christ.
19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
We must not do evil before the Lord, or cause others to sin. He is referring to believers, not unbelievers, because Jesus says he will weed out from his kingdom. (Matthew 13)
41The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We will be willing to give up everything else in this world, our ambition, our dreams, our pocessions, for the sake of the kingdom of God. If we are saved, we will treasure the kingdom of God above everything else in this world.
44"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Again, we must give up everything we want and desire in this world, and follow Jesus wholeheartedly. We must even give our lives if God calls us to do so. It is worth it because the value of our soul (just one soul) is greater even than anything this world can offer us.
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
We must change and become like little children in our hearts.
3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
From Matthew Henry's Bible Commentary (one of the most, if not the most, highly regarded Bible Commentary among true men of God):
Children, when very young, do not desire authority, do not regard outward distinctions (i.e. do not treat others differently because of their status, race, looks, position in society etc.), are free from malice, are teachable, and willingly dependent on their parents. It is true that they soon begin to show other dispositions, and other ideas are taught them at an early age; but these are marks of childhood, and render them proper emblems of the lowly minds of true Christians. Surely we need to be daily renewed in the spirit of our minds, that we may become simple and humble, as little children, and willing to be the least of all.
We must forgive others (we can have no hope of salvation unless God forgives us)
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
We must seek to obey God's commandments, especially the ones Jesus listed, and we must follow Jesus. Note: The command to sell all pocessions is not a requirement for salvation but an act towards perfection.
16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,and love your neighbor as yourself."
20"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
We must be careful of desiring wealth.
However, God (through prayer) has the power even to change the heart of a rich man so that though he's rich, he does not treasure his riches.
This is what Jesus meant when he said with God all things are possible, because we know that God does not change nor does he compromise His own standards, so the only other alternative is that the rich man does not love his riches above God.
But I feel it's still better to not be rich.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
26Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
When God's word is preached to us to repent, we must believe AND repent.
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
A warning. I think this warning is crystal clear and leaves no doubt at all whatsoever!
14"For many are invited, but few are chosen."
Our rigtheousness must surpass the Pharisees
20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
What were the Pharisees like?
1) Their rigtheousness was done only for other men to see, they love the praise and approval of men but not of God. They love for men to greet them respectfully and address them by honorific titles.
5"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' (Rabbi is a title of honour for the teachers of the law.)
2) They practice outward obedience to God, but their hearts and attitudes are wrong. Both are important to God.
23"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
3) They look holy on the outside but their hearts are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
25"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
We are to give our lives to looking after our Master's business, not seeking our own pleasure
45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We must use whatever God has given us (time, giftings, talents, resources, even our lives and the future of our own children) and multiply it for His kingdom, not for ourselves.
We are also not to use our time and resources to pursue our own pleasures and desires, or seek to build our own little kingdom here on earth.
If we're truly slaves to God, we will spend our time, energy and resources furthering our Master's kingdom and not our own.
Look at how the early believers lived. Did they build their own kingdoms? Did they seek to live comfortable, pleasurable lives?
Put everything to grow their wealth, businesses or financial portfolios?
NO!! They sold their fields and distributed to other believers who had need!
They laid down their lives for the sake of the gospel! Some were covered with tar, set on fire and crucified on the sides of Roman highways to light the highway at night, yet they went to their deaths with joy and victory in their hearts, to be counted worthy of suffering for God's kingdom!
I guess this is why Jesus said that many are invited, but few are chosen. And that the gate and path is narrow and few choose to walk in it.
24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
26"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
We must take care of fellow believers in need, and even sacrifice ourselves for them if need be. This is a very sobering thing to consider because the punishment for not loving our fellow believers is damnation!
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in (in some places even today, Islamic fundamentalist countries for example, harboring a Christian could get you beaten up, jailed or even killed), 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' (Visiting a fellow Christian in some places could mean you will also be arrested and thrown into prison as well! Or at the very least, marked by the authorities!)
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
The love of God is not in us if we do not love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Love demands action, and truth.
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
If we do not love fellow believers, it is evidence that we do not know God. If we do not know God, how can our salvation be genuine?
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
We cannot love God yet hate our fellow believer.
20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
We must walk in the light and not in darkness
5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
We are in Him (Jesus) if we obey his commandments. We must even live as Jesus did. Again, it is an unambiguous, crystal clear evidence of salvation.
3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world.
Again, we must not hate anyone
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
How do we know that we're saved? What is one of the signs?
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
We must not love the world, if we love the world it proves that we do not love the Father
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world.
We do not sin habitually. We all have sins we struggle with, but we don't keep sinning without mourning for our sins or praying for God to set us free and struggling with it.
John is not saying we'll be sinless (he makes this very clear in the start of his letter, he says that anyone who claims he does not sin is a liar) but that we will not walk in sin or have habitual sin.
6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
We WILL be judged by what we do also! We are saved by grace alone, through Jesus Christ who redeemed us, and no amount of works can save us because one sin was all it took for Adam to fall into death, and we know we cannot possibly live without sin.
However that does not mean that God will not judge us according to what we do as well! This is well understood by the apostles! (this is written by Paul)
Interestingly, many people take verse 6 out of context and claim it is talking about how God will reward each man according to what he has done.
However if you read it in context, it is talking about judgement and punishment, not rewards. Of course God will judge us and reward us accordingly, but here Paul was talking about judgement.
5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God "will give to each person according to what he has done."
Again, here Paul clearly states that there are requirements to salvation!
7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Again Scripture says a born again believer will not be slave to sin. We struggle with it, yes, but we are not it's slave. God gives us the power to overcome sin.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
We must conquer sin and live in holiness, which leads to eternal life. Continued slavery to sin leads to eternal death.
Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
We must be born again. The Holy Spirit creates in us a new spirit. Someone who is born again is a new creature. He doesn't like the things he used to like, think the way he used to think, act the way he used to act.
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. (water is widely understood as water baptism, and born of the Spirit means being born again by the power of the Holy Spirit).
We will be judged also for what we do. We know this applies to us also because this has not yet happened, and Jesus is speaking of the second coming.
28"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and come out—
those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
This has nothing to do with salvation, but it applies very much to us today as it did in the past too. We must be careful not to hold so dear to man-made traditions that we ignore or fail to see the truth in God's word and obey his commands.
God's word is the final say on all matters, not our traditions nor what we believe in our denomination etc.
7They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'
8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." 9And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
This is very prevalent in our times today. Many will disagree with me on this, but I believe that the sinner's prayer (men's invention) is causing many people to go to Hell, because they believed that if they prayed that prayer, their souls are safe, and they then go on living the same way they've always lived, have no prayer life and do not know the word of God except for what's preached over the pulpit on Sundays.
Yet there's nowhere in the Bible where the gospel is preached that way! The sinner's prayer was made popular by tele-evangelists only 50 years ago!
If we read the Bible, when the gospels were preached, men were pierced to their hearts when they heard the undiluted, un-politically correct preaching of the gospel, and the call of the preacher was always to "Repent and believe!"
Nowadays, we slip in the invitation to say the sinner's prayer without even preaching the gospel, and men have no idea what God is like, why Jesus died for them, why they can't save themselves, their wretched and sinful nature and the need for them to repent to escape eternal damnation.
When the Holy Spirit comes to convict men of sin, we do not have to manipulate men (by the playing of music, the dimming of lights) to come to salvation! Men can do nothing, salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit! When he convicts, sinful men will weep regardless of whether there be music or dim lights or not!
Love God, and love our neighbour
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself."
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
We must repent, or we'll perish. If there is no repentance from sin, there is no salvation.
1Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no!
But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
Again, if we do not bear fruit, we will be cut down. God gives us time to bear fruit, however there is a limit to his wooing. If we still do not bear fruit, we stand condemned.
Fruits are an evidence of salvation. No fruit = no genuine salvation.
I believe that if there are "Christians" who've been in church for many years but there is no sign of visible fruit in their lives (i.e. they look, talk, think, act just like the world), it is clear that they are not saved.
6Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
8" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "
The cost of discipleship. Those who are not willing to give up everything to follow Jesus cannot be considered his disciple. If we are not his disciple then we don't belong to him do we?
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
1) Jesus asks us to consider the cost of following him before we call ourselves Christians. Not many people in our world today is willing to pay the price that Christ demands. Hence I believe that not many will be saved, and Jesus Himself says this.
2) To be truly considered his disciples, we must be willing to pay the price.
3) This is a far cry from the easy-listening, easy-living Christianity we have in our modern churches, and our modern world today. I think this totally explains why Jesus said that many are invited but few are chosen.
However, it was not always so in the history of the Christian church.
In the early years of the church, believers willingly layed down their lives for the sake of Christ. Even today in Africa and the Middle East, Christians, even young Christian children, are being matyred daily although we don't hear about it in the news, but this news is available through missionary websites.
One 11 year old child I read, in Rwanda, was shot 5 times in the stomach and died in a pool of his own blood because he refused to denounce Christ, although he was trembling with fear when confronted by his assasins.
If we ask ourselves honestly today, how many people in the church will sacrifice their lives for Christ? Their time? Their future? Their comfort? Their ambitions? Not many.
It is not easy to be a true Christian. This is why Jesus says we must take up our cross and follow him. No cross is easy.
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
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