At a point in time, maybe when you were 5 years old you prayed "the prayer" and got saved and "once saved, always saved, right?"
I always wonder about that. I know God "knows your heart", but do unsaved people always know they're unsaved? What about drifting away from God? What about your lifestyle? What about living in the moment? What about being a "good person"? What about the church being where you worship, and since God is in your heart, you don't REALLY need to go on Sundays, you can worship in your heart at home?
What about when I no longer wanted to be involved with the youth ministry as a teen because I thought our new youth pastor knew less than I did because I had been a "christian" longer? What about when I fell into a lifestyle of wanting to party with drugs and alcohol and didn't care how much it destroyed my family? What about when I sold myself into lust because it made me feel worthy and beautiful? What about when I was living the life that "felt" good?
Was I a Christian then?
I never denied Christ with my words, but I definitely did with my actions. I didn't even really feel guilty about the things I was doing.
1 John 2:19 says that if we REALLY did belong to Jesus, we never would have turned from Him.
BUT I'm not here to debate salvation. I'm not writing to justify your past. I AM writing with concern for Christians and to express some new revelations.
Are you happy with your lifestyle? Are you confident that if Jesus came back today, that you would enter into heaven? The truth is that not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 7:21)... this shows us that there are people who believe they are "Christians" but they aren't saved.
First of all, the word "Christian" is so overused that people gladly title themselves a Christian, but deny it by their lifestyle. I'm so OVER everyone claiming to be a Christian. I want to take myself out of that category completely. I want people to KNOW who I live for by my lifestyle.
I don't care if you're a "Christian," but I do care if you desire God's will for your life. I care if you call him Lord, AND live like you do. "When Jesus saves you, he expects you to live like it." The 2nd half of Matthew 7:21 says who will enter heaven,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Are you doing the will of the Father who is in heaven? Regardless of past, what is your present life like...(this weekend, last night, what's on your television, your relationships, etc) can you say that you are doing the will of God?
I am reading the book, Radical by David Platt, and even in the 1st few pages, I feel like my heart is being written on the pages of someone else's book. Today at church, my pastor, Loran Livingston, spoke things that I had been reading and pondering myself. I wondered if he had my facebook to read some of the statuses I've had up lately, haha. I also enrolled in a Bible study on Beth Moore's study of Daniel.
Though everything above is not related to another, I am hearing overwhelming parallels. That is God speaking.
I am hearing Him tell me that it's not about saying a prayer to be saved. It's about the sacrifice our giving up everything we are to follow Christ- DAILY. It's not about the title of a Christian that saves people.
David Platt says this,
"'Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.' Give up everything you have, carry a cross, and hate your family. This sounds a lot different than "Admit, believe, confess, and pray a prayer after me."
Titus 2:11-13 and my pastor expanded on what comes after salvation, what should come after your "prayer," what should change after you call Him Lord:
- turn your back on a godless life
- turn your back on an indulgent life/ reject worldly passions
- OBEY
- hunger and thirst for righteousness
- you're ready for Jesus to come
- the Bible becomes necessary
- you want to pray more and more
You say, I am a Christ-follower, a believer, a Christian, I am saved...
What looks different between your life and the world's? Are you drinking what they're drinking? Is your tongue speaking the same language? Are your eyes tolerant? Do you expect to be entertained? Do live by truth or by feeling?
I don't want to ever JUDGE your salvation, but I want to make you aware that just because we call ourselves Christians, doesn't mean we are saved. I want my friends to know, that they know, that they KNOW, they are going to heaven when they die. I don't want to condemn you or point my finger at your lifestyle, if you know my past, you know I'm far from perfect.
I DO want to say that, who knows for sure if I would have died in highschool, if I would have surely gone to heaven because I lived for God in Middle School. Or that I didn't need to repent of my sin again because I prayed a prayer when I was 5. I don't have a date of when I got "saved," but I do have a point in my life, after college where I gave up EVERYTHING (friends, alcohol, drugs, sex, etc) and read the Bible and prayed as if my life depended on it. Because it did. I didn't want to be who I was anymore. I wanted to get off of the path my life was heading down. Of course I found it difficult, very trying and brought lots of tears. I had to confess I had been living according to MY OWN WILL and trust that God's will was BETTER than my own. You have to be willing to lay down your life, no matter what trials you will bare. No matter how heavy your cross is, how lonely the walk is, your eye is fixed on an eternity with a God that's worth it all!
Every day calls for examination of our life. Every day calls for crucifying our worldly passions and desires. Every day calls for repentance and turning from our yesterday. Every day is a new breath to take in the Spirit and live by it. Every day is a day we can be forgiven and NEED TO BE FORGIVEN. Today can be the day that you start living according to His will for your life.
