An Important Distinction
We teach that mankind is saved by grace, through faith in Jesus and His accomplishments. Yet the Bible consistently teaches that those who are not obedient to its teachings are not saved. Those who are self-diluted are those who Jesus refers to in Matthew 7:21-23,
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
This can cause some confusion because it sounds like Jesus is saying that he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Which is it? Am I saved by grace through faith or am I saved based on what I do? I think that this will help – Jesus says in John 6:29,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
The first “work” that we do is to put our faith in Jesus. Everything that we do after we have put our faith in Jesus and His divine accomplishments is simply the evidence that our faith is real. For instance, we only confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God after we have believed in Him – we can’t confess Him before we believe in Him. It’s the same with baptism. Nobody who hasn’t put their faith in Jesus will consent to be baptized.
But those are what I would call “easy” religious things. Observe what Jesus says above to those who religious people who come to Him at judgement and say, Lord, Lord, we’ve done a bunch of religious stuff in Your name! (paraphrase)
Jesus responds to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ What is Jesus saying? He’s saying, you may call me Lord and you may do religious stuff, but in your day to day life, you practice lawlessness. In other words, you live in sin. You do whatever you want to do and when you do whatever you want, your words and your religious stuff is meaningless.
There is only one form of evidence of true faith in Jesus – obedience to His teaching. The important distinction is to remember that it is not obedient living that saves us, but rather, it is the evidence that we are indeed saved.
My simplified personal theology is this: Love God, love others, know God’s Word and do what it says. I know that my faith is true because if it were not, I could not love God or others, I would care less about what His Word teaches and I certainly would not endeavor to live it out.
What about you?
The church in Wellington is here for you! We love you and will do whatever we can to help you in your spiritual journey.
Much Love,
Wes LeFlore (918) 607-8489 or huskerwes1@gmail.com
