I have a hunch that I know what the ‘elephant in the room’ is when it comes to all this talk and study about the compelling need to ‘follow and obey’ Jesus in order to be ‘sanctified’, a big word which means to be made pure, holy, and set apart for God. And that ‘elephant’ centers around whether one’s ‘salvation depends on how sanctified one gets’. Allow me to explain:

If too much emphasis is placed on ‘believers’ surrendering their ‘whole heart’ to Jesus and submitting to the leading of His Holy Spirit in order that we can be ‘made pure’ or made ‘ready’, as we talked about yesterday, then it sounds like we are implying that our salvation no longer depends on trusting in the ‘finished work of Christ on the cross’.

Others will hear it as we are advocating you’re not ‘saved’ until one is ‘perfected’. This is why I continue to make the case that our focus really needs to be on whether one is truly ‘abiding’ in Christ as opposed to constantly worrying and debating whether a person is ‘saved’ or not. Sadly, many sincere folks who sit on church pews weekly can’t even clearly articulate what it is they are ‘saved’ from.

I would hope we could all agree that anyone who is indeed, ‘abiding in Christ’ is in as good a place as one could be when it comes to being assured of one’s ‘salvation’. Why that even settles the ‘who makes the rapture’ discussion easy to navigate regardless of when it might happen.

Then there are those who want to place all the focus of simply ‘believing Jesus is the Son of God and died for our sins on the cross’ as the determining factor on who ‘gets to go to heaven’ or not. The problem with that mindset is you come across as saying that you like the idea of having Jesus as your ‘Savior’ without having to submit to His Lordship. That in turn sets up an interesting conversation that poses the question of “Can Jesus be your Savior without being your Lord’? And before you answer that, take a look at Matt. 7:21; Luke 6:46; & Heb. 5:9.

Then, before you know it, all those who claim to be God’s children are congregating in their little separate groups, divided over some of the pettiest issues while the enemy runs circles around them working death and destruction in their midst (Hosea 4:6).

The whole story of the Israelites crossing through the wilderness and then over the Jordan River so they could go in and take possession of the land God promised them is a wonderful picture (type or foreshadowing) of what this walk of faith was intended to be. God made it quite clear to His people- Go in and take possession of this land where I want to bless you and your children in more ways than you can imagine. There’s some ‘enemies on the land’ that need to be eradicated and you would do well to follow my leading so I can do this for you. If you don’t overcome your enemies, they in turn will overcome you!

It really was…and is…as simple as that. We are either going to overcome…or be overcome, when it comes to sin, the devil, the flesh and the world. All seven churches that ‘received a letter’ (Revelation 2-3) were told…’to those who overcome’…will be the ones that things go well for, to put it simply. Jesus Himself said ‘those who endure till the end will be saved’ (Matt. 24:13)

And if anyone thinks we can ‘overcome the enemy’ because we ‘show up at church’ or prayed a prayer to ‘accept Christ’, before you try harder to do better when it comes to being a ‘Christian’…then they have either been greatly deceived, or ‘fallen asleep at the wheel’. Those pretty well describe the two conditions that many in the ‘church’ will find themselves in in the ‘last days’ based on what all Jesus and the writers of the NT taught.

The problem we face when we fail to surrender to the Lordship of Christ is we end up following in the fatal footsteps of those who have gone before us (1 Cor. 10:4-11). When there was ‘no king (or Lord)…everyone did what was right in their own eyes’ (Judges 21:25).

Is that not where many people find themselves today? I know there is a popular expression that states ‘Ignorance is Bliss’, but that would not be the case in God’s kingdom (Hosea 4:6). Paul even singled out the Israelites who “had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Rom. 10:2-3)

And ‘whose righteousness’ were we admonished to ‘seek first’ if we wanted to be on the receiving end of God’s blessings of protection and provision, according to Matt. 6:33?

I touched on this yesterday and will say this again- the parable of the ten virgins paints a story of a sleeping church who had to be awakened to the coming of the bridegroom (Matt. 25:1-13). And not all ten virgins found themselves ‘going in to the wedding’; only the five who ‘were ready’ (10). Then…the ‘door was shut’. That story came on the heels where Jesus likened His return to the days of Noah when another ‘door’ was shut (Matt. 24:37-39)

I hope you will meet me back here tomorrow to continue this.