I have been seeing this meme around Facebook:
Christians have three false ideas that cause unbelievers to slander Jesus like this:
- Works have nothing to do with salvation.
- It is not about good and evil, but accepting Jesus.
- It is not about dos and don’ts, but accepting Jesus.
In the Bible context, Jesus is knocking on the door of the Laodicean church, which foolishly thinks they are doing just fine without him. What he promises if they let him in is a chance to sit on his throne with him in his everlasting kingdom (Rev 3:14-22).
The meme, though, is not completely wrong. The wrath of God is going to come on the sons of disobedience not because they won’t let Jesus in, but because they are sexually immoral, impure, and greedy (Eph. 5:5-7). So the correct answer to “Save me from what?” is “Save you from what God is going to do to you because you are evil. You don’t seem to have the power to free yourself from these things you’re doing that are harmful to society in general, to the people you know, and to yourself. I am offering to provide you the power, but if you want to just press on without me, you may find God is also mad at you for ignoring the Savior he sent to rescue from your slavery to doing what is evil.”
Salvation is all about works, brothers and sisters. Jesus wants to make us new creatures, created in himself to do good works (Eph. 2:10). He died so we could be redeemed from all unrighteousness and become zealous for good works (Tit. 2:14). It is true that in God’s great mercy, no works are required to become part of this amazing cleansing and transforming machine that is the grace of God, powered by the Spirit of God living in us, but once we are inside, the whole purpose is to transform us into doers of good works that will glorify our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16).
This is why the New Testament is full of dos and don’ts. “Turn from evil, and do good,” Peter writes in his first epistle (3:11). If you’re not keeping commandments, John writes, you don’t know God (1 Jn. 2:3-4). Sinner, Jesus is knocking on your door because you are a goat, turning people away that he wants you to help. He is knocking on your door to make you a sheep, empowered by his Spirit to help those in need and to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Pet. 1:3-4). He is knocking at your door because he doesn’t want you to find out on the last day, at the final judgment, that you are about to be destroyed because you chose evil over good.
There are a lot of opinions and rumors about Constantine, the Council of Nicea, and the events of the fourth century that changed Christianity to Christendom. Not only will you get the incredible story, with all its twists, plots, and intrigues, but you will find out how history is done and never wonder what is true again.
Paul thank you for the explantion.
Sorry for the slow approval. I have been running from one thing to the next the last week.
Great Article Paul, right on target. By the way you have “dos” at the top of your article and at the last paragraph I think it should be “do’s” and not “dos”.I could be wrong.
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Hi Kal El. Actually, “dos” is “correct.” An apostrophe before a plural is never “correct” by grammar standards, but I am not sure grammar standards are what we ought to consider correct. The average person uses “do’s,” not “dos,” despite what the grammar authorities teach. Eventually, common usage will become dictionary usage, which will become grammar authority usage. I’m never sure what to do with that, but for now I am using “dos and don’ts.”
Good post Paul!
Christ offers us a new life and an opportunity to become like Him. That’s what Christianity is all about. The initial forgiveness of sins is the starting point. Not the end point. From there, we start a journey that never ends. We are invited to become like Jesus.
That journey takes a lot of effort and ….work. The Holy Spirit helps us along the way, but he doesn’t act for us. We must choose our actions. If I have to forgive somebody who has wronged me…I have to do it. God doesn’t do it for me. If I have to change a behavior, I have to do it. God won’t do it for me. We make the hard choices of saying “no” to the world and its values and “Yes” to God and the Kingdom’s values. He may help us see the right path, but we must physically walk down it ourselves. That requires effort.
God has done his part. We’re called to do ours.
Thanks, Jim!