Good morning,
Many years ago I spent a
whole day attending seminars that outlined clearly how someone could get
saved and the words that they needed to say to show that what was
happening was the real thing. The important thing to these sincere
presenters was that people follow the right formula so that they would
know that now they were “saved.” That left me confused since both my
sister, who was just 2 years younger than me, and I had prayed on the
same day, we had both asked Jesus to come into our hearts, and both of
us were declared saved by grace. Although we had both said the same
words, the outcome was very different. I know that something changed in
my heart and life that day. I loved Jesus and I kept hanging on to him
through thick and thin. My sister, on the other hand, was good until
she left home and has turned away from Jesus to worship other gods still
today. The New Testament writers faced the same problem just years
after Jesus had died and risen again. People claimed to be his
disciples, called themselves part of “the way”, and when the word
Christian became part of the religious vocabulary, they claimed to be
Christians on their way to heaven.
When Jesus spoke of
salvation in John 14: 23,24 he used a very different set of values to
outline what God requires of people who want to claim they are saved and
on their way to heaven. Jesus didn’t talk about a formula, instead he
pointed out that the real test was based on a relationship with God.
What the God of Heaven requires from a person is the kind of love
relationship with him that comes from a loving heart, not following a
set of rules that makes them feel safe. People who are “saved” in this
sense are people who welcome the fact that Jesus and the Father are
living in them. Their closeness to their lover keeps them looking for
ways to obey God’s guidelines, not looking for excuses to get what they
want in Jesus name. Anyone who wants to claim a relationship with the
God of the Bible must be willing to accept this message from Jesus as
given to him personally by the God of Heaven and Earth. If we call
ourselves children of God, but ignore the Bible’s guidelines for godly
living, we are fooling ourselves and are causing great trouble and pain
for those around us in “Jesus’ name”. Lord, please help us to remember
that only God can save us. No person or formula can do that work.
John 14:23 Jesus
replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them,
and we will come and make our home with each of them. 24 Anyone who
doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own.
What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.
Roy Wisner
