So I believe/have faith in Christ – does my Christian journey stop there? 🤷🏾♂️ NO!
In Luke 13:23-25, Jesus said there’s a striving that we need to do to make it to heaven, to enter the narrow gate. Many will find the gate but they will not be able to enter. Why?
- Perhaps because they stopped at faith. They hung around the gate like the people in Noah’s days and took for granted how much time they had. They got to the door and thought simply claim it and it’s yours will get them through but it doesn’t. They still lived in the world.
- The Bible says there is a daily striving work expected of Christ’s children. Daily dying to self, daily choosing not to conform to the desires/passions of this world, daily striving to do things that please God. The faith we say we have in Jesus needs to have evidence in our lives and is how we truly become the salt and light of the world.
- A genuine faith in Christ is built on the truth that is in His word, which calls us to “Be perfect, just as our heavenly father is perfect”. Be, is an active continuous word.
- Indeed we are sinners but Christ’s death has redeemed us from the power of sin i.e. we are no longer slaves to it. We can, with the power of the holy spirit, choose Christ and daily strive to be like Christ. Those worldly passions we struggle with can be replaced with a passion for godly things if we simply yield completely, not partially with one leg in and one leg out, to God. When those worldly thoughts or desires come, we say NO, we bind and subject them to the word of God! 🙅🏾♂️💪🏾
- Grace means we may fall but Christ will accept us when we rise again. However, we should by no means take this grace for granted and keep falling as we please. There are consequences.
- 2 Peter 1:5-11 talks about the additional steps we need to strive, with diligence, to add to faith: virtue (i.e. behavior with high moral standards), knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love (for God, John 14:15, and man). 🙌🏾
- Peter says that we need to be very careful to make our election to heaven sure by DOING these things. If we do them (doesn’t say simply believe them) we will NEVER stumble and be guaranteed of our entrance into God’s kingdom.
- Each of these things have a deeper meaning which are reflected in the life that Christ lived and can be mirrored in us through the work of the Holy Spirit.
- We get baptized in water and the spirit, believe that Christ died for our sins, daily study our Bible and pray, daily purify our lives of our old ways of thinking and doing, daily commit our plans to God, develop new passions and interests, do the things we learn from the Bible as they’re not simply a set of suggestions but the literal words of God, learn how to trust in God because He’s told us we will go through many valleys etc.
This process is a life-long one and is how we strive towards the perfection of Christ. So help us God. 🙏🏾
The Langford Files 