Non-Christians
often assume that a good person, doing the best they can, will get into heaven.
Sounds reasonable, but that’s not how it works.
A good
person doing the best they can is still plagued by shortcomings, not always
hitting the mark; and if we didn’t need rescuing, God wouldn’t have sent a
Savior.
Therefore
Jesus puts substitutionary atonement into play, to cover our defects. He puts
us on His team, adopting us into the holy family. And out of gratitude for what
Jesus did for us, we then strive to be good people and do the best we can. In
other words, we’re not working to earn our way into heaven; we’re thankfully serving
because of the assurance of salvation we have been given.
John said
that our loving service shows others that we are truly redeemed. “Our love
for each other proves that we have gone from death to life.” (1 John 3:14
CEV)
If we have no desire to serve and love others – if we’re
concerned only with our needs, and not the needs of others - we should question
whether Christ is really in our lives. “Non-serving Christian” is an oxymoron.
The saved
serve.
Norton
Lawellin
Join Jesus in the City
Fellowship (JICF) 10:30am Sunday, May 5, as Pastor Michael Pilla teaches about “The
Transfiguration” from Luke 9:28-36. We meet in the North end of the Oliver
Ministry Building, 27th Street & Bloomington Avenue, Minneapolis. See you there!
NL
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