34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.36"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment.
Can you be saved and not love God?
This is a question I have been struggling with a lot lately. On theological grounds it was easy for me to disagree. When we receive salvation it should transform our lives.
2 Corinthians 3:18
18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Have we seen a transformation in our lives? I think one of the main problems of the Church today is that it's characterized by a lack of true salvation. We go around telling people that they are saved, because they prayed this prayer but they don't change. Does that mean that people are proclaiming Jesus and are far from his heart? The prophecies of the Lord from the Old Testament do not dry up. God said this to Isaiah in Isaiah 29:13 and Jesus later used it to describe the Pharisees in his time. That means that there are people in the Church today who are living far from God, yet they proclaim his name.
I'm writing this blog, because I don't think I was really saved until this past summer when I really took the time to think about what God's love really meant and I accepted it. I remember watching the Just Stop And Think video and my room and being moved to tears by the love God has for me, and it has definitely transformed my life. But I am definitely not perfect. Salvation is a word tossed around so frequently and dealt with so lightly in the Church today it scares me. Do we really take the time to think about what it really means.
1 Samuel 16:7
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
We see the outside. People can deceive us, but they cannot fool God. God sees the heart. So if we cannot even see the heart is it right for us to go around telling people that they are saved when we have no idea? There are cases where we are pretty sure that this person or that person is saved, but do we have a right to tell them if they are living a dead lifestyle? To me that is false prophecy. It does more harm than good. We need to be honest with ourselves and other people, but at the same remember we do not see the hearts of others.
Reading through 1 Corinthians yesterday I found a verse that gives a concrete answer to the question I posed earlier.
1 Corinthians 16:22
22If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!
Accursed comes from the Greek word anathema which is a strong word meaning excommunicated, cursed, exiled. The Bible says much clearer than many would like to admit that those who don't love God will not be in Heaven.
I didn't write this note to be criticize, but to warn my brothers and sisters in Christ that there are still Pharisees. Don't be fooled. We need to live a life transformed. We have a new identity. Let's not let God's grace go to vain. Let's show those who have not yet seen or understood God's love what it means, because that junk is contagious.
2 Corinthians 13:5
5Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
The good news is Jesus Christ died for our sins and then rose again. It's not too late to live a life
Don't be scared to test yourself. Questions aren't bad. If we aren't asking questions and testing ourselves then it is bad. In Velvet Elvis Rob Bell talks a lot about questions he says "Questions aren't scary. What is scary is when people don't have any."
If we aren't testing ourselves is it because we know where we line up and we are scared to admit it? Be honest with yourself, because the good news is Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. It's not too late if you fail to the test to come to Christ. We are inadequate and unworthy, but through Christ we have been cleansed, purified, and sanctified. If you don't pass the test watch this video http://www.juststopandthink.com/ I promise you it will change your life. Don't pass it up this is the most important thing in life.
Loving God isn't optional.
Reading this reminded me a lot of Matthew 7:15-20, which reads:
ReplyDelete"By their fruits you will know them. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree brings forth good fruit where the blighted tree brings forth bad fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit - neither can a blighted tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruits you will know them."
Like you, Jesus is addressing false prophets, but I think it's applicable in a broader sense. Jesus tells us, Spirit-filled believers, that we will have the the discernment to distinguish the genuine from the void. And the only way we can know what aligns with the Way is what people have to show. James 2:17-20 tells us as much. Don't get me wrong: there a definite difference between working for your faith and working from your faith. But Jesus both enables and commands us to love. His love is what it's all about!
I know that not everyone is going to live it out everyday, myself included. We can't, really. So maybe our role should be not to make rash assumptions about someone's salvation, but to build them up, encouraging them to love deeper. We're called to that, at least: iron sharpening iron.
One of my favorite quotes is this: "Questions don't threaten our faith - they make it stronger." We need to be honest with ourselves, certainly, but also with each other. There is a balance involved between awesome fear and peaceful security and it's a balance we should always be working to maintain. A drift to either side brings distinct issues.
Loving God isn't optional. For sure.