Giving our lives to Christ

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/05/more-than-a-little-piece

One of the things we don’t usually emphasise when we share the Gospel is that Christian life involves leaving our old self behind and starting afresh in Christ as a new creation. When we preach the Gospel, we tend to focus on eternal life, on the wages of sin being death. That salvation is a free gift but costly as Jesus needed to die for our sins. Ultimately, Jesus offers salvation and heaven, compared to destruction and hell. We rationalise that we get them across the line first (although we know that it’s actually the Holy Spirit) and then let God work on them to mould and transform them to become vessels worthy of His glory.

There is no right and wrong in the approach, in my view, because for some people, too much analysis becomes paralysis. We think too much, we hesitate and we don’t move. So we freeze and are at standstill. Also, believing in Christ is by faith, and faith is believing in things unseen as things unseen are eternal. Thus, accepting Christ is as much of the mind as it is of the heart.

Notwithstanding the approach at the start, the fact remains that once we are in, there is no chance we can go anywhere in Christ if we are unwilling to give up our old life. It is a work in progress, there is no doubt. It is a journey, true. But it is nevertheless a journey to perfection in Christ. Not lip service. Not pretence. Not make believe. Our Christian life can not be a fake one.

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus made it clear that if anyone desires to come after Him, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him. For what profit it is to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul (verse 26)? Christ elaborates on in verse 27 that the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father, with His angels, and He will reward each according to his works.

As much as salvation is freely given by grace and by faith, we need to deny ourselves, and Christ will reward us according to our works. Salvation is not by works, but once we are saved, there is much to do – in the transformation of our lives and our service for Him. There are no freeloaders in the kingdom of God as much as Jesus is kind and compassionate. Everyone needs to pull their weight and work out his and her salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), in accordance with His plans and purposes for our lives.

No one is saying we need to be perfect from day one. But it is undeniably a journey. Are we on that journey? Are we walking on the narrow path that leads to eternal life? Or are we still on the broadside, wandering around in our own green pastures, with Christ in the distance?