I Am The Life Series

Vibrant Christianity is increasingly marginalised in this day. Wickedness strides pompously through the land and the saints of the Most High God are silenced through official threats and intimidation to keep our faith private. I admit that I am concerned when I see church buildings filled to capacity and yet see no evidence of transformation in the lives of those professing to follow the Son of God. Where are the followers of the Risen Son of God who live with radical abandon in the midst of this pagan world? Where are those disciples who love God supremely, bearing the imprimatur of holiness on their lives? Where are those followers of the Lamb who eschew sinful conduct, seeking instead to honour God?

When marital infidelity among professed Christians is indistinguishable from the population at large, where is the evidence that these have been born from above? When integrity of Christians is comparable to the world in which they live, when those who say they are following the Son of God practise deception and speak deceitfully, where is the evidence of the indwelling Spirit who changes those who are redeemed into the image of God’s dear Son? When Christians spend pursue the tawdry rewards of this dying world while ignoring what pleases the Father, how can they say they are walking on the narrow road? When attendance at the House of the Lord is treated as optional rather than being seized as an opportunity for growth in grace and power, how can the professed Bride of Christ claim to long for Him?

The issue is far more serious than most people realise. Remember Jesus’ dark warning! “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire” [MATTHEW 18:8, 9].

The Master spoke these words to people who indicated that they wished to be His disciples. Therefore, if ease of life means more to you that fidelity to the will of the Master, know the danger in which you stand! If the accolades of inhabitants of this dying world are of greater importance to you than standing true to the Word of the Master, know that your soul is in eternal jeopardy. If the censure of those who do not know the Master dissuade you from choosing to honour Him, you must know the peril in which you now stand.

When John and Peter were hailed before the Sanhedrin to answer for their crime of healing a crippled man, Peter testified, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” [ACTS 4:12]. He testified that the life offered in Christ the Lord is exclusive. Salvation is found in no one else—not in Buddha, not in Allah, not in your inner self, not in your church—salvation is found only in Christ Jesus. No one can please God except through faith in Christ Jesus the Son of God.