For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit
you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 8:13
Let me close with another sobering devotional. I want to deal with a subject that you really won’t find many talking about in American churches today. I view it a little differently than the End Times apostasy that we discussed yesterday because it applies to the here and now.
There are some unsettling passages in Scripture about people who call themselves followers of Christ, yet they will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. These passages are unavoidable and extremely sobering to me, so much so that they keep me on my spiritual knees before the Lord. This is not a debate on “once saved, always saved”. So, knowing this, let’s briefly look today at two disturbing passages together.
Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:21-23 that there will be many (wow!) who call Him, “Lord”, who will not enter heaven. Even successfully performing miracles and driving out demons doesn’t give anyone the “get out of hell, free” pass. Also, earlier in the chapter in verses 13 and 14, Jesus talks of the narrow gate and how only “a few find it”. How incredibly heartbreaking.
There is another passage from Jesus Himself in Matthew 25:1-13. It is referred to as the Parable of the Ten Virgins (mentioned a few weeks ago). These ladies signify the church, Christ’s bride, awaiting His return or Second Coming, as He is the Bridegroom. To the half that is not ready for His return, He will tell them, “I don’t know you”. Can you imagine the horror on this future day? Keep in mind that Jesus spent much of His time expressing displeasure with hypocrites and teachers of the law – those who viewed themselves as the most holy and religious and were viewed as such. Do you think they believed they were going to Hell?
I propose that there are people sitting beside you at church, in the choir, serving at VBS, in Bible studies, etc. who have not surrendered their lives to the Lord. As it stands today, they will not enter eternity with Jesus. Only God can truly know the position of their hearts, but we should encourage each other into a clear faith commitment and total submission to God and His will in our lives.
Believing that God exists is not enough. Doing so only puts you on the same level as demons, for they “believe that – and shudder” (James 2:19). Yet their goal is evil. We are saved by grace through faith in the God that mercifully sent His Son to die for our sins. Then, God defeated death and sin by raising His Son from the dead. May we believe and have peace about our future Day of Judgment.
Remember that we are not saved by our good works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Rather, our good works are a demonstration that the faith we have in Him has taken root and produced fruit (James 2:14-26). May your life abound in good works in the days ahead!