Biblical Living: Go to Hell or Not; It's up to You
I dreamt I was standing on an empty stage. There were no props. No scenery. No frame of reference. Just me.
Very often in life when our faith is confronted we also have no frame of reference. All we bring with us is our internal compass. We have no props or scenery, no other actors on the stage, just the bare background of life itself. When life happens, when we are confronted, what will we say?
I think people should be able to do what they want to do. That may surprise you, because you know that I am a follower of Jesus, but I think people should be free to make whatever choices they want to make. However, where I differ from the world is in this: I believe there should be consequences for those choices, and I believe our Creator has the privilege of determining those consequences.
What would the world be like if we actually allowed God to be in charge (as He will be someday). What would it look like if the holiness code of the Bible was code for real life. What if kidnapping, rape, adultery, and blasphemy were viewed on the same level as murder, as capital offenses. What would our world look like. If someone wants to do those things, fine. But, there should be consequences.
Does it sound radical? Shouldn't real faith be radical? Is non-radical faith really any good at all. Sure it makes good people; it makes them beautiful in some sense. But, beautiful people go to hell every day. Even church attenders die and go to hell if that's all they are. Why? Because God see us without props. The nature of what we believe demands a radical response. If we really understand what God has done, it changes everything. If it doesn't change everything (or at least produce a desire to change everything) then we haven't properly understood what God really did for us through Jesus' death and resurrection.
We must submit, be broken and used. We are to be broken down before we are any good for a purpose. This is not a contradiction; it is a necessity. A perfect tea cup is all wrong when what is needed is a water pitcher. Better to be a cracked water pitcher than a perfect tea cup when that is what God's wants. The question of life: Who will you be? should rather be Whose will you be?
I heard growing up "Play hard or go home." If that helps you grasp the idea, then great. The call of the godly life is radical faith, life altering reality; it is to believe radically. But, sometimes we need help to get back in that frame of mind. The world and life numb us to the intensity of what is really going on. We loose sight of the battle.
Remember! Remember where you have come from, what you have been saved from within your own self. Remember the muck and the mire, the sin, the selfishness, the murderous thoughts and adulteries of your heart. Realize how dark the darkness really was. Now remember where you are going, the price that was paid for you so that you could have life instead of death, hope instead of fear. Remember that life is a war for the souls of men and women, your family, friends, and neighbors. Its isn't casual. It isn't something you do on Sunday mornings to make yourself feel better.
Live for real. Believe for real. Pray for real. Make holy choices for real each day. It matters.
Very often in life when our faith is confronted we also have no frame of reference. All we bring with us is our internal compass. We have no props or scenery, no other actors on the stage, just the bare background of life itself. When life happens, when we are confronted, what will we say?
I think people should be able to do what they want to do. That may surprise you, because you know that I am a follower of Jesus, but I think people should be free to make whatever choices they want to make. However, where I differ from the world is in this: I believe there should be consequences for those choices, and I believe our Creator has the privilege of determining those consequences.
What would the world be like if we actually allowed God to be in charge (as He will be someday). What would it look like if the holiness code of the Bible was code for real life. What if kidnapping, rape, adultery, and blasphemy were viewed on the same level as murder, as capital offenses. What would our world look like. If someone wants to do those things, fine. But, there should be consequences.
Does it sound radical? Shouldn't real faith be radical? Is non-radical faith really any good at all. Sure it makes good people; it makes them beautiful in some sense. But, beautiful people go to hell every day. Even church attenders die and go to hell if that's all they are. Why? Because God see us without props. The nature of what we believe demands a radical response. If we really understand what God has done, it changes everything. If it doesn't change everything (or at least produce a desire to change everything) then we haven't properly understood what God really did for us through Jesus' death and resurrection.
We must submit, be broken and used. We are to be broken down before we are any good for a purpose. This is not a contradiction; it is a necessity. A perfect tea cup is all wrong when what is needed is a water pitcher. Better to be a cracked water pitcher than a perfect tea cup when that is what God's wants. The question of life: Who will you be? should rather be Whose will you be?
I heard growing up "Play hard or go home." If that helps you grasp the idea, then great. The call of the godly life is radical faith, life altering reality; it is to believe radically. But, sometimes we need help to get back in that frame of mind. The world and life numb us to the intensity of what is really going on. We loose sight of the battle.
Remember! Remember where you have come from, what you have been saved from within your own self. Remember the muck and the mire, the sin, the selfishness, the murderous thoughts and adulteries of your heart. Realize how dark the darkness really was. Now remember where you are going, the price that was paid for you so that you could have life instead of death, hope instead of fear. Remember that life is a war for the souls of men and women, your family, friends, and neighbors. Its isn't casual. It isn't something you do on Sunday mornings to make yourself feel better.
Live for real. Believe for real. Pray for real. Make holy choices for real each day. It matters.
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