I recently finished going through a study by Jen Wilkin on the Sermon on the Mount. It was a great study! I wrote this during the last week of it at our mom’s group at church, and since it was something we thought a bit about as a couple, I wanted to share.
When we first met, we had a lot of discussions on whether a person could lose his salvation or not. There seemed to be many stories of people who had a zeal for God, doing many great and mighty things in his name, and then those people denied the faith. How could they do those things without being Christs? Does that mean they lost their salvation?
This study really helped me to put more perspective to those questions we dealt with early in our marriage.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 7:24-27
In these verses, Jesus was describing two houses being built. He said that everyone who builds their house on a rock met two requirements: they hear Jesus words and obey them! Both houses were built upon Jesus words – there was some impact from his words on their lives. However similar these houses looked on the outside, there was something different about them: their foundation. The first house was built on a solid rock – a life transformed by faith in Jesus Christ. The second house was built upon shifting sand – thoughts that Jesus’ ideas sounded good but not really understanding the gospel message to be transformed by it.
If they look the same on the outside, how can we tell the difference? It says a storm came and pounded on the houses – in the midst of life’s struggles our foundation is revealed. Are we built upon Christ or our own thoughts and feelings?
If we’re built on Christ our house will remain. But what if the storm never comes to reveal our foundation? The verses just before these give a startling picture.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23
There will be people deceived into thinking they’re following the Lord. They will get to heaven’s gates and Christ will say he never knew them. They were religious people and did mighty works in Jesus name. On the outside, they looked just like his most committed followers, but on the inside, their hearts were far from him. They never really had that intimate relationship with him. God used them to bring glory to his name, but they never knew him personally.
That picture scares me sometimes. However, we can be reassured. We’re told to examine ourselves to see if we’re in the faith.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
2 Corinthians 13:5
We need to look at ourselves and see how we measure up to God’s standards and not compare ourselves to other people, and in doing so deceive ourselves into thinking we have nothing to worry about.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.
Galatians 6:1-5
Now this isn’t saying that our salvation is shown based on how good we are at keeping God’s commandments, but on whether we view our sin as God views our sin. We can have an attitude of repentance, or we can think something along the lines of, “I’m not that bad. I’m doing so much better than such-and-such over there who sins All. The. Time. I must be in good standing with God.”
So, what kind of measure do you use? What kind of view do you hold towards your sin? God gives us such grace! I’m so thankful for his love towards sinners like me.