Have you ever heard someone say that they believe they will get into Heaven because they have done more good than bad? While Heaven is a Biblical concept this idea that doing more good than bad will get you in is not. Some people think that they can come to Christ on their own terms, that they will walk down the aisle and accept this free gift of salvation and then go about reforming their ways. They will attend church and volunteer for charitable work. Believe it or not such a person is not necessarily saved. Salvation is not a deal you make as if with an equal. It is not a business arrangement by which you promise to do X if Jesus promises to do Y.
No, the moment of salvation comes when a person truly comes face to face with the fact that they deserve eternal separation from God and that there is nothing they can do to earn their way back into His good graces. It is in that place of sincere, abject sorrow and regret for one’s sinful life where one truly gives up control of one’s self to Jesus Christ. At that point it is Christ who is in charge. That person is saved. I mention all of this because without that understanding a passage from today’s reading may seem a bit strange.
Matthew 12:43-45 ESV
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
What does this mean? It means that if you are doing the work of saving yourself you are only dressing yourself up for more sin. I like how my old buddy J. Vernon McGee put it.
“In other words, reformation is no good. My friend, you can quit doing many things, but that won’t make you a Christian. If everyone in the world would quit sinning right now, there wouldn’t be any more Christians in the next minute or in the next day, because quitting sin doesn’t make Christians. Reformation is not what we need….
This same situation is with us today. The hardest people in the world are unsaved church members because they think they are all right. They have undergone self-reformation—empty, swept, and garnished. They are like a vacant house, and all the evil spirits have to do is move in. The Devil owns them, and they don’t recognize this fact. Reformation means death and destruction. Regeneration means life and liberty.”
McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Brothers, salvation is found not in our own power to stop sinning but in our relationship with Christ. Today’s reading points out how special that relationship is.
Matthew 12:48-50 ESV
“But he replied to the man who told him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’”
A Christian has a relationship with Christ so close it is closer than that of mother and child, brother and sister. That is one tight relationship. Do you see how those passages are related? Jesus is saying that you can’t clean yourself well enough to gain Heaven but if you will submit your life to Him you will be closer than a brother. This is fantastic because it reiterates the point that those that belong to Christ are adopted children of God. We are children of the King! We will go to Heaven because we belong to Him not because of any mysterious scale of right and wrong.
I’d like to close with a video of a comedian that goes by the stage name of “Father Guido Sarducci”. If you are my age you’ll remember him from Saturday Night Live back in the 70’s. He has a theory on paying for one’s sins and getting in to Heaven. There is one moment in the video where he speaks of a particular sin that may make some uncomfortable so if you are prone to being offended by such things please don’t view the video.
The Parable of the Sower has always made me uncomfortable. Jesus gives this parable in today’s reading, but explains it’s meaning in the verses that follow. I often times wonder if I best fit the Hearer of the word in which the seed takes root among the thorns. I know I am often times guilty of allowing the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches to choke out the word. I am a dentist, and dentist tend to be materialistic. Trust me, I know quite a few, and ridding the world of tooth decay was not our main motivating factor in becoming a dentist. It is my view that only those who bear fruit are truly saved. Those that receive the word but don’t produce fruit are those that often times make a profession of faith, sometimes with tears and great joy, but seem to disappear from the Christian life and return to their old life within a few years. These are usually those people that other Christians who are so critical of the so called Baptist belief of ” once saved, always saved” point at to prove the folly of such belief. These people, more often than not, had only a said faith and not a true faith. This is not what scares me most about this verse. I guess what bothers me is where is the line? All of us are, at some point, choose the cares of this world over the kingdom. If I didn’t, I would be like the man in Indonesia that Jim has mentioned in his sermons that lost his family, job and all for the sake of his Savior. I haven’t lost anything. I have a lot more stuff than I need while fellow believers do without. A spend a lot more time working and playing than I do proclaiming the word. Do I bear enough fruit? Am I on the right side of the line? Is there a line at all? I already know that my small mansion isn’t going to be in heaven’s best neighborhood. Am I self deluded. Should I examine my salvation and see if I am wanting? Do I truly “believe” in Christ alone and depend on Him for my all? This parable reminds me of how far I am from being the person God wants me to be, and it rightly makes me nervous.
Love your comments here. I feel the same way. That parable is extremely important for all Christians and we really need to keep it in mind as we go through our day. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
Matthew 12:43–13:17
The Parable of the Sower has always made me uncomfortable. Jesus gives this parable in today’s reading, but explains it’s meaning in the verses that follow. I often times wonder if I best fit the Hearer of the word in which the seed takes root among the thorns. I know I am often times guilty of allowing the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches to choke out the word. I am a dentist, and dentist tend to be materialistic. Trust me, I know quite a few, and ridding the world of tooth decay was not our main motivating factor in becoming a dentist. It is my view that only those who bear fruit are truly saved. Those that receive the word but don’t produce fruit are those that often times make a profession of faith, sometimes with tears and great joy, but seem to disappear from the Christian life and return to their old life within a few years. These are usually those people that other Christians who are so critical of the so called Baptist belief of ” once saved, always saved” point at to prove the folly of such belief. These people, more often than not, had only a said faith and not a true faith. This is not what scares me most about this verse. I guess what bothers me is where is the line? All of us are, at some point, choose the cares of this world over the kingdom. If I didn’t, I would be like the man in Indonesia that Jim has mentioned in his sermons that lost his family, job and all for the sake of his Savior. I haven’t lost anything. I have a lot more stuff than I need while fellow believers do without. A spend a lot more time working and playing than I do proclaiming the word. Do I bear enough fruit? Am I on the right side of the line? Is there a line at all? I already know that my small mansion isn’t going to be in heaven’s best neighborhood. Am I self deluded. Should I examine my salvation and see if I am wanting? Do I truly “believe” in Christ alone and depend on Him for my all? This parable reminds me of how far I am from being the person God wants me to be, and it rightly makes me nervous.
Larry,
Love your comments here. I feel the same way. That parable is extremely important for all Christians and we really need to keep it in mind as we go through our day. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
Bill