Our salvation is the light of Jesus that everyone needs to see. Is our salvation hiding in a basket somewhere when we leave our house? How much light do we let our unsaved family see? How much light do our co-workers see? How much of our salvation can truly be seen so that they will want what we have?
The third truth today is that along with working hard to show the results of our salvation, we need to obey God out of deep reverence and fear. Let's be real some in the modern church have lost a sense of reverence and fear when it comes to God. Some praise music has started to tell God what He has promised us instead of worshipping Him for who He is. The devil had convinced the world that God was an angry old man hurling lightening bolts down at us from the sky. The church however has gone in the opposite direction turning God into a fluffy veggie-tale character. A spiritual ATM who apparently only exists to distribute blessings to us at our command. We see the Gospel being distorted for financial greed, for political gain, and for any number of fleshly designs. When the world sees us treating our God so flippantly, it is not lost on them. The number one reason why people say they won't come to church is not Christ; but Christians. Hypocrisy is not lost on them beloved. If your co-workers know that you claim the mantle of Christianity yet have no problem stealing office supplies what message is being sent to them? If they hear your Christian radio playing while you curse someone, what message is being sent to them? There is a verse in the Book of Job that asks us, "doesn't His majesty terrify you?" Solomon put it this way:
That's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. Ecclesiastes 12: 13-14 (NLT)
But sometimes we would rather judge everyone else who is unsaved, hide everything we don't want anyone to know, preach Jesus with our mouths and then live a life that shows no fear of who He is. If you sing the song Majesty, but have no real fear of the true majesty of God what are you actually saying to Him? We need to be terrified again of the majesty of the God we serve. People want to turn God into something He is not so they can feel better about their sin. I hate to break it to you but love, does not win. God wins.
Yet despite these facts and the fact that we deserved death
for our sins, God sent His only Son as an atoning sacrifice. We see a movement
in
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5: 22-26 (NKJV)
The fruit is what God is trying to produce in us. It is of His spirit, which lives inside of us. It is at war with our flesh nature, which must be crucified in order for the fruit to be made manifest in our lives. For our salvation to be worked out.
So, a dear brother has left us today. He has overcome the world and is home now where there will be no sorrow or pain. We pause to remember the time God gave us with him and to ask ourselves how is my salvation today? Am I working it out with fear and trembling so that the results of it will be plain to all who God has me encounter? Or are there things today that I need to nail to the cross so that the fruit of the Spirit can be evident to my family, friends, co-workers, and whoever God sends across my path. Has my salvation become an event instead of a definition of who I am? Has my Christianity become lazy? God saved us for a reason beloved. Let not any life ever be wasted in vain. Rest in His glorious peace Ricky. You made it home.
