If We are Both Saved, Why the difference?

If We are Both Saved, Why the difference?

Romans 8:15-17 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (v.16)  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (v.17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 

Some discussions have a way of being repeated ad infinitum through the years. Topics which seems to have no real resolution. Each person in a given discussion is some how able to support his view as well as we support our view which appears to be diametrically opposed to the other. Salvation is very much like that.

Myriad times, over the decades of my life as a Christian, I have engaged fellow believers in discussions about salvation. That is very common. And I am sure most of us have done the same. The road becomes a bit rocky though when we attempt to define ‘Christian’ in any concrete manner. Do Christians lie? Do Christians steal? Are Christians ever hateful? Parameters. We all want to set parameters. Because parameters help us to make concrete statements and definitions. We can define a Christian if we can decide on each of the defining parameters that make up the perfect Christian. Sadly, there is no such thing.

In many of the discussions I have been engaged in I have found it necessary to destroy parameters. The Law was a mega parameter. It was never intended to be one but religious society grabbed onto it almost as soon as it came down from the mountain with Moses. We want concrete barriers, laws, dictates that work like street signs for us, a list of all the daily mandates so that we can know, at the close of our day, we measured up.

Read the passage above again.  We have not received that old spirit which bound us by laws. When we got saved, when we realized our need of salvation and our utter incapability of acquiring salvation without Christ, he saved us by grace. He did not hand us a new law, no list of requirements to meet before salvation could be earned. Instead (v.15) we were given the Holy Spirit which placed us in the family of God by adoption. Did you ever see a baby earn adoption? Have you ever known a baby (properly adopted) who was given a list of things he must do in order to earn a true place in the family?

Our adoption goes one step further. Our Heavenly Father, by His Holy Spirit actually indwells us, He lives in us. We are His immediately and eternally. The Holy Spirit is our very proof of salvation (v.16) if we ever do doubt. This is what defines the Christian in that “concrete manner” we so often need. When doubt arises, we do not count our ‘good deeds’ and hope they are enough. We have the Holy Spirit of God within us reminding us that we are God’s family.

I believe this is what Paul had in mind when he said in 2Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Examine yourselves to see if “Christ is in you.” In our passage above (v.16) the Spirit of God reassures the believer he is God’s child. God did not leave it up to a list of our good deeds. He placed His Spirit within us to give us daily assurance in a fallen world.

But look how far that assurance goes. Not only does He remind us of our status as children of God, but (v.17) we are assured that we are joint heirs with Christ as well. When Christ is glorified, we will be glorified with him. This is what stops us from sinning. This is our parameter. This is our concrete barrier against sin. When a true child of God sins (and we all do) we are brought back by the Holy Spirit’s reminder of whose we are. He reminds us who our father is. He makes real to us the offence our sin is to our Holy Father, the shame it brings to Him and the violence it does to our witness in this fallen world. We do not keep a new law of do’s and don’ts. We live in a new relationship with God where our behavior affects our relationship with God. We are His children (Hebrew 12:5-12). When children sin they still belong to their parents, but the relationship is strained and often the parent must punish the child. But they always remain family.

This is what I believe to be the difference discussed in our opening paragraphs; those times when I have engaged fellow believers in discussions about salvation and how one person could sin so much easier than another. And how we just could not agree on why so many professing believers could seem to live in sin and others, though they did sin, abhorred it and repented more quickly. I think the difference was this. In a false profession the Holy Spirit of God never indwells the unrepented heart. That individual is left to follow the law and live in bondage (v.15) and fear and never truly become a child of God. They are religious but lost.

God truly wants to bring us into His family, to make us His children and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And when we truly do become His children His Holy Spirit is an ever-present reality in our daily lives. It is no longer a matter of keeping stringent rules and laws. We are brought into a loving family. It is our daily existence. It is our new life. Why do I serve God? Because serving God is the natural course of my new life.

Does your life belong to God?

How can we ever expect God to answer prayer?

How can we ever expect God to answer prayer?

Is God hearing your prayers? You say you are a believer, that you have been saved and born again. Still, your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling and return like echoes from a cave. The Psalmist said if we allow sin to continue in our heart without repenting, or turning away from it, we will not be heard, Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me….” On the other hand, he also assures us that when we turn away from sin God comes near and listens once again, (v.19) but verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.” If God has made no change in us, if we have not repented of sin, then how can we ever expect God to answer prayer?

I am often mystified by who would dare calls themselves Christian. Christian means Christ like. In 2Corinthians 5:17 the Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” And then in 2Corinthians 13:5 he recommends a serious self-examine, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Where is the change, the repentance, the turning away from sin? Look into your own heart, “examine yourselves” by a comparison with Biblical teaching. Are you attending church? Are you studying the Word? Are you living as an example to the lost?  That last one especially, “living as an example.” This includes the person you live with now; wife, husband, roommate or adulterous companion. Would that person continue living with you if you tried to win them to Christ? Or, are you silent in order to keep peace and not lose that relationship? Are you content to let that person spend eternity in hell so that you can continue to live peacefully? In every area of life, we are to be an example of the believer, never surrendering godliness for the sake of harmony. Without living a godly testimony, how can we ever expect God to answer prayer?

How is it that those calling themselves Christian continue to live in open opposition to the God of this universe with no fear of God? Is it some sort of dare? Is there a mental image of them shaking a fist in the face of God declaring He cannot judge them, because 30 years ago they recited some sort of prayer? II Corinthians 6:14-18 lays out a very clear mandate to remain separate from those who are not saved. We cannot work side by side with the lost in this life. We are not headed the same direction. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (v.15) and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (v.16) And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (v.17) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (v.18) and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” For many today, our best friends, those we spend our quality time with, our “love interest” (a term used lightly here) or even the person we are shacking-up with, are all lost. They are destined for an eternity in hell and we say nothing. We are afraid of destroying these relationships. Yet, these people would leave us today if we truly began to live for Christ. They only stay because we compromise. They are not willing to serve two masters either. They will not serve Satan and Jesus, Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Yes, I said they serve Satan. Jesus said to religious Jewish rulers of his day, John 8:43-44 “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. (v.44) Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Is it any wonder God’s ear is turned away from our prayer? We pretend to be Christian while serving Satan with our silence against, and compliance with, the sin of this world. We live every day knowingly sinning against God. We do not separate from sin as commanded by God’s Word. We choose to disobey. Then, we dare to bow at His Throne with our requests. How can we ever expect God to answer prayer?

Imagine standing at the Great White Throne Judgment seeing that special person you claim to care so much about. As that person approaches (assuming you are saved) will he cry out in horror, his eyes fixed squarely upon yours, “WHY DIDN’T YOU WARN ME? You said you loved me. You didn’t warn me! Instead, you lived just like I did, in the same sin.” Will your response be, “I didn’t want to cause anyone any discomfort? I didn’t want to rock-the-boat.” If we allow those we “love” to face the terrors of an eternal hell, how can we ever expect God to answer our prayers?

Is the problem one of being so backslidden we don’t witness or live godly lives because we have lost our zeal? Or, is it that we have lived a lie? You said a prayer many years ago but your heart was never changed, you never actually repented and turned away from sin because you never saw sin the way God does. You never saw sin through divine eyes. You never understood that God MUST judge sin, even in you. With so many false professions of faith, how can we ever expect God to answer prayer?

God does not take sin as lightly as so many of us do. He will judge sin in us with eternal damnation. Or, if we receive Christ as Savior, God will judge our sin in His own Son (1Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed). But, when we ask him to bare our sin for us, there should be evidence in our lives of that salvation. As in I Peter 2:24 above, we are expected to “live unto righteousness.”  We must stop living in sin. And start living for Christ. Then, we can humbly expect God to answer our prayers.