The book Follow Me, by David Platt, starts off by telling a story about a Muslim
girl who asked him how she could become a Christian knowing that she would be
beaten and killed by her family if she does. Platt states there is two options
he could have offered her. First option is he could tell her it is easy to be a
Christian, just believe Jesus is the Christ and repeat a simple prayer and she
will be saved, or he could tell her the truth by telling her that in the Gospel
God calls us all to die. Die to life, family, friends, and future, and that
in dying, to live. To live in Jesus.
Anytime someone asked Jesus how they can be saved, or how
they could become his disciple, he would say things like this: "If anyone
is going to follow me he must deny himself." Mt 19 Jesus tells the story
of a rich young ruler who asked how he can know for sure if he is saved. Jesus
told him to follow the commands. The
Ruler said that he does, Jesus then says then sell everything you own and
follow me. Another man asked how he could be a disciple of Jesus and Jesus answered,
I have nowhere to lie down at night, you sure you want to follow me? Yet
another time he told a man to follow him, the man replied let me bury my dad
first, meaning that he had not yet died but his health is failing. Jesus
lovingly replied, let the dead bury their own, in order to follow me, one must
hate his family. Does Jesus really mean to stop caring about your family in order to be a real Christian? No. Most of these stories were told in a parable which were stories that made you ask what he meant if you really wanted to know. But since we can't really ask him what exactly he meant, we can assume. We assume, that he was merely stating the importance of what is expected. To deny oneself. To set our own priorities aside for the sake of the Kingdom.
Now today churches are filled with Christians that seem
content to have casual association with Christ while giving nominal adherence
to Christianity. People considering themselves to be Christians live in a world
of self: protect, comfort, care for yourself. What Jesus was saying was
"slay yourself". To Jesus, following him meant giving up our own
little world, to us it means praying a prayer and "inviting Jesus into our
world."
I "invited" Christ into my life when I was 8 years
old after the pastor was talking about hell. I knew I did not want to go there
so I asked my parents how I could go to heaven. They did what their pastor told them to do, and most likely your pastor would have told them to do. They led me in a prayer asking
Christ to cleanse my heart and enter my life.
The Bible never mentions such a prayer. It should concern us
that of all the times Jesus was asked how to be saved, he never once said to
kneel down and pray that he will enter our hearts or just to invite him into
our lives.
This type of understanding allows people who are not saved,
believe that they are.
There is a verse in Matthew 7 that most people do not
understand. It comes right at the end of Jesus' most famous message known as
the sermon on the mount. He is teaching this to his disciples, which tells us
this is directed at those who believe in him. Mt 7:21 says “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.
Another verse that gets taught the wrong way is in the same
chapter, 7:13, so he's talking to the same people, believers. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and
broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." I was always led to believe that the wide gate symbolized non-believers and the narrow gate was for believers. But in this type of context, and as Platt states, both of these gates are for believers. You can float through this life clinging to that prayer you said asking Christ into your life, or you can die to yourself and take the narrow path that will be difficult, yet very rewarding.
So what is it that makes us truly saved? There are signs around our youth room at
church that state, "Those who love God, Worship God." This does not
mean that our salvation is relying on our works, but that our works are a
result of our love for Him. We also rely on God's grace to allow Him to forget
about our past. We also must have a heart of repentance, willing to turn from
whatever keeps us from walking with Him. Jesus says many believe in him, including the demons, but only those who obey his commands will enter the kingdom
This post was the message for our youth ministry, and was taken directly out of the book, Follow Me, which can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Follow-Me-Call-Die-Live/dp/1414373287/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427737926&sr=8-1&keywords=follow+me+platt
