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In today’s world, I feel like words have been hijacked like never before. If someone were to ask me, “What words do you feel have been hijacked?” Two words immediately come to mind: “free” and “Christian.”
The word “free” is mind-boggling to me. We hear this word thrown around all the time and without getting on a political soapbox (well ok…wait for it…it’s coming), let’s just cut to the chase here: NOTHING is “free”. No one works for free. No goods or services are free. No education is free (nor does anyone get an education so they can now work for free). No time is free. I could continue with example after example until the cows come home. The moment YOU or I get in line to get educated by educators working for free for us to work for free is when we can expect something for free. The moment YOU or I go create a business for free and do that business for free or invent something without investing any money to invent it so we can give our invention to the world for free only then can we expect something for free. The moment YOU and I give up our time and effort for free only then should we expect to get anything for free. For those that want something for free or expect something for free the question that must be asked is this: are you first willing to do something with your time and effort for free? No, of course not. And rightfully so! NOTHING comes free.
And now on to politics because this is where the word “free” gets tossed around with such deception. When we expect our government to give away “free” stuff, please understand the government has no “free” things to give away. The government does not hire workers who are working for free to create goods or services for free that are in high demand that can be sold to the masses at a premium price. Only then would they have the money to give away “free” things, but this is hardly the case. The government doesn’t have any resemblance to a for-profit business they run to have excess cash to be charitable at all. The only revenue generator they have is OUR TAX DOLLARS! So, instead, they take our very own tax dollars, give it right back to us as if it is their money to give us, and then say, “Look at this, we are giving you this benefit or that benefit. Look how great we are as a government taking care of you!” It is the ultimate bait and switch. When you read through what I just laid out above it is incredibly laughable to believe in “free” anything! And here’s the kicker when it comes to our government…they are giving us back way less money than they took from us to begin with. And they sell this deception to the American people to get your vote as that keeps them in power. Those in power then get to live a life that has no resemblance to “we the people” they are supposed to be serving. Of course, the government needs funds to govern, but sadly they have gone way beyond that. You just have to look at how and where they spend money…. OUR MONEY! (Ok, my political soapbox is complete, but please let that sink in).
So, whenever I hear anyone talk about free stuff I bite my upper lip. It is a facade. It is fool’s gold. “Free” does not exist! And, finally, the moment someone brings up offering you something for “free” the first thing you should scratch your head and ponder is how can that be? And 2 potential things could be happening here if whatever is being offered for “free” is not truly coming from a charitable heart: Either 1.) they really think things can come free which means they have not critically thought out how that can’t happen as I explained above or 2.) they are intentionally lying to you and hoping you are not smart enough to know better which is worse…and the most sinister. Either scenario is not good. However, the intentional lying part means there is a hidden motive to benefit them and not you…and most likely at your expense (go back to my political soapbox).
So, whenever I hear the word “free” being thrown around, my deception radar goes through the roof. I instantly start thinking of all the people affected by the so-called “free” things that are being given away and who is actually paying for them. Because someone is…in fact, someone has to! I will leave this word here before I digress further because this is not the word I want to focus on. Instead, I want to focus on the second word because the stakes are significantly way higher. In fact, the stakes are the highest in our human existence…by far. There is not even a close second! And as we talk about this next word, the word “free” will make its way back into the conversation.
That word is the word “Christian.” This word is the most important word to get accurately right because, for you and me, it has eternal rewards or consequences tied to it. We can’t afford to get this word wrong. This word plays for keeps…absolute keeps! What do I mean by this? It plays for keeps because our eternal soul hangs in the balance. If we define it accurately and identify accurately with it, eternal Salvation then awaits for our soul. However, if we define it inaccurately and identify ourselves with this inaccurate meaning then eternal death awaits for our soul. I believe the word “Christian” is the most hijacked word on planet Earth because the very stakes at play are YOU and me. If I call myself a “Christian” and I am not a true Christian, my soul is lost for all of my eternity, forever in torment. If I call myself a “Christian” and I am a true Christian, then my soul is saved for all of my eternity, forever in God’s grace. There should be no surprise why this word is used in the ultimate tug-of-war in our existence. It’s because those involved in this tug-of-war on each side of the word Christian are Truth and Evil. One wants to save our soul and the other wants to destroy it. We are God’s creation that He wants to be reconciled with. Satan wants to stop this from happening. Satan is real, his schemes are cunning and wicked, and he loves muddying the waters to have people call themselves “Christian” who miss the Truth. If he is successful in his wicked endeavor he leads our souls to the slaughter right into eternal death and hell. All the while they were sold that they were Christians! (1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6:10-12)
So how do we know if we are true Christians where our soul is saved for all eternity? The test of true Christianity is quite simple and it is this: What do you and I do with Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone? Jesus Christ is the ONLY determining factor. Who is Jesus Christ to you and who is Jesus Christ to me? If He is the Lord and Savior of our life then we have true Christianity and we are true Christians. If we hesitate with this, think that might be a little too much, too exclusive, too narrow, taken a little too far, or there are other ways to be a Christian without Jesus Christ, then we are living a lie that will cost us our souls forevermore! For some, who claim Christ and are his, this is not a big reveal and that would be great news! But for others, who might just be taken aback by this bold statement, they are in dire trouble and we must love each other enough to speak the Truth. So, I can rant about this all day long, but I better back it up. After all, what I think doesn’t matter at all! Only Truth matters and here’s the Truth:
Grabbing my Bible, we are heading to a famous verse in Scripture which is John 3:16. However, I believe the two verses after the 16th verse hit home the Truth more clearly (although verse 16 is very clear). John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” And then verses 17 and 18 make even more clear just how important it is that Christ and Christ alone is where our Salvation is, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever DOES NOT believe is condemned ALREADY, because he has not believed in the name of the ONLY Son of God.” Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved! Let’s keep going…
In John 14:6, Jesus makes it clear when he says, …”I am the way, and the truth, and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father EXCEPT through ME.”
Before Jesus went to the cross to pay our price for sin and conquer eternal death for us, he said this as He prayed to God the Father in Mark 14:36. He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.” Christ then goes on to carry out God’s will to die on the cross because He is the only way and He knew it! There is no other avenue to reconciliation with God. It is through Christ and Christ alone. Keep in mind, that the Bible is God’s Word to us so I believe this verse is so telling in that Christ verified with this prayer that there was no other way but Him. This is the message I get when I read his prayer: It confirms his exclusivity for my redemption.
Finally, while on the cross and coming to the end of his grueling sacrifice for you and me, Jesus said in John 19:30…” it is finished,” and He bowed his head and gave up his spirit. This then confirmed his sacrifice for you and me for our redemption back to God is now completed and forever accomplished.
When you walk through those Scripture passages the Truth is quite clear of who Jesus Christ is and that Salvation is found exclusively in HIM. There is simply no other way, and it makes perfect sense. If God made Christ’s sacrifice only one of the many ways to get to Heaven, what a mockery of all Christ had to go through would have been. Instead, Jesus Christ filled all prophecies throughout human history leading up to his arrival that clearly showed Him to be our Messiah. His prayer to the Father asking if there was another way, yet submitting to God’s will, then carrying it out, and then finalizing it with his words, “It is finished” bracketed the start and end of the only required, acceptable sacrifice that would satisfy the price for our sin. Keep in mind the One that had to be satisfied is God….Our perfect, righteous, and just God! Because Jesus Christ was perfect being fully God sent down from the throne of Heaven, He was the only worthy price that could stamp our sin, “Paid in Full” in satisfying that perfection and righteousness. By claiming Christ as Lord and Savior, our sin is now covered in his blood and we are “blood bought”, fully forgiven, and allowed into Heaven to have a relationship with our perfect Creator. But if we reject Christ as Lord and Savior, we are left to die in our sins. This is what the God of the Universe requires! Do not be fooled. We are left with enough evidence to be without excuse.
Now, for those of us who simply cannot bring ourselves to put our faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone to save us so that we can call ourselves truly a Christian, here is the sobering hard-hitting truth with eternal (as in forever!) suffering consequences. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-27, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ 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 the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Without Jesus Christ, if we call ourselves a Christian we are building our house on the sand. And when our life is over and we stand before God, we will say, ‘Lord, Lord’ and Jesus will say to us, “I never knew you, depart from me.” But with Jesus Christ, we are building our house on the rock. Jesus said this in John 6:38-40, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my will but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
To anyone who might think they are a Christian for any other reason that is outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the word Christian has been hijacked and you are being deceived. Whether you have done it willingly or not doesn’t matter. Being a “good” person isn’t enough because none of us are good enough! (Romans 3:10). Without Christ, we stand condemned already (John 3:18). All other definitions, no matter how good they may sound or feel, are not accurate or sufficient because none of them can replace the work Jesus Christ did on the cross for you and me. Don’t believe the lie.
To wrap this up, here is something truly incredible that ties the two words I talked about in this blog together nicely. There is no such thing as the word “free” and when it comes to our Salvation and saving us from our sin which our perfect, righteous, and just God requires in holding sin accountable…well…that Salvation is not “free” either. A price had to be paid for it and you and I simply are not good enough to pay it. Jesus Christ came off the throne of heaven by the will of God the Father, is the only ONE worthy of satisfying our payment, and died on the cross to pay for our Salvation. The most important thing in our existence is our soul that will live on in eternity and even our soul was not bought by anything “free”, but instead the blood of Jesus Christ. An incredibly heavy price He had to pay. Yet He did it because He loved YOU enough to do it.
So, with all respect and love, I challenge anyone reading this today. Are you a Christian? If you can answer that accurately with the blood of Jesus Christ, then your life will be in celebration for all eternity with the God who created you. But if you cannot answer that because you think you can be a Christian without Jesus Christ and Him alone then you are being deceived and heartbreakingly will hear the words, “I never knew you, depart from me.”
Many people are deceived to think an eternity without God will be some kind of party in hell. Like all other deceptions that Satan uses to deceive us, this is certainly one of them. The lost will not be partying with their friends in hell. Sadly, a grueling opposite will be taking place. Instead, Satan with his wicked schemes getting those to buy that lie will be pulling the rug out from under the lost’s feet, leaving them to die in their sins and go where there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:49-50). I have never seen a party where that goes on and a party in hell doesn’t exist…and by the way, Satan won’t be there either because he will be defeated forevermore. His days are numbered.
So, if you identify and call yourself a Christian…when your life is over, will you be celebrating or will you be deceived? The stakes are high and the consequences are forever if we get it wrong. Only Jesus Christ is the answer. If you seek Him, you will find Him, and let the celebration begin forevermore!
Have Character!
J. Noah Russell
