It's not that I don't want to serve God and His people, but what if I'm not doing it right?
Is it enough that we believe in our hearts and declare with our mouths that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9)? Does faith truly save us through grace in our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9)? The Bible says so. It also says that dead branches on the vine (of Christ) will be cut off and thrown on the fire (John 15:6). The Bible says that many will hear, "Depart from me; I never knew you" on the day of judgment (Matthew 7:23). These are scary verses—can we agree? These verses do not refer to unbelievers but to those who believe or have believed in Jesus. If you have yet to guess, this is not a light-hearted article. It addresses some severe questions that believers should care about.
As Christians, we know that Christ is our Savior and our example of how to live, but did we take salvation and run? Romans 10:9 (NLT) says, "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Paul says we need to believe and declare. Sounds simple enough, but what about Scriptures like Mark 25, where Jesus explains that a day of judgment is coming? Verses 31-46 make it sound like we need to do things beyond believing and confessing that Jesus is Lord to be saved:
"Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?' "And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life." Matthew 25:44-46 (NLT)
Jesus is talking about those of us who will go to heaven, the sheep, and those who won't, the goats. The specific wording in this Scripture makes it seem that unless you are feeding the hungry or thirsty, clothing the naked, helping the sick, or those in prison, you go to eternal punishment, while the ones who did do these things will go to eternal life.
Believers must wrestle with questions like, "Am I righteous or a goat?" Our souls depend on it. Even if we only look at the life of Jesus and ignore the rest of the Bible (which I do not recommend), we must notice a vast difference between the life Jesus lived and the one we live. We must ask ourselves if we truly believe and confess that Jesus is Lord. If we are sincere in our faith, there will be evidence because the Holy Spirit will transform us.
Our transformation takes a lifetime, but as we grow, we will bear fruit, and as we bear fruit, we will be pruned to bear more fruit. It's not enough to believe that Jesus existed and died for us. That belief must drive us to action, but I don't see it as often as I'd like.
As I prayed over this, the Holy Spirit reminded me there are many ways to be moved to action, like the things mentioned in Matthew 25:31-46. It doesn't have to look the same for everyone. When I initially read it, I thought it meant I needed to find every homeless person I could and help them. (And if God gives you that mission, go for it.) But there are other ways to feed those who hunger. For instance, I may not feed those with physical hunger daily, but I offer spiritual food. Whether or not it is received is not in my hands, but I offer it because I know God's Word is life and nourishment for every soul.
What Does It Mean to Be Saved?
Are there additional requirements for salvation besides what we've been told? No, but we must ensure we have the correct definition of salvation. For our salvation to exist, there must be evidence in our lives, but this evidence gets slippery for me. What about the thief on the cross? He had no opportunity to display any evidence. For about ten years now, I've been working on unlearning the belief that I have to obey every command perfectly to be saved, and it's been quite the challenge as someone who struggles with perfectionism. It's not that I don't want to serve God and His people, but what if I'm not doing it right?
It's impossible to refute the words of Jesus. He spoke directly here in Matthew 25 and told us that if we don't take care of people who are hungry, poor, thirsty, and sick, then we will go away to eternal punishment. We must take time to reflect on the way we live. Do we think about helping others? From my observations, many of us only think about how we will achieve peace for ourselves, which would make us goats according to the Scripture—and we know where the goats go...
But does this sound like a works-based salvation? It doesn't when we parallel it with James 2:2 (NIV), which says, "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" Our works don't save us, but if we have no works, it's time to question if our faith is genuine.
I am a redeemed child of God and a continual work in progress. That's a complicated reality to live in. In my perfectionistic-wired mind, these two identities are impossible to claim simultaneously, but God always does the impossible. This concept of redeemed and imperfect fills the Bible from beginning to end. Israel is God's precious treasure, and yet they've suffered wrath at God's hands. Jesus, God's perfect Son, was sent to bring us the greatest gifts of all—love and the only path to God—and He died a brutal death He didn't deserve.
Why Was Jesus Crucified?
So why was Jesus crucified as our perfect sacrifice if our salvation is still in our hands? I have lived most of my life believing that I'm a beloved child of God who serves Him and walks in His ways, but what if I don't? The good news for both of us is that salvation is enough, but our Salvation should lead us to the actions we read about in Matthew 25. Salvation changes us from the inside out. Believing that Jesus lived, died, and rose again isn't enough. If we never experience any change, we must question whether our belief is sincere. I know the thief on the cross didn't have the opportunity to change his life, but based on the rest of the Bible, I know he can't be my prime example. His story highlights God's amazing grace.
The devil loves to mess with me on this topic, which inspired this article. I am prone to measuring my actions and deeds daily. I am highly critical of myself, and when I read scriptures like Matthew 25, I only see how I fall short instead of how God has worked through me in those areas. You may also feel that no matter how much you think you're growing and learning, you always fall short. (It's because we do. God will always be higher.)
I work myself into a frenzy when I think my salvation is insufficient. The day this article was inspired, I was bawling my eyes out because I sincerely believed that God would tell me, "Depart from me, I never knew you," even though I do spend my days in service to the Lord's will. I fear because God is perfect, His ways are perfect, and I am not. Am I obedient to Him? Yes, but am I obedient to Him every second of the day? I can only hope. If my salvation depends on perfect obedience, then I'm done for. But, let's be honest: if I'm done for, so is the rest of the world.
The Same God
On that note, let's pause and observe another stark contrast between "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you" (Deuteronomy 31:8, NLT) and Matthew 7:23 which says, "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS'" (emphasis added). The same God speaks these words to the same people!
In the Old Testament, He speaks these words to the Jews, His chosen people. In the New Testament, He also spoke these words to the Jews, including the religious leaders of the time. So what is going on here? How can God say these two very opposing statements to the same people, His people? These statements could not be more different. One is the best promise ever, and the other is the worst thing you could ever hear!
My answer for you is the answer I always have with difficult questions like this. It always comes down to the heart. I can't give you a checklist that ensures your heart belongs to God. That's between you and God, but I can tell you that there will be evidence of your relationship and that God has laid out His ways for us in His Word. We have to want God wholeheartedly, and I know that starts with reading the Bible.
We can't know or want God based on who we create Him to be. We must find Him in the truth of His Living Word. If our heart desires to live with Him and for Him, we can trust that the Holy Spirit is doing the work in us that God ordained beforehand, as we are told in Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT):
"God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
So God's gift of salvation is enough, but we must check our hearts to know we are saved. We must study God's Word, prioritize it in our lives, and live by it to have the assurance that it's sincere. It's not something we can be careless about. If we don't know Him now, He won't claim us as His later.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/beerphotographer
Vanessa Luu is a wife, mother, and faith-based writer. She speaks and writes to believers to encourage them to live authentically with God.
