S05E034, Watching and Actively Waiting, Andy B 2 Minute Video
Jesus will return one day. It states it in the clearest of terms at the end of the bible, but also all the way through the bible too. Jesus IS coming back, and there WILL be a judgment made of those who are going to heaven, and those who are going to hell. This may not be popular teaching, but it is true none the less.
But, how should we wait for His return?
Well, firstly, we have to realise that we can never know when Jesus is coming back. If anybody ever tells you’ve they’ve worked it out, they’re lying to you and themselves. Plain and simple – not even Jesus knew the time when He would return, so no human being can ever know!
Witnessing a conversation between some Christian bloggers I was saddened to see unpleasantness erupt around “works and salvation”. These religious words are usually used when one states that we can not go to heaven (salvation) based on what we have done (our works) it is absolutely true that what we do (our works) will not get us into heaven. More on that below!
While there is debate around whether or not it is possible to lose your salvation (in other words whether or not you can become a Christian then stop being a Christian and lose your place in heaven) and I have heard both, that is not relevant here. What is relevant is to say is that salvation without works IS a huge problem! Because, ultimately, if we love Jesus, then there should be works evident in our lives of that love, for others to see, hear and witness.
You don’t need church or baptism or communion to be a Christian, as good and beneficial as they are. But you do need works. Not because works will assure you a place in heaven – they can not do that. But, because without works there is no evidence of faith. And, without any evidence of a faith I’d be seriously questioning the salvation of that person.
This is often made into a complex topic – works v salvation. But, it doesn’t need to be. It’s really rather simple, so let me try and make this as simple as the bible already made it.
If you want to go to heaven you need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ – you need to say sorry for everything you have done which is wrong, and you need to believe that Jesus died and rose again in 3 days. Nothing else will get you into heaven, and you don’t need anything else to ‘push you over the line’. Jesus already did what was impossible, by making it possible for us to go heaven in the first place – you get to heaven through a relationship with Jesus, and nothing else can add to that, or replace that.
And that’s it. It isn’t complicated!
It will cost you your life, but you will get much more back in return because of the life that Jesus already sacrificed for you, starting with peace in this life, and a desire to do works until your salvation (until you go to heaven). In other words people around you should see your love for Jesus – in the form of works.
I hope this sheds some much needed light on a topic that I fear is often used to make people sound more important than they are. Let me know what you think!
Just a thought...
Andy B
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Transcript
[00:00:00] Andy B: So another Andy B two minute video and I'm sitting in my car, I'm waiting for Jo. She is in an appointment right now. I brought her to that. We're in the middle of nowhere and there's lots of overflow car parks and everything was full. So she's rather glad today that I brought her in because actually there was no for her to park her car.
[00:00:24] So what I've been doing? Well I've been sitting in the car, in one of the lanes, you're supposed to drive along. I've had the windows open on the car, and I've been waiting for the sound of somebody walking past, of a car engine, starting of the tires running across the gravel. I've been on the lookout. Can I see anybody getting into their car? Quite a few people have come past, and I dunno where their cars are, but they're not in this massive car park or the overflows that I drove past.
[00:00:51] When we are waiting for Jesus to return and he will return, we know this from scripture to be true, how do we wait for Jesus to return?
[00:00:58] Do we wait [00:01:00] passively? I could have got a book out and just sat there on my feet up and thought, oh, well, I'll just wait here, wherever. But I don't wanna stay where I am because I don't wanna stay in one of the driving lanes. There's nowhere else to physically go. But it's not a place of permanence. It's not actually the destination. It's, it's a parking place, never. It's, it's a road! So I've waited. When my seatbelt's on and the car ready to start, so I can nip into a car park space, when one appears now it has, I'm sat in a car park space!
[00:01:27] How do you wait for Jesus to return?
[00:01:30] Do you wait passively thinking, well my salvation is secured, nothing's gonna take that away, so I'm just gonna do nothing because my salvation is purely based, my place in heaven is secured, because of Jesus. That is true. However, whilst that is true, we should be seen with works in this world showing of the love of Christ.
[00:01:54] It isn't enough to say, Well, I'm going to heaven, so that's it. I'm good. Put the seat back, get you a little margarita, and off you [00:02:00] go. That's not how we wait for Jesus to return. We don't know the time or the hour. Not even Jesus knows that. Only God the Father knows that.
[00:02:09] So how do you wait for Jesus to return? You need to wait actively!
[00:02:15] Actively means works. It means doing stuff that shows that we love Jesus and that we want to show who He is in our life through our life, out into the lives of others. How do you wait for Jesus to return?
[00:02:29] No one can take your salvation away from you. You can't work your way to heaven. But as we wait, actively, to go to heaven, as we wait for Jesus return, we should do it actively and that involves works. That means doing things for the gospel.
[00:02:50] Just a thought.