Tuesday, August 11, 2015

We stay and have hope

We have hope not only for ourselves but for our loved ones who choose not to believe-

1Co 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

Choosing to believe in our Savior doesn't mean everyone around us will choose to believe as we do.  I can remember well the newness of my walk with Christ, the JOY. Anyone who has ever been in love with another person knows this feeling, this love. The world around you seems different, so many things seem amazing that were only ordinary before.  And the joy is something you want all around you to experience. Unlike falling in love with someone, you do want others to fall in love with Jesus. You want others to have the joy you have in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  You want others to have the hope of eternity that salvation brings. You can't understand why others don't want this joy, this hope, but all too often our loved ones sadly, tragically don't. 

Whereas lingering about unbelievers is something we aren't supposed to do, especially after they've outright rejected the gospel, we aren't to leave our spouses even if they reject the gospel.

We must stay and have hope.

Hope.

We can't know the heart of ANY other, not fully, not as God can know it.  We can't even know our own heart.  We can't judge ANY one's eternal life, not even the worst of the worst in our way of thinking. We might WANT to judge another, a monster who tortures others, we may want to judge their eternal life, but in truth we still cannot judge that.  We can judge actions, we can comprehend right from wrong. We can condemn another's actions without condemning their eternal life.

We must all seek forgiveness and repentance in Christ Jesus our Lord. We must all look to Christ's righteousness, not our own. We must all follow that which we know is of God. When we know to do good and do it not, then we are guilty of knowing and not doing.  When we don't know to do good we aren't guilty for that ignorance. God will not leave us in ignorance of salvation. We are liable for rejecting the opportunities to know to do good. We make choices and we are responsible for those choices.

God doesn't ask us to hate anyone! God doesn't want us to brow beat anyone! God doesn't want us to shove salvation down anyone's throat, in fact if we are trying to shove salvation down the throats of others then it's not really salvation we are teaching at all.   There is no salvation void of love.  And if people believe they are loving another when they try to force them to believe as they do, they are deceived. Jesus didn't force a single person to believe Him, not one!

We all need to pray for Salvation.
We all need to seek after our God.
We all need to pray for those who choose not to believe, not to seek God.

May God bless us, all of us as we seek HIM, to know Him and be known of Him.

Please, God, please.

All through Jesus Christ our LORD, our SAVIOR!

Amen.

No comments: