Be Perfect To Stay Saved

Many Christians consider it important to live a holy life, not to earn salvation, but out of gratitude for it. Some have misconstrued that to mean we must work hard to be perfect like Jesus in order to "stay saved" or we can't call ourselves Christians. I've actually heard some say they no longer “really” sin. I believe the Bible makes perfection a goal to be worked toward, with no expectation to reach it in this life. But, nonetheless, it should be our target. If we continue to aim for the target I think we will do what is our "good and reasonable service." When we willingly turn from that target and aim in another direction (willful sin) we are clearly not demonstrating our gratitude for the gift of grace.

What is the best way to combat sound doctrines that have been traditionalized to mean something else, without destroying good fellowship among believers? Here’s how I see it.

Most people who go to church want to be assured that what they believe is true. William Sloan Coffin once put it this way: "The church is full of people who are seeking that which they have already found and only want to become that which they already are." Seen from the other direction - most people are not receptive to a message which upsets the status quo. Therein lies the challenge, and the danger, of ministry. As you well know, Jesus was not received with open arms. Matthew 23 is a summary of Jesus' clash with organized and accepted religion of his day. I believe that Jesus' reception by much of religion that is organized and dedicated to him - Christianity - would be much the same today. At the bottom line, where the rubber hits the road, people generally opt for religious ritual, tradition, deeds, programs and beliefs rather than the grace of God.

The "best way" to confront people who are convinced that their deeds, their obedience, their quest for perfection is critically important to their salvation? Preach Jesus. Preach the gospel. Preach Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, Colossians. All that is said and done in the context of church should be centered in Christ. Anything - anything - that threatens to take the place of Christ, or demands equal time - whether it be denominational traditions, core doctrines of the faith, however innocent, pure and true the issues may be - anything that is divorced from Jesus, anything that does not focus on Jesus will lead people away from authentic Christianity.

We use computers now in much of what we do. Computers have what is called a default - when one needs to reboot. When humans reboot, we always default, by virtue of our human wiring, to what we can do, how we can do it, how much of it we need to do. We default, in terms of religion, to performance. We do not automatically default to God's grace - we do not automatically see our contributions to salvation as worthless. Many fall for some kind of legalistic theological combination plate (think of a Mexican restaurant) which at the end of the day amounts to the same kind of religious meal others partake of at some other church. They may order the chicken tacos, or the cheese enchiladas, or the beef tostada, while we, at our church, go for the tamale. But it’s all made in the same religious kitchen -- it all comes with religious rice and beans. Okay - enough of the metaphor. It's breaking down! My point is: we humans fall for some idea that Jesus saves us, yes, BUT - what we then do after that point has some significance. Some think of entire sanctification. Some emphasize holiness. Some see justification as primarily a human work in which we are assisted and helped by the Holy Spirit. Any of these theological “combination plates” give people the illusion of control, the illusion that what they do has a direct bearing on their salvation.

But the great hymn teaches "I surrender ALL." All. There is no way to teach God's grace without being Christ-centered. There is no way to understand salvation without the recognition of the totality of grace. God gives salvation to those who see their weakness toward sin, repent, and seek Christ as Savior and Lord. The grace action is unmerited favor from God – unmerited before seeking Christ and unmerited after receiving Christ.

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