"If you have taken Christ as your Savior, there is not one single thing you must do to get ready to meet the Lord!"

Very clearly what he meant was, if you have received Christ as your Savior, you have it made. You've done all you can do and your future is secure. And he seemed thrilled to share this news with his listeners.

As you weigh his words, how do they rest on your spirit? Are you thinking to yourself..."Amen to that!" or "How could he say such a thing?"

I suppose many Christians would like to believe salvation was all we needed, but it simply isn't true. Faith in the Lord Jesus does not automatically prepare us to meet the Lord or for heaven. If that were so, the Lord could take us home the moment we were saved, but He doesn't do that. What salvation does do is put us in God's family as  infants with the opportunity to grow up.

Actually, it is just the beginning of the Christian life.

NOTHING AUTOMATIC ABOUT IT

When you were born to your parents, did that automatically prepare you for adulthood? No. Infants have to grow into children and children have to grow into adults. And when they don't, it is a tragedy.

Once, when deplaning at Chicago O'Hare airport, I passed by a private room as they were closing the door. But I saw enough. Inside was a 45 year old man in a playpen with a baby bottle in his mouth. His head turned toward me. His eyes met mine. It was chilling, for there was nothing behind those eyes. He was a mindless child in an adult body. It was also sickening to hear that famous minister say what he did. I don't think he meant to deceive, but telling Christians they don't have to do anything to get  ready for heaven is awful. If anything, the Bible cries...PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD!

YOU  WON'T HEAR THIS EVERY PLACE

A man has to work just as hard to get ahead in Christ as he does to get ahead in the world. If a man wants a good job with Jesus in heaven, one that will put Him close to the Lord, he'll have to work for it...even sacrifice. It won't be handed to him just because he's been born into the family.

AFTER salvation, which is free, we have to work for everything we get."For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That each one may receive what  is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). The truth is, ALL face a final exam on our earthly lives and being born again does not cancel that exam. That's because God will not be mocked. A man reaps what he sows (Gal. 6:7). The very fact that we are judged shows more is involved than being saved.

   What I'm talking about is the law of the harvest. That law not only holds true for planting seed in the ground, but also for the way a person lives.

The Lord leaves the sowing up to us, but holds us accountable for what we do with the life our new birth gives us. So just because a man is saved, doesn't mean he has it made. Yes, he'll make heaven, but not as an adult...but rather as an infant...and not in very good standing with the Lord, either.

From the time a person is saved until the Lord calls him home, the believer is under orders to make daily changes into the likeness of Christ and work hard to qualify for a useful place near Him in His kingdom. Here's something we need to keep in mind...

"We enter heaven just we are at the point of death...and never change."

FAMILIAR WITH PHOTOGRAPHY?

If you are, then you know the photographer puts his negatives in a solution to develop them.  When he's ready to stop the developing process, he then places the negative in a fixing bath. The development of the image is arrested . . . and never changes after that.That's what death does to the Christian. It is the fixing solution. It freezes our lives at that point and we enter heaven just as we are and never change. With our growth frozen, that's the way we appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor.5:10) .

THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST

I consider the day of our judgment the most awesome fact of Christianity.

While it is one of the biggest truths of the New Testament, you don't hear much about it. It's unpopular, so some pastors are reluctant to preach it. They may fear losing their audiences...and their incomes. Nevertheless, every single one of us will stand before God for the final exam of our lives.

 We'll be examined on the basis of what we did with our one life on earth, our one opportunity to live for the Lord, rather than for ourselves and our families.The decision God makes about us in that day is final—and we have to live with it forever. There are no second chances, no makeup classes of any kind. We just go around once and that's it!

The place we give the Lord Jesus in our lives NOW, determines the place He'll give us in that day. That is why we must put Jesus ahead of fame, fortune, family or fun.

THAT MOTIVATED PAUL

According to his own testimony,  Paul said the fact of the believer's judgment is what moved him to action.

 "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord," he said, "we persuade men..." (2 Cor. 5:11).

It was the reality of the final exam that made him want to win the race in Christ. He had final exam fever.If a Christian wants to throw away his one opportunity on earth and live for himself and his family, no one is going to stop him. He has a free will and the choice is his...but he'll be sorry. He won't lose his salvation, but he'll find that the law of the harvest stands.

It will be a terrible shock to see what it cost him to trifle with the Lord. It will be rough seeing what he could have had, if only he'd chosen to live for the Lord instead of the comforts and pleasures of this world

HERE'S THE HARD TRUTH

Faith in the Lord Jesus does not automatically prepare Christians to meet the Lord or qualify them for a good job in His kingdom.

The best jobs will go to those willing to put Jesus' interest ahead of their own. And if a person doesn't like poverty here, it's a cinch he won't like it there. The Lord cautions us...

"Lay up for YOURSELVES treasure in heaven"
(Matt. 6:20).

That means no one else is going to do it for you and if we don't invest ourselves, we'll end up in heaven flat broke.

 My books, "JESUS IS COMING—GET READY CHRISTIAN!" and "LATEST WORD ON THE LAST DAYS"  were written to prepare you for the "perilous times" of which Paul speaks, plus shows you how to give a good account of yourself to God in that day.

You might burn a little midnight oil and perhaps deny yourself some of the pleasures of the world as you get ready for...

 YOUR FINAL EXAM!

GO BACK TO MONTHLY ARTICLES MENU

This article is Copyright 2001 by Dr. C. S. Lovett and is found on www.cslovettbooks.com