Is Accepting Christ enough?

In my previous post, I mentioned why religious people have such a hard time accepting the gospel. But is just accepting Jesus Christ as your personal saviour enough? Many Protestant churches say it is but I disagree. Moreover, Jesus himself disagrees with them.

Christ said in Luke 9:23 (KJV) "And he said to them all, 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.'" Taking up your cross daily means to be ready to die for him at any time. This is no "easy believeism" statement but one of total commitment by us to obey only Christ, no matter what it costs us in this world.

Neither does Jesus accept excuses. One man asked if he could first go and burry a dead family member. In the culture of that day, funerals lasted for days. The Lord replied in Matthew 8:22 KJV), "But Jesus said unto him, 'Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.'" By this, he means those who are spiritually dead should burry their physically dead family members.

Why was Christ so harsh regarding the matter of total commitment? He said in Matthew 10:38 (KJV),  "And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." So if you wish to be worthy of your God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, you must follow him with a passion to know him and obey him in all things.

This is one of many points I wish to make with my next book, You Think Your Going to Heaven? People think that merely confessing sins and accepting Christ as if he were some sort of  Cracker Jack prize is enough to get them out of hell. The Bible shows in many passages that our lives MUST be wholly given over to Jesus, no exceptions permitted.

In my next post, I'll deal with the matter of election and people's attitudes toward this thorny issue.