"Put On Your Socks" by Faust

 What a zany song this is. Faust were a German rock band who dabbled in various styles during the 1970s. Eschewing the tried-and-true rock traditions, this quartet fused different musical elements into their own unique sound. Check out the tune here.

It's obvious to us that putting shoes on first is silly. But we make the same sort of mistake when we present the gospel to people. Before we can give the good news of salvation, we must tell folks the bad news of why we need to be saved in the first place.

A group of people once discussed the matter of worshippers in the temple whom Pilate had executed. Christ's answer showed the peril all people face unless they're saved.

Luke 13:2 to 5 (Bible in Basic English) quotes him as saying, "And he, in answer, said to them, 'Are you of the opinion that these Galilaeans were worse than all other Galilaeans, because these things were done to them? I say to you, It is not so: but if your hearts are not changed, you will all come to the same end. Or those eighteen men who were crushed by the fall of the tower of Siloam, were they worse than all the other men living in Jerusalem? I say to you, It is not so: but if your hearts are not changed, you will all come to an end in the same way.'"

This "end" is both physical and spiritual, meaning an eternity in hell. As Romans 6:23 (BBE) reminds us, "For the reward of sin is death; but what God freely gives is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Giving only half the gospel is as bad or worse than presenting no gospel at all. In Matthew 7:21, (BBE) Christ warned, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will go into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the pleasure of my Father in heaven." The pleasure of the Father is that sinners repent and follow Christ. 

This is missing from most gospel presentations these days. So present the bad news of human depravity before giving the good news of Christ's substitutionary atonement.

Do All Good Deeds Count?

It isn't wrong to do good deeds for others. The problem lies, as with other actions, with the motives behind them.

The chief wrong motive is to butter God up. On the face of it, That's what the people mentioned in Matthew 7:21 (BBE) tried to do. Christ in that verse warns, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will go into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the pleasure of my Father in heaven."

In parable form, Christ told about who really did the will of his father. It was those sheep'' who gave food, shelter, and medicine to his impoverished saints. As Matthew 25:40 (BBE) says, "And the King will make answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'"

But there will be many who thought they were heaven bound who will find themselves in hell. Instead of seeking the will of the Father, they sought to glorify themselves. Christ warned of such individuals in Luke 20:46 (BBE). "Keep away from the scribes, whose pleasure it is to go about in long robes, and to have words of respect said to them in the market-places, and to take the chief seats in the Synagogues and the first places at feasts;"

Earlier on, Jesus compared the covetousness of the Pharisees with leaven that infiltrates and puffs up. Luke 12:1 (BBE) records, "At that time, when thousands of the people had come together, in such numbers that they were crushing one another, he said first to his disciples, 'Have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees, which is deceit.'"

Like many self-important religious people, the Pharisees made a show of their phoney piety. Mark 12:40 (BBE) is part of Christ's condemnation of those wicked types. "Who take away the property of widows, and before the eyes of men make long prayers; these will be judged more hardly."

We have people today who dress in robes and love being called father or minister. We also have people who brag about how they tithe and give. But like Christ warned in Matthew 6:1 (BBE), deeds aren't rewarded when they're done for show. "Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."

This will be part of my theme in my next book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? Far too many folks think their good deeds will get them into heaven.

On Thursday, I hope to publish about world religions which teach about good deeds.

Do the Gospel

No, this isn't some new dance craze. I'm referring to the proof of salvation. So many churchgoers have never surrendered their lives to Christ. How can we recognize them? Here's how.

James 1:22 (BBE) exhorts us not to be listeners to the gospel, "But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas."

And here's how we recognize somebody who's truly born again. James 2:14 to 17(BBE) directs, "What use is it, my brothers, for a man to say that he has faith, if he does nothing? will such a faith give him salvation? If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of the day's food, And one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warm and full of food;' but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this? Even so faith without works is dead."

I need to point out here that works won't save a person. Only the grace of God through Christ does that. Christ likened actions to fruit. He said in Matthew 7:15 to 17 (BBE), "Be on the watch for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are cruel wolves. By their fruits you will get knowledge of them. Do men get grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree gives good fruit; but the bad tree gives evil fruit."

We also see the effects of salvation in Luke 19:8 and 9 (BBE). "And Zacchaeus, waiting before him, said to the Lord, 'See, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone wrongly, I give him back four times as much.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, for even he is a son of Abraham.'" Christ meant he became a child of faith.

But some people who claim to be Christians will actually end up in hell. Ponder what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21 (BBE). "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will go into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the pleasure of my Father in heaven."

John 6:28 and 29  (BBE) answers the next logical question. "Then they said to him, 'How may we do the works of God?' Jesus, answering, said to them, 'This is to do the work of God: to have faith in him whom God has sent.'"

Some folks might say that this is too easy. Why should it be a hard thing to believe how easy it is? I'll be answering that question in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? On Saturday, I'll post about the joys of going home and the ultimate destination of Christ's followers.

Can We Make Christ Our Lord?

I hear many preachers say we must "make" Christ our Lord. While the sentiment is noble, the premise is wrong. What I mean is that we can't make Christ our Lord because he already is.

When we call Christ our Lord, it means we submit to him and obey what he says. As he told his disciples in John 13:13 (KJV), "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am."

Since we're Christ's disciples, we must heed what our teacher teaches us. Like he said in Luke 6:46 (KJV), "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"

Being Christ's also means that we belong to him. He bought us with his blood from the slave market of sin. As Paul aptly pointed out in 1 Corinthians 6:20 (KJV),  "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

Likewise, Romans 6:17 (KJV) explains, "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you."

The trouble is that many professing churchgoers only want the side benefits of "receiving" Christ but they don't want to obey his commandments. As he said in Matthew 7:21 (KJV), "Not every one that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

Furthermore, we are given this ability to obey his holy edicts. Philippians 2:13 (KJV) says, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

But we aren't unwilling slaves to our Lord, as if we were forced to serve him. John 14:15 (KJV) says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Obeying out of love for our Master is so much better than obeying out of fear. I'll emphasize this in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? So many churchgoers want only a form of fire insurance against going to hell. But only those who love Christ will be saved.

I think you'll enjoy my Saturday Song choice. It aligns perfectly with the theme of churchgoers verses true Christians.

Can People Lose Their Salvation?

I've pointed out previously how Satan strives to sabotage the trust of believers in God. One of his attacks is on the matter of being truly saved. Some people fall into sin and the Devil convinces them that it means that they aren't really saved.

One verse which many people misuse to supposedly prove that Christians can lose their salvation is in Hebrews 6:4-6  (BBE) which says, "As for those who at one time saw the light, tasting the good things from heaven, and having their part in the Holy Spirit, With knowledge of the good word of God, and of the powers of the coming time, And then let themselves be turned away, it is not possible for their hearts to be made new a second time; because they themselves put the Son of God on the cross again, openly shaming him."

One good example of an unsaved follower, perhaps the best one, is Judas Iscariot. He was chosen by Christ and worked with him and his disciples for three -and-a-half years. But look at what John 6:70 (KJV) says. "Jesus answered them, 'Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?'"

Judas tasted, sampled, the world to come and the power of the Lord but he never gave his life to Christ. Look at what John 12:6 (KJV) says of him and his objection to the woman pouring that expensive perfume on Jesus. "This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein."

Jesus said, regarding those who claim to be Christians, in Matthew 7:21 (KJV)that, "Not every one that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,'shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

And what is that will? We read in 1 John 3:23 (KJV) "And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

I'll be explaining more about this implicit trust in Christ's atonement in my book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Unless people surrender their wills and lives to Christ's control they will have no part with him. No amount of good works and kind words will ever gain anybody eternal life in heaven; period.