I remember as a child that I had all kinds of ideas of what it took to be saved.
As I continued to grow in years and schooling, those things changed, were added to, and some even fell away to the wayside.
Getting older still, I began to realize that my thinking about things had little to no effect upon reality since much in life is beyond the control of our beliefs.
It wasn't until I read what scripture says about salvation that I then realized that what I "thought" and "believed" about what it took to be saved didn't align with scripture, and that all the sheer will I could ever hope to apply to it would not, and could not, lend dominance to my beliefs over reality.
So, I was forced to give up all that I thought I knew about what it takes to be saved, and accept what scripture demands. Boy, that was a hard lesson. Human pride is one of the most powerful forces within the wicked heart. I didn't like others telling me I had to accept what scripture has to say on the matter, and that personal interpretation is the devil's playhouse in a life.
Oh, I found other people out there who preached what I wanted to hear, and attributed to them the label of "love" since what they taught catered to my personal beliefs. They agreed with me, right? So the natural inclination was that they must "love" me and all others.
Then the day came when I encountered the big "UH OH!" I began to learn that there were people out there who disagreed with my idols who taught what I chose to believe. The natural inclination in my mind was that those "haters" who disagreed with me and my idols were divisive and undermining the peace and tranquility I so desired to surround myself with. That caused tremors in my peaceful world of the Lollipop Land where I chose to live.
Hey, this is real testimony of what my life was really like in the past. I felt persecuted when others disagreed with me. I didn't realize at the time that I was experiencing not only a mental disorder, but also a spiritual one. Modern psychoanalysts are unwilling to give this mental and spiritual disorder a name, so let's just call it "left-ism" for now, since that's the crowd who is in the media's lineup of acceptable people who are in the limelight in almost every newscast.
What I "hated" about those nay-sayers is that they pushed me to go back into the scriptures and read them for what they say rather than transliterate them into what I wanted them to say. Upon reflection, I began to realize they were not the haters. It was ME who was the hater, because the words of scripture were beginning to have their effect upon me. Holy Spirit began to show me how evil and wicked it is to filter the words of scripture, and thus make it an easier exercise to continue believing what I wanted to harbor in my mean-spirited heart as truth.
Wow. What a revelation that was, and it changed me, little by little. The Lord began to soften my heart as I continued to accept the words I had no power to change by sheer force of will. I began to realize how manic and unbalanced I had been for so long, and it grieved me. I thought I was so loving to accept what others believed without realizing that I needed to stop living in my little microcosm of self-love, and venture out in order to experience God's love for a world that I knew nowhere near as much about as I had thought.
So, we are saved ONLY by what Jesus accomplished on the cross, with His having lived the law perfectly, and fulfilling it, and the necessity for us to believe upon Him for what He did for us, and to believe in His finished work. Anything I might have added to that can never change it; not for myself or anyone else. That's the beauty of His sovereignty. He imputed righteousness upon me and all others who believe upon Him.
Now I and all others who are truly in Christ Jesus can offer others scripture, correction and rebuke, pointing to what scripture actually says, and do so without any measure of guilt for hate. Isn't that wonderful?
MM