Being a Christian is not easy. It is true that to become a Christian is easy; simply, hear, believe, be repentant of your sins, confess Christ, and be baptized, and your conviction has given you access to the free gift of the blood of Christ which has the power to wash away your sins. We speak about these five steps, but there is a sixth step to salvation described in Colossians 2:6: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
It is important to note that we are not saved by works, but by the grace of God as stated in Ephesians 2:8-9. Walking with Christ in that true and devout faith, we are doing His will. Faith in and obedience to Him will necessarily manifest as works, as James points out in James 2:14, 17: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? … So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
As these verses imply, there is much more to salvation than just becoming a Christian. It is the same with most things in life which are worth doing. Take purchasing a home for example. The new owners sign on the dotted line, and the previous owner or the builder, passes the keys over the table to the new owner. There’s initial excitement when the new owners come home. Home ownership is so much more that just those first moments. Eventually you must vacuum the carpets. The lawn needs to be mowed frequently. The dishes need washing. The minor chores that need to be done are work. Sometimes, a hailstorm knocks out all the windows. A swarm of hungry termites finds part of the porch. A water line in the attic breaks, and the home is flooded. Any homeowner understands that nature has a way of wanting to reclaim the space that has been allocated as your home and entropy wants to tear it back down to the dust from which it began.
Jesus uses this same analogy in His teachings. He speaks of the foundation of the home when speaking of the wise man who built his house on the rock in Matthew 7:24-27. More pertinent to this discussion is Matthew 12:43-45:
When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest but finds none. Then it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also, it will be with this evil generation.
When one becomes a Christian, they are getting the “house” which is their life together, having their soul redeemed and promising themselves to the will of God. The term for “empty” in Matthew 12:44 is the Greek work which means that which is free of labor. If the house is empty, it is not being maintained. It is like the garden which was so beautiful when it was first installed, but if left without maintenance, it soon becomes overgrown and wild. The house of the man, without the works needed to maintain the precious name of “Christian” soon becomes the heathen again; back to that wide road which leads to destruction but now having known the goodness and glory of Christ.
The work needed to maintain one’s life is hard. The world wants nothing more than to tear each one of us back down into hell which will be the ultimate destination of all those who walk in the ways of an easy and unguarded life. The good news is this: Even though it’s hard, a Christian knows the value of it, and just like the precious pearl in Matthew 13:45-46, a Christian happily gives up all he has and is in order to obtain it, for there is nothing in this life which is truly as precious as the love of Christ and the promise of heaven. When that knowledge takes root, that strait path becomes the only one you would ever want to travel.
Lance Byers