There are two parts to God's work of Salvation: The call to accept Christ and The call to "Follow" Christ. Unfortunately, the modern leaders have, for the most part, only focused on the first. The first part is an acceptance on who Jesus is, mainly His diety, his death and resurrection, and his Kingship at the right hand of God. But accepting this truth is
not "Following" Christ. It is the first step in God's work of regeneration, not the sum of all steps.
The Bible declares that, "You believe in God, and that He is one; good for you! But even the demons believe and tremble." (James 2:19) The demons were there when the cross was staked, when the earth quaked, and He rose from the death of God's wrath to eternal life and Kingship. They know that He's God, but it does not save them. Because, although the accept the truth of all they have witnessed, they still refuse to accept His authority over their lives.
Therefore, if the first step if God's saving work is to accept His diety and sacrafice for sins, then the second step is to accept His
authority! This word, authority, carries all implication of Lordship. It denotes the manner in which He reigns and we serve. It is the call to "Follow" Him wherever he goes or asks us to go.
The problem is that the watchmen aren't warning people. I was warned and I heeded the call. Others too have been warned and turned to following Jesus (not in words, but in actions). Yet, many people have been left abandoned on the first step. They've been fooled into thinking "that's it." They've never been told about the call to "Follow" Christ. This is the fault of the pacifist believers, who are too afraid to confront the truth. As brothers who have learned, we are to warn the those who have not yet been called to "Follow". Sure they have accepted the diety of Christ, that is one thing, but following is an entirely different thing. "Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me." (Matt 16:24) We can't just take up our crosses, that is only part of the call. We are to take up our crosses and
Follow. This may look different in every believer, but the common theme is a denial of self-interest and a reverence for God's command. James makes his own view of this clear in his epistle, when he state, "pure and undefiled religion is this, to take care of widows and orphans in their need,
and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."
We, as a body, need to be careful of our own proclamated love for God, or anybody elses. Because Christ makes it clear that a love for Him is followed by obedience to Him. If there is no obedience then the person's love is a lie. "Whoever says 'I know Him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps His word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in Him." (James 2:4-5) and Solomon says, "Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but who can find a faithful man? The righteous who walks in
His integrity." (Proverbs 20:6) Christ says that a man's heart is deceptive and full of wickedness. So, who can trust the proclomated love of a professing believer (ours or anyones) without the obedience of His command. Jesus says, "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (Matt 15:8)
Obedience is better than sacrafice! This is how we know our assurance, that we run the race. If we love the world even a little we prove that we either must repent of such love, or do not love the lord, since we cannot serve both God and Mammon.
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