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Friday, August 14, 2009

Purpose of being Saved

The purpose of being saved

What is the ultimate goal of the church? “To get to heaven”, is the most common answer I get. Well, it’s true isn’t it? And the only ticket to heaven or to be saved is to believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection and confess He is Lord, – Romans 10:9. No doubt about it, I believe it. We cannot earn our way to heaven, we instead believe our way to heaven. Being saved is not a price or a salary; it is the gift of God – Ephesians 2:8-9.

Reading on, Ephesians 2:10 explains the meaning of being saved, it reads, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. In other words, being saved means to do what Christ would do and not to do what He wouldn’t do. Accepting Christ also makes us co-heirs with Christ – Romans 8:17. If you’re an heir of anything, the responsibility of taking care of that ‘thing’ is also yours.

The first two paragraphs compel me to say, “Do not try to win salvation, however show that you are saved and of God’s workmanship by doing what God want you to do”. James 2:17 says, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”.

So what’s the action gonna be? W.W.J.D (what would Jesus do?) One thing I’m certain about is that, Jesus would do what God wanted him to do. Jesus died and rose again for us because His Father (God) wanted Him to. Jesus wasn’t very happy about dieing on the cross, but obeyed His Father till the very end. God might want you to do this too, maybe He has other plans. The important thing here is obedience. 1 Samuel 15:22 - To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. (You might want to take some quality time with God and ask Him what He wants you to do. Make sure it’s God’s voice you’re listening to.)

The purpose of being saved is to do good works. Jesus told us to do a lot of things, among them is love. Love, not just for ourselves but even our enemies. Jesus knows the burden of having enemies and the joy of having none. He wants us to enjoy life, which is again one of the reasons he wants us to love everyone. (The two letters of John emphasizes love.) If you have love for others, you will be known as a disciple of Christ – John 13:34-35.

Why love? Well without it you will not be able to do what Jesus did. The main purpose of Jesus was to get us saved, all ‘peoples’ must be saved.

Jesus taught us how to pray in Mathew chapter 6. Lets look at verse10 “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This made me wonder, what is that will of God that is in heaven? The answer came from Revelation 7:9-12 - After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

The will of God in heaven which Jesus wants done on earth is to praise and worship God. Another question, a question anyone can answer; has this happened? Philippians 2:11 reads, ‘every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ Has this prophecy been realized? NO! If all capitals with an exclamatory NO! is the answer, what more can be said other then, The purpose of being saved is to bow down before the glory of God in accepting Christ as Lord and bringing people of other faith to do the same.

In Short, to worship and to make worshippers is the ultimate goal of every Christian.

Psalm 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.