Presented by
Justin Schumacher
While He lived on the Earth, Jesus met many different types of people. Some were Jews, some were Gentiles. Some were rich, some were poor. Some were well educated, some were not. However, Jesus was not interested in whether people were rich or poor, or whether they had lots of education or very little. Instead, He was interested in their souls. He spent His whole life trying to teach people about God, and about how they could go to heaven.
Some of those to whom Christ spoke listened carefully. When they realized that He was God’s Son and that He was teaching them the truth, they quickly obeyed Him. They wanted to do everything God said to do, in exactly the way that God said to do it, so that one day they could live with Him forever.
But some of those to whom Christ spoke did not like the things He taught. They thought they were too smart to need Jesus to teach them anything, and that they could do whatever they wanted. They felt that they would be saved simply because they were Jews, and because in the past the Jews had always been God’s chosen people.
When John the Baptist was preaching in Judea to help the Jews get ready for Christ’s arrival, he came in contact with some people who thought that they could not be lost due to the fact that they were Jews. They boasted, “We have Abraham as our father!” (Luke 3:8). Their attitude was, “John, we do not need to do what you are telling us—because we are Jews! God will save us no matter what!” This made John angry because he knew that their attitude was wrong. So, he said to those Jews on that occasion, “I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” John wanted the Jews to whom he spoke to know that they were in danger of losing their souls because they were not obeying God as they should have been. To get his point across, John told them that they were not nearly as special in God’s sight as they thought they were, and that if God wanted to, He could create more people just like them from the rocks that they saw lying on the ground all around them. This was John’s way of trying to get the people to stop being so filled with false pride and to stop disobeying God.
Today, there are some people who think just like the Jews did in the time of John the Baptist. They think that they are God’s children and that God will save them no matter what they do. This is very sad, because the Bible does not teach that once a person has been saved, then he will always be saved. In fact, the Bible teaches exactly the opposite. A person can become a Christian, but then give up his faith, go back into the world, return to living a life of sin, and eventually be lost as a result. In 2 Peter 2:20-22, the apostle Peter discussed the fate of those who willingly abandoned their faith when he wrote:
“For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’”
Peter used very strong words to talk about people who once had been saved, but who were now lost. He compared them to a dog that vomited and then turned around and ate its own vomit. That is not a very pretty picture, is it? He also compared unfaithful Christians to a hog that had been washed, but then turned around and went right back to wallow in the mud and ended up getting dirty all over again. That’s not a very pretty picture either, is it? When Peter said, “It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them,” he was saying that people who gave up their faith in Christ had made a terrible mistake. They once had believed in Christ and had been faithful Christians. But they left their first love. They gave up Christ and heaven for worldly pleasures. And as a result, they were going to be lost and have to spend eternity in hell with the devil. That’s really not a very pretty picture, is it?
Today, we must understand that Jesus meant it when He said that we have to be “faithful unto death” (Revelation 2:10). We cannot be faithful “just when it is easy” or “just when it’s convenient” or “just for a little while.” Rather, we have to be faithful all the time—even until the very day we die. Then, and only then, will Jesus give us what He promised us—“a crown of life.” Let’s make up our minds today not to be like some of the Jews of Christ’s day who thought they could do anything they wanted to and still be saved. Jesus said to those Jews, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Instead, let’s make up our minds to be the kind of people who are always faithful so that we can hear Jesus say to us on the Day of Judgment, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21). How wonderful it will be to hear Christ say that to us, and to know that we get to spend eternity with Him and God. Thinking about that should make us want to be faithful. It also should make us homesick for heaven. The question is: Does it?