The Call

A few days ago I was sitting, drinking my coffee with a hint of cinnamon, and I started reading the next book on my list: "Follow Me: A Call To Die, A Call To Live", by David Platt. After reading for a while I began to feel a heavy burden on my heart, society doesn't know the truth of Christianity, and it is up to me and other Christian leaders to show and teach the truth of Christianity. The truth is this: You are not saved from a mere prayer, but from truly knowing Christ, dying to yourself, so you may be alive in Christ. "If anyone is going to follow me, he must deny himself." I believe the problem isn't that society doesn't necessarily understand this truth, but that they are afraid of "The Call". 

Following Christ's example will come with sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2; Hebrews 13:15-16), for we are called to be different, to be light in the darkness. "Yes, there is a cost that accompanies stepping out of casual, comfortable, cultural christianity, but it is worth it. More aptly He is worth it." It is worth it because "in Christ they encountered a love that surpassed comprehension, a satisfaction that superseded circumstances, and a purpose that transcended every other possible pursuit in this world." Let's look at some people who followed "The Call" of God. 

First of all we see "The Call" of Abram (Abraham). In Genesis 12: 1-9 we see a man of faith and true dedication to God. Abram was called by God to leave his home and go. "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." So, Abram left, with his wife and nephew and their possessions, he left, without hesitation at the age of seventy-five. Abram displayed prompt obedience characterized by his faith. A seventy-five year old man today would tell God he is crazy if He wants him to leave all he has to go follow him at his age. The world we live in does not understand the power and nature and call of God. 

Second we see "The Call" of the First Disciples. In Matthew 4:18-22 we are shown five fishermen, who demonstrate enormous faith and diligence to their call. Jesus calls out to Simon, Peter, and Andrew to come and follow me, and they leave at once to follow him. They come across James and John and again they leave at once to follow him. How easily it seems to them, to drop their nets and follow him. It would take us today months, if not years, to make and act on a decision like this. They understood "the call" in it's fullness, something we do not today, or we choose not too.

Lastly we see Saul's (Paul) conversion in Acts 9: 1-31. Saul a man who persecuted Christ and his follower's, killing many, had an overwhelming call and conversion. For a man of this stature to meet Christ and follow His call and become the most influential follower of Christ is one of the most powerful examples  of scripture. Saul knew what it meant to follow "the call", to live for Christ. Saul died to himself, and was alive in Christ as Paul. 

All of these men knew what it would cost to follow "the call", but they followed Christ regardless of the sacrifices they had to make. They were true disciples of Christ, something we miss today. One primary factor contributing to our failings in being disciples and following "the call" is how we live only by one side of the coin. We are shown in Acts 8: 4-40 that you are missing something as a Christ follower if you only teach and follow one side of the coin. Experiencing the rule of God in one’s life requires, in the words of Jesus, repentance and believing the gospel. Evidently, the new believers in Samaria were not hearing the totality of the message of the kingdom of God. As Jesus said in Mark 1:15, "The time has come, the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news." 

Just like in Acts 8 we are missing parts of what a disciple is, part of what keeps us from following "the call". Just as in Acts, we have the repent part down. We can say a prayer and repent our sins, but that is not where it ends, that is the beginning. Repentance is a foundational aspect of how to become a follower of Christ, but there is more. In Acts 8 they sent in Peter and John to teach what Philip was missing, the need for the Holy Spirit and the need to die to yourself and live a new life in Christ. "For ever Christian in every culture, repentance is necessary... But this does not mean that when we become followers of Jesus, we make a decided break with an old way of living and take a decisive turn to a new way of life... we "have been crucified with Christ and no longer live, but Christ lives in us." 

I want to leave off with this, the cornerstone to this point, that we must die to our old, and live anew in Christ, we must repent and believe in the good news, living accordingly every day to this knowledge and call. Mark 8: 34-38: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, The Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

The Reality of Heaven and Hell

After a Bible Study a few years ago, I spent many nights contemplating a question that had surfaced during our discussion. If you are discussing (or believing) heaven do you directly discuss (believe) hell?

A struggle I found myself in, along with many other Christians, was trying to comprehend a place of such misery, pain, and torture. The brutality of Hell is incomprehensible; however, it is utterly truthful. no matter how strongly I do not want a place, such as Hell, to exist, there is no denying it does (Psalm 73:12-19). One of the primary contributors towards the reality of Hell, lies within the attributes of God our creator. He is the Supreme Judge, a fair and loving judge (John 5:24-30; Romans 2:1-16).

There is much to be said of the wicked being cast into Hell within Scripture, this is undeniable, and the act of denying this aspect of Scripture is a sin. Numerous Christians in society today are guilty of picking and choosing what they want to believe from Scripture. It says in John 1 that the word was with God and the word was God, to deny any part of the word is to deny a part of God. The Bible is complete truth, revealed to us through many means by God, and we are meant to believe the wholeness of it's truth. For me, it is quite easy, I came to a sense of clarity in this: When discussing the theology of Heaven, you directly discuss the theology of Salvation; because, only through Salvation is there Heaven and Heaven is only obtained through Salvation (John 3:14-17). Also, while discussing the theology of Salvation you come to realize the truth of evil, Satan, and ultimately Hell. You conclude this based on the necessity of Salvation. The Gospel's declare that you only have life through Salvation otherwise you are considered dead (spiritually). Salvation means there must be a Heaven that you obtain once saved, which also means there must be a Hell that you are being saved from. You cannot separate the two in your reality, if you do, if you do not believe in one then Salvation ceases to be important or necessary in our lives. I, in the completeness of my heart, believe that Salvation is the only source of life. Only once I believed that Christ's death on the cross and resurrection was for me and my sins, I finally was alive. Through Christ's sacrifice, God see's me only through blood of his son, allowing me to obtain an eternal Salvation, sealed by Holy Spirit. From the top of my head to the soles of my feet, I believe in all of who I am in the reality of Heaven and Hell, because I am confident that one day, I will be in Heaven for eternity looking into the face of my Father (Revelations 22:4).