My father, whom I loved, died last month at age 79. He spent his last decades on this earth in pain, loneliness, and full of regret. A life of poor decisions ranging from crystal meth usage, failed marriages, and disownment by family members.<\/p>\n
Dear reader, I write this with love for you and him. That depressing decade might be the absolute best part of my father\u2019s eternity. No one can say for sure whether he went to hell. But if he didn\u2019t confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in his heart that Jesus was resurrected, there is a good chance he woke up in fear, darkness, and despair.<\/p>\n
So what does it take to be saved? What does it take to leave this physical reality and wake up in light, glory and peace, breathing new air and finding it celestial?<\/p>\n
This was a question the early church struggled with.<\/p>\n
The Galatians said they believed Jesus\u2019 Lordship and grace was more than sufficient. But a group of unnamed people insisted salvation comes from Jesus and the co-redeemer of circumcision. Instead of trusting the words of Jesus, instead of wrestling in solitude in prayer, instead of meditating on Jesus\u2019 life, they trusted this group of unnamed people. When it comes to eternal salvation that is a Risky Gamble.<\/p>\n
It sounds silly that anyone would trust their salvation from the words of an unnamed group. But the gravitational pull towards the same silliness is strong. We often don\u2019t think about salvation, opting instead to trust what some religious leader has told us.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo need to look into what Jesus says. This priest or that pastor seems to be religious. If they say I\u2019m good, then I\u2019m good\u201d.<\/p>\n
Maybe you don\u2019t trust the words of the clergy when it comes to salvation. Good for you; that is wonderful. But you might subconsciously trust comedians with your eternity. Not one in particular but an unnamed comedian must come to mind when prompted to think of one who uses Christianity in their routine. We laugh as they tell us what the bible, God, and Christians believe, think, and say. We laugh, and then trust this unnamed group.<\/p>\n
You know I spent the first half of my life as an atheist, hating Christians. Christians were always in the news for doing something naughty. I didn\u2019t look at Jesus\u2019 life or what He said. I trusted that because those Christians (that unnamed group of people) are bad, then their beliefs must be wrong. Weird train of thought but I essentially trusted my salvation in the actions of Christians I didn\u2019t like, not giving Jesus a chance because of His followers. Crazy right? <\/p>\n
The Galatians trusted the words of a group of unnamed people, much in the same way that we are tempted to do. We dismiss Jesus because of His followers, or we dismiss Him because our Catholic clergy told us we could trust what they\u2019re telling us, or because we have a family member who was religious, or because we learned about Jesus from a comedy show. In either or any example like this, we take a Risky Gamble. <\/p>\n
My father took that gamble. He trusted an unnamed person who said God isn\u2019t real. He didn\u2019t look at the life or words of the man our calendars revolve around. The most magnetic figure in all of history wasn\u2019t explored, hard questions weren\u2019t addressed, and matters of salvation were never wrestled with. Again, there\u2019s no guarantee he woke up in hell.<\/p>\n
The only person that knew my father\u2019s heart before he passed is Jesus. But what a gamble to take. For the Christ follower our lives on earth are the worst this eternity has for us. I have a very enjoyable life on earth right now. To know this is the worst it gets can be encouraging when trials come. But for the person without Jesus, this world is the best reality has to offer.<\/p>\n
Please don\u2019t base your salvation on my words. When it comes to Jesus eagerly examine everyday to see if His words and His ways are true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My father, whom I loved, died last month at age 79. He spent his last decades on this earth in pain, loneliness, and full of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":95561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n