Too many people are led to believe that Salvation is the ultimate goal, and once they “get saved” they are “eternally secure”. This type of thinking leads to complacency. I’ve seen congregations full of people who think nothing is really required of them and nothing they do really matters, because they are “saved by grace” and “once saved, always saved”. The common result of this thinking is people sitting in a pew once a week, waiting to be “raptured” away, and spending the other six days a week with business as usual.
The truth is: When we turn to God, acknowledge our sin, ask His forgiveness, and trust in His son’s sacrifice for the removal of our sins…that is just the beginning of our relationship with YHWH. These things change us from children of the beast to children of the Most High God, but they are not ”it”. There is a popular false gospel that says God just wants to save us then bless us forever after. But, what God actually said He wants is people who will revere Him, walk in all His ways, love Him, serve Him with all our heart and soul, and keep His commandments that were given for our benefit (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).
We need to break free from the lie that God does everything, we do nothing, and He just showers us with blessings and gifts for all eternity. Salvation is the turning point in our lives; and, after we turn that corner it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Recap
Foundations of the Faith is a series where we examine the basic concepts of our faith in YHWH as recorded in the Bible. This series is intended to be a summarized overview of the faith, which we hope will guide new disciples in the beginning of their study. Throughout this series, we will address such fundamental issues as:
Who is God and how do we relate to Him?
What is Torah (God’s teachings and commandments)?
What is sin and the penalty of sin?
How can the penalty of our sins be resolved?
What do we do after receiving salvation?
Do-Nothing Religion is Unbiblical
Throughout the scriptures, there is a recurring message that the people of God are to serve Him and be productive. God never wanted people who pursue their own interests six days a week then passively sit in a pew and pay Him lip service for one hour on one day. In Eden, we were created to tend God’s garden. On the new earth, we will be serving YHWH and worshipping Him for all eternity.
Reflect on your motives and consider why you want a relationship with YHWH. Did some evangelist scare you with a threat of eternal torture? Did some charlatan sell you on the promise of being blessed and prosperous? If all you want is to avoid punishment, receive prosperity, and shirk all duties and obligations then you don’t have a heart for following YHWH and being among His people.
Parable of the Fig Tree
And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9)
Messiah gave this parable, as was his habit, to teach us to reflect on spiritual principles. Through meditating on his parables and seeking their meaning, we discover the truths he intended to teach us.
God has an expectation we will grow and produce fruit. And, based on this parable, He will not be happy with those who are fruitless. In fact, He intends to cut down the fruitless among His vineyard as worthless to Him.
The son of God has put in time and effort to cultivate us. And, despite our failures to produce, he still mediates on our behalf and asks his Father to hold off judgment. Through Messiah’s intervention as our mediator, we are given opportunity to change. Right now, we are in a period of forbearance. God is withholding judgment and refraining from cutting us down. This period is our opportunity to take action, to grow, and to produce…if we will seize the day and make use of our time.
But, the time is coming when Yeshua (Jesus) will return to commence judgement. At that time, it will be too late to do anything differently. On that day, we either produced or we didn’t.
This parable should scare everyone who genuinely believes God but fell into the “once saved, always saved” mentality. The parable of the fig tree is not a teaching that Yeshua will save the fruitless. Nor is it a teaching that Yeshua will produce the fruit so we don’t have to. No, this is a teaching that we are expected to grow and produce, and we will be personally accountable in the end.
Parable of the Minas
He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (Luke 19:22-26)
The full parable is recorded in Luke 19:11-27. Please read the entire parable for its complete context; it is not fully quoted here for the sake of length in the article.
The parable of the minas has multiple lessons. One lesson in this parable is, again, that God expects us to grow and produce. He has given us the resources we need. Now, it’s up to us to apply those resources in His service. If we genuinely believe Him and want Him to be our Lord, then we will labor to make personal growth and produce something pleasing to Him. Again, we have a teaching that refutes the idea that we can do nothing and expect Messiah to do everything on our behalf. We are called to personal action, and we will be held to personal accountability.
Another lesson of this parable is this: Anyone who does not serve Yeshua does not genuinely want him to reign as his or her Lord. Our actions are a reflection of our heart and mind; if we truly want Yeshua as our Lord then we will serve and obey him. Anyone who sits on his or her donkey, waiting to be blessed and raptured, proves he or she does not want Yeshua as Lord. Such a person only wants a savior and a benefactor, not a king.
What Then?
If the purpose of our faith is to serve God and do what pleases him, what then? If we are accountable for what we do in our lifetime, what then?
Here are basic things every believer should work on after coming into the faith.
Study
Our faith is centered on the Biblical text. Therefore, our first priority upon becoming believers must be to study and understand the text. It is through the Bible that we understand good and evil, clean and unclean, commandments and punishments, and how to recognize truth from falsehood. Knowing the Biblical text is our means of knowing the will of God and teaching the next generation of disciples.
How can we say we believe YHWH, we believe the Bible is the word of YHWH, but we’re not interested in studying the Bible and putting it into practice? How can we watch a two-hour movie, a three-hour sport, or prioritize a 40+ hour work week…but say studying the instructions of the Most High God is too long and too boring?
But, this is exactly what I see in most people who say they are “Christians”. Many have no interest in study, and when I call them to study I get every excuse in the book for why they don’t have the time. Many just want to sit in the pew once a week or go to a casual “small group” to eat a meal and watch a video. I’ve actually had a small number of people be honest enough to tell me they are “saved”, they have “eternal security”, they expect to “go to heaven” when they die, and that’s all they want…they just want to live their lives and pursue their interests knowing they have future hope and security.
I don’t know what faith those people have, but it’s certainly not a Biblical faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
1. We need a study method so we can approach the Biblical text in sound manner.
2. Then, we need to actually do the study and pursue the understanding.
3. We need to meditate on scripture; re-reading it again and again. Studying it again and again. Until scripture becomes our natural thought process, always on our mind.
4. Finally, we need to put scripture into actual practice and do what YHWH requires.
Grow
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)
We need to grow up and get past salvation. But, like the author of Hebrews wrote, too many people hang back at salvation and constantly need to be re-taught the basic principles of the faith. Too many are perpetual infants, never growing up and never moving on to solid food.
We gain knowledge through study.
We make growth through practice, experience, and testing.
Once we understand God’s will, we have to put it into practice. At first, this is a conscious effort. We see something in the scriptures that we know we aren’t doing, so we respond by starting to do it. Over time, practiced obedience becomes habit and we no longer have to consciously strive to do it. We should repeat this cycle throughout our lives: Study scripture, identify our shortcomings, make conscious choices to change, establish Biblical habits, then seek more shortcomings to address.
Once we are putting God’s instructions into actual practice, we will experience the results. We will see God’s ways are best. We will see God’s ways guard us and provide benefit. There is a synergistic relationship between practice and experience:
When we practice God’s commandments, we will experience the goodness and blessing of obeying God. This will positively reinforce our practice so that we want to practice more. More practice will lead to more experience, and the cycle will continue.
When we neglect God’s commandments, we will experience the discipline and curses of disobedience. This should motivate us to recognize our error, make repentance, and begin practicing God’s commandments.
Through testing, we will develop the ability to remain true to God in the face of difficulty and overcome temptations to sin. Make no mistake: It is God who tests us to see whether we have it in our hearts and minds to obey Him. If we pass our tests we will grow and mature. If we fail our tests, we can use our failures to identify our faults and make correction.
Growth requires this process of practicing God’s instructions, experiencing the blessings and curses, and facing trials and temptations. We cannot grow if we remain stagnant and expect the Holy Spirit to just transform us. The truth is: The Holy Spirit won’t change us; it will guide and direct us, then we must choose whether or not to respond. The more we respond, the more we will be directed and empowered; the less we respond, the less the Spirit will speak to us.
And, we cannot expect to simply do nothing and wait for Yeshua to make us perfect. Remember Yeshua’s own teachings: He is trying to cultivate us to grow and bear fruit so we aren’t cut off as fruitless branches.
Serve
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)
Everyone is called to serve some function in the Kingdom of Heaven, and this has always been the case. Mankind was originally tasked with tending the Garden of Eden. During the time of the Exodus, people were assigned various tasks to maintain and transport the tabernacle and its furnishings. During the time of the temple, Levites were assigned various tasks such as leading worship, judging disputes, and guarding the gates. None of us should be passive observers, letting the “clergy” or “church staff” handle everything.
Having studied the scriptures and grown in spiritual maturity, the final thing for us to do is take our place and fulfill our purpose. If we are children of God, He will guide us to the purpose He has for us. Consider your knowledge, skills, and interests. Most likely, the things you are naturally equipped to do are the things God has you do in His service.
Don’t fall into the trap of wanting the top position just for the sake of having power and prestige. It’s common for people to want to be leaders and teachers; but, those positions put higher standards of judgement on the one who assumes them. If you are not anointed by YHWH to have a position, you will fail at it and risk bringing additional judgement on yourself.
Do what is natural for you; what you are skillful at and what you enjoy.
Do your work for the benefit of the Kingdom, not to rise in rank and prestige or to serve yourself.
Do not take on duties and obligations you cannot carry out.
Summary
Salvation is our spiritual birth; it is the starting point of having a relationship with YHWH and coming into His Kingdom. After that, we must advance in knowledge, maturity, and service to the King.
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