Revelation 3:15-16 – “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

What does Jesus mean to you?  What does the gospel mean to you?  These are the questions to ask yourself when you approach a text like the one from Revelation above.  If you asked someone around you what the most important thing in your life was, how might they respond?  It might be a good thing to do; their answers might surprise you.  For those who are saved, Jesus Christ is the most important person/thing in their life.  I am dismayed that I feel like I have to defend and explain that to professing believers, but such is the state of the church in the south with cultural Christianity.  For everyone who believes on Jesus with authentic faith, it will become apparent to themselves and others that He is the object of their affection and pursuits in life.

1 John 5:1-5 – “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.  For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

This scripture from 1 John explains how God judges faith by works, and is perhaps confusing at first, but glorious in its simplicity after you unravel it a bit.  Let’s do it.  To do that, we need to answer three questions.  1)  How can salvation be by faith, yet God always talk about works/obedience in the Bible  2)  What is the good news of the gospel, and how has it conquered the world?   3)  What does the response of authentic faith in the gospel look like?

To answer the first question, first ask yourself a question.  Did you play sports when you grew up?  You probably knew a lot about that sport, practiced often, and it would be the topic of conversation by you often.  If others talked about you, they would know that you played that sport.  All of that is “fruit” or “works” evidencing one basic belief – you found happiness in the sport.  If that much was true about a sport that you played for a short while, until your health/age limited you, how much more should we expect to see of someone who is a follower of Christ?  You will be a follower of Christ for eternity, and your life evidences whether or not you find joy in Him.  Salvation is more than a decision to believe a fact.  Even Satan and the demons know Jesus was the son of God, was crucified in the place of depraved sinners, and rose again.  Salvation is seeing the gospel with the eyes of your heart, and delighting in it, delighting in reconciliation to God, delighting in God in Jesus and all that He is for us.  That delight will manifest itself outwardly in works.

What is the “good news” of the gospel?  The good news is that although a sinner, and under the wrath of God, Jesus has saved us from our sins.  Through faith in His righteousness and perfect sacrifice on the cross, we are forgiven our sins, are given the Spirit of God, made into a new creation (no longer in bondage to sin), and have a hope of eternal life with Christ.  (I could go on, but for brevity, I’ll stop here).  A good question to ask yourself at this point is, “do I consider that good news”?  Even more importantly, how good of news is that to you?  Is it REALLY good news to be reconciled to God, or just a “yeah I don’t want to go to hell, so I’m happy I’ll be safe in heaven” kind of good news?  Be honest with yourself.  I have much more hope for the person who answers “you know what, I don’t have that kind of passionate response to the gospel” instead of the person who deludes him/herself day after day, year after year, that they are saved in spite of their apathy.  All that is accomplished with the latter is a hardening of heart against the glory of God.  God knows your heart already, it’s not helpful to feign passion where none exists.  A better response to a lack of passion is to ask how to grow it, but I’ll touch on that later.  So the gospel is GOOD NEWS, and Jesus Christ has overcome the world, sin, and we enter into His victory through faith.

What does the response of authentic faith in the gospel look like?  I’m not saying these have to happen all at once.  I believe they can, but sometimes it happens in stages or gradually.  First, someone must understand the problem of sin.  If someone does not understand the holiness of God, His righteous judgment/wrath against sin, and that they in fact are a sinner, whatever response to the gospel is mustered will be counterfeit.  So there’s brokeness over personal sin.  Second, joy.  Joy in salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  If someone is truly feels the weight of their sin, then the removal of God’s judgment for that sin, will produce joy in their heart.  Does that make sense?  It’s one of the reasons I don’t understand pastors that soft peddle the horror of sin, and God’s wrath.  The joy of a believer is tied to their understanding of what it meant for Jesus to bear the wrath of God in our place, as a perfectly righteous sacrifice.  I say third, but really this happens concurrently with the first two emotions, comes a great affection for God, Himself.  I don’t worship God merely because Jesus died for me, I worship God for who He is (and His glory was most fully shown through the gospel of Jesus Christ).  I jokingly say among friends sometimes, that if perhaps I deceived myself all these years, to believe I was saved, and God sent me to hell, I would build there the first church to worship the righteousness of Jesus Christ (for sending me there).  So you’ve got a brokeness against sin, a joy in salvation through the gospel of Jesus, and a new affection for God Himself.  If those things are true, does it not make sense that your life might look different?  Wouldn’t you want to share your salvation with others, and seek to live out your life in obedience to Christ who died for you?  Wouldn’t you want to stop sinning against the God who bled and died in your place?

Often times people don’t understand that the fight against sin isn’t a matter of willpower, it’s a matter of replaced affections.  I don’t like to sin anymore not because the people around me at church tell me not to, but because I love God; because He is good, and is leading me to live for my good and His glory.  My outward obedience to God, is rooted 100% in my belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and my love for Him.

This has gone long, so I apologize, but I did promise encouragement to those who have heard all of this and are saying to themselves, “I want to, but I just don’t feel that way yet”.  When God charged the church in Revelation above with being lukewarm, He had not yet judged them, and was giving them a warning.  That warning was a means of grace to expose what was true in the heart of the church, so that they might repent and believe.  Today is the day of salvation.  Repent and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Your sin is more horrible in the eyes of God than you can possibly imagine, but His salvation and grace through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is greater still.  Hope in Him, seek Him in His Word, and He will run to you.  In fact, you may find that He was already with you.

Others of you might be saying “I was passionate once, but that passion has waned over time.”  I’m not sharing my faith as much, my heart isn’t set on fire as it once was.   I know myself I’ve had periods of time where I wanted to have that passion, and it just wasn’t there.  My encouragement is to cling to the cross.  Dig deep in each of the three emotional responses to authentic faith.  When I feel my heart’s affections dim, usually my problem lies in focusing too much on one part, and not enough on all three.  Either I’m truly broken over sin, but I am not reminding myself that my salvation rests in Christ alone, not in myself, or I’m not taking sin seriously enough to be broken over it and remember what the cross means to me personally, or I am intellectualizing the gospel, without taking time to let my heart simmer in the glory of God, to savor God, and everything Jesus is for us for eternity.

Be encouraged, there is salvation in Christ, and what a Savior Jesus is!  He has not left us unable to believe, but has even given the gift of faith to believe to Christians.  Therefore, believe, and rejoice.  When your works of obedience abound to the glory of God, let your boast be in Christ alone.

Grace and Peace,
Adam