I’ve been writing over the past couple of years through Romans in a series titled “Reconnecting with the Gospel”.  My hope was that as we saw through God’s Words what the gospel was, what it was not, what man’s predicament was before God apart from the Gospel, and what freedom and joy man has with the Gospel in Jesus Christ – affections would be stirred in our hearts to greater devotion to God.  So today I want to look at specifically, if someone is saved, what is their response to the gospel?  What is the response of someone who is not saved?

I’m going to be working out of a passage in Colossians primarily, but I also want to look back to Romans 6:1-11

Colossians 1:21-23 – “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven”

Paul is speaking to those within the Colossian church who have believed the gospel.  They, like us all, were at one point at enmity with God, by nature disobedient, and following after whatever fleeting pleasures we could find apart from Him (Ephesians 2:1-3).  But God, being rich in love and mercy, even while we were sinners died for us (Rom 5:8).  We were reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus Christ, the righteous for the unrighteous that we might be brought to God (1 Peter 3:18).  What is the hope of the gospel that was heard by the Colossians?  The forgiveness of sin, the reconciliation to God their Creator, and a future hope of eternity in a fullness of joy in the presence of Jesus (Psalm 16:11, John 17:13,24)

All of the promises of the gospel, specifically one’s reconciliation to God, is true of someone “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard”  

Sometimes people will ask me if I believe someone can lose their salvation.  It’s funny to me that if you say someone might not be saved, you will be attacked saying – “you can’t know that, you’re not God”, yet when I say to someone that they likely are saved, I never hear those words.  The Bible does not speak of salvation as a one-time event, and neither do I.  It speaks of “being saved by the gospel” as an ongoing process.  1 Corinthians 15:1-2 – “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.”

So I’ll wrap up this point here – for someone who is genuinely saved, there is an affection for God, a new hope in the gospel, that they hold onto.  Life as a Christian is not a sprint, but a steady, marathon.  When someone is genuinely saved, there is still sin their life, but they no longer are enslaved to it.  They are free to pursue joy in God instead, and their heart longs for Him.  As temptation, suffering, and tribulation come up, trying the faith of a Christian, trying to shift their hope onto money, other people, addictions – someone whose heart has been saved by Jesus will not let go of Him, and will run to Him, not every time; but over time.

What does the response of someone look like who is not saved?  It can look like a great many things, but essentially it is the opposite of what was just described.  It is someone who might not want to go to hell, might like the appeal of “guilt-free” living, but they have no love for God.  Their hope ends with whatever God can give them, instead of Himself.  If they’re honest, if Jesus wasn’t in heaven, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to them.  Ultimately, they do not consider themselves dead to sin and alive to Christ (Romans 6) – they are content to continue in disobedience towards God.

So if you come to me asking whether or not you’re saved – I’m going to ask you to tell me about your life.  Where were you 5 years ago, where are you now?  Where do you want to be 5 years from now as a Christian, and what are you doing now to prepare you?  What do your actions say about what you value – do you value God above all else, or is there something else that you value above Him?  If I preach the gospel to you right now, will your initial response be to pursue joy in God in righteousness, or be a feeling of relief that you can pursue joy in licentious sinning without guilt?

Ultimately, my answer doesn’t matter much.  What does your own heart tell you?  The good news of God, is that He is in the business of making new creations, of redeeming people.  Today is the day of salvation.  (2 Cor 6:2) Choose today who you are going to serve (Joshua 24:15), and know that a prayer to God asking for affections for Him, wisdom to live rightly, a clean heart before Him, and greater repentance from sin will not be ignored.  (Matthew 7:11)  If your heart has seemingly strayed from God, preach the gospel again to your own heart and hold fast to your hope in Jesus.

Lamentations 3:19-24 “Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me.  This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.  The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning;  Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”

Hosea 6:1-3 –

Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.  “So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.”
Grace and Peace,

Adam