Unfortunately, it seems less of us within the Christian fold are actually repentant, meaning we left the Kingdom of darkness and have full on entered the Kingdom of Light. I’m not sure lots of folks making up our churches are engaged in the ongoing process of rejecting sin, walking away from sinful lifestyles and abandoning unbiblical thinking. I’m not sure lots of us are following Jesus exclusively, seeking to live as His representatives. Instead, there seems to be far too many within our ranks who were only looking for a ticket out of Hell to Heaven. The only thing necessary to be re-routed from Hell to Heaven is believing the idea that Jesus is a Savior and Lord, uttering some words or participating in a couple of religious rites and then SHAZAM – salvation complete, you’re Heaven Bound, Glory Hallelujah, Amen! Now you can keep your sinful lifestyle, maintain unbiblical thinking and live a mostly self-absorbed life without fear of any eternal loss. You might hear things in the Christian fold, like, you should read your Bible, imitate Christ, become like Christ, obey Christ, grow in Christ, pray, stop sinning, and start intentionally impacting people for the Kingdom of God, which are all nice ideas, but you’ll be self-comforted by the thought that you still get to go to Heaven even if you don’t. And because we’re sooooooooooo afraid of – wait for it – “works-based salvation,” others will comfort you, too. They’ll tell you, “Why yes you still get to go to Heaven because you uttered those words or jumped through those religious hoops. So, I just need you to know what The Well’s theology is on this, just so we’re clear: if someone is “in Christ” that means Jesus is forming in them a new kind of humanity rooted in Christ. His saving of our souls means His life in us and His ministry through us. The Gospel is about Jesus Christ, not eternal real estate. We become disciples of Christ and that means a salvation-based WORK begins in us. If that’s not happening, then we’re not going to comfort anyone. We’re going to love women enough to scream -“Wake Up because you might still be dead in your sins with no real ticket in your hands!” Believe. Repent. Follow. That’s the Gospel. No ticket required, just your life.
