Pretend Games

A few years ago, at one of our church services, a documentary was shown. It portrayed a middle-aged couple who had gone to a remote village. They did not speak to the natives concerning the Gospel. They merely lived among them and demonstrated kindness and integrity.
The villagers soon came to love and trust them.
When the two missionaries were satisfied they had gained the confidence of the natives, they told the Headman about the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They then spoke of water baptism.
The Headman proceeded to teach his people of the blood atonement and commanded that they all be baptized in water.
Once every person, young and old, had been baptized, the Headman came to the missionaries and asked, “what do we do now?”
They responded, “absolutely nothing. You are complete in Jesus.”
Absolutely nothing! I will never forget those words. Once you believe and are baptized, anything you do to try to enter the Kingdom is dead works. There is no salvation to be worked out with fear and trembling. Just believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and that He has done it all for you.
It came to my attention recently that believers worldwide are being told that by grace all that Jesus is and has accomplished has been given to us by saying, “I accept Christ as my Lord and Savior.”
This makes the Christian redemption a form of schizophrenia. We do not really gain deliverance from the sins of the flesh or from our self-will and self-centeredness. We just pretend that we do.
God forgives us through the blood atonement made by our Lord on the cross of Calvary. But forgiveness is as far as the Divine redemption can take us. We cannot really be made in Christ a new creation of righteous behavior.
I felt a load on my back. How am I going to explain to Christians worldwide that they have not fully entered the salvation God has for them. After stating their belief in Christ, they are standing on the threshold of the Kingdom. There is a lifetime of discipleship ahead of them before they attain to the full stature of the Lamb of God.
In my opinion, this pursuit of God’s purpose in Christ continues in the spirit realm after we die, until we have been made perfect in Christ. The Bible says the ministry of the Apostles will continue until we have attained to the full stature of Christ, and this includes bringing the believers in the spirit world to perfection along with us.
Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13)
To the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23)
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39,40)
“The spirits of righteous people made perfect.”
I was miserable with the thought of this responsibility. Then God reminded me what He had proclaimed concerning His Son, Messiah Jesus: “On this Rock I will build My church and the gates of Hell shall not overcome it.”
At that point the burden lifted from me, and I realized that all I have to do is to obey Christ an inch at a time and God will build His own church.