Satan and his influencers have convinced many people that a person does not have to obey God to get to Heaven. They have been sold the lie that as long as someone “accepts Jesus into his heart,” nothing else really matters. Friends, anybody who tells you that you don’t have to obey God is working for Satan, whether they realize it or not. Don’t you know that has been Satan’s plan from the beginning in the Garden of Eden, to convince man not to obey God?
Satan wants you to believe that since “nobody is perfect,” you don’t even have to bother trying to obey God when He says you must be baptized into Christ and die to sin (Rom. 6:1-12), when God says you must obey the civil law or receive damnation (Rom. 13:1, 2), that you must guard your tongue or be condemned (Matt. 12:36, 37; Jam. 1:26), that you must be sober or be destroyed (1 Thess. 5:1-8), that you must abstain from fleshly lusts or go to Hell (Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Pet. 2:11), that you must faithfully assemble or suffer “fiery indignation” (Heb. 10:23-31), or that you must live a sanctified, holy life differently from the world or be condemned with the world (Rom. 12:1, 2; 1 Cor. 11:32; 2 Cor. 7:1; Titus 1:16; 2:11, 12; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16). God plainly said that those who do otherwise will not go to Heaven, whether they believe in Jesus or not (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Gal. 5:19-21). Those warnings were sent to baptized believers, not atheists.
Friends, can you not see how ridiculous it is to believe that when God commands you to do something, you don’t have to do it? Can you not see how that is a lie meant to deceive you? If God commands those things listed above, we had better be doing those things exactly as He said to the best of our ability, along with anything else He commands, because we will be judged by what we have done (or failed to do)—not simply what we believe (Matt. 25:31-46; Rom. 2:5-11; 11:22; Gal. 6:7-9; Php. 2:12; 2 Cor. 5:9-11; 1 Pet. 1:17).
Since we are not perpetually flawless, should we just give up and stop trying to obey God? If a properly baptized Christian commits a sin or completely falls away, he should confess his sin(s) in penitent prayer to God and get back to walking in the light ASAP (Acts 8:13, 22-24; 1 John 1:6—2:6). The Bible teaches that many “believers in Christ” will end up in Hell because they would not live obedient lives (Matt. 7:21-27; John 12:42, 43; Heb. 5:9; 10:23-31, etc.). I don’t want any of us to be those people. Friends, wake up and start studying the Bible for yourselves (please!). God commands you to do that also (Acts 17:11; 1 Thess. 5:21; 2 Tim. 2:15). I challenge you to take your Bible and study all the passages listed above.
Excellent lesson, Jason. Thank you for sharing this. I wish I could hear you preach.