What does it mean to follow Christ?

 What challenge does Jesus lay out for those who follow Him? In reading through the gospels I find three attributes of His followers.

•      They believe certain things. (John 3:16)

•      Especially the most important truths, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died for our sins.

•      They have a relationship with Him. (John 10:14)

•      They know His voice. (John 10:27). They experience His presence and empowerment in their life.

•      They obey Him. (Luke 6:46)

•      The key obedience is responding His voice when He says “Open the door”. (Revelation 3:10)

The good news is that Jesus came to the earth to save humans from being lost in sin. The four spiritual laws and the Romans Road both summarize this plan of salvation.

•      God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. (John 3:16)

•      Humanity is tainted by sin and is therefore separated from God. As a result, we cannot know God’s wonderful plan for our lives. (Romans 3:23, 6:23)

•      Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our sin. Through Jesus Christ, we can have our sins forgiven and restore a right relationship with God, through the blood that He shed when He was crucified. (Romans 5:8)

•      We must place our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior in order to receive the gift of salvation and know God’s wonderful plan for our lives. (John 1:12)

It is important to understand what Christianity is not:

•      It is not keeping a bunch of rules to pass a legal review of our behavior. (2 Corinthians 3:6)

•      It is not earning God’s blessing through good works. Rather, God has prepared good works for us to walk in. (Ephesians 2:10)

•      It’s not a negotiation - I’ll do this if You will do that. (Examples: going to church; donating money; good works) (Isaiah 66:1)

What are the reasons people do not choose Jesus?

•      They don’t know the gospel.

•      Jesus sent His followers to go preach to every person. (Matthew 28:19-20) The job isn’t done yet.

•      They don’t believe the gospel.

•      Numerous books have been written to document evidence for the trustworthiness of the Scriptures and basic truths about Christ, e.g., The Case for Christ, Who Moved the Stone?

•      Lack of personal connection or experience with Jesus.

•      My personal experience is that anyone who sincerely seeks a relationship with Christ will receive palpable confirmation from Him. (Jeremiah 29:13)

•      Struggle with some theological issue, such as reconciling a loving God with the problem of pain, or difficult doctrines that are hard to understand.

•      Although the Bible offers answers, they are sometimes unsatisfying to our human understanding and difficult to accept. We have to accept the transcendence of Jesus over these questions - that His love, holiness, and power are more important. (Job 38-41)

•      Rejection of the gospel. Some understand that to receive Christ will entail them giving up lifestyle behaviors that conflict with His. I see two flavors of this.

•      An accurate belief that they do not have the strength to change. The good news is that the indwelling Christ empowers us to live out His life in our bodies. (Philippians 2:13)

•      A love of a specific vice that trumps a desire to live rightly, or to go to heaven, or to enjoy fellowship with God. Sadly, God can only deal with this by letting nature take its course. Every sin has consequences built in by the law of cause and effect. These consequences are the final warnings to the lost soul. (1 Corinthians 5:5)

So, the bottom line is that every person chooses. My prayer is that you will choose Christ.