IS IT TIME FOR OUR ACCOUNTING?

 What Accounting?

I know we've heard this before, maybe from a few preachers. Not likely recently, however. I'm referring to our walk with God. Many think our price has been paid; Jesus died for sinners, right? We were told that all we have to do is pray asking for forgiveness, call Jesus our Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead. Home free, right? There is more to the story. We are accountable for what we have done or not done, on earth and finally at the White Throne judgement. All mankind is accountable! Rewards or punishment?

Why Now?

The clock is approaching midnight! The time of the midnight cry, when Jesus returns as in the parable of the ten virgins. Will we participate in the coming final move of God before Christ returns? Some have called this the great awakening, and it will be that. We religious like to think it will be a time of millions of people accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. This it will likely be, but much more than we expect is planned. Pastor Kris Langham in the Through the Word app describes the Book of Romans as the final court room. Not only are the wicked and ungodly judged by Jesus there, but the religious are also judged as well. This will be the place of our final accounting to God!

What Are God's Criteria For Our Accounting?

Let's recount our responsibilities in the New Testament of the Bible. How do we know we will go to heaven when we die? Will it be for our good works? No! It will be only by faith in and trusting Jesus Christ as our Savior, and by following Him as our Lord. Obeying His commandments, in other words.  We must believe in our hearts that Father God raised Him from the dead after He paid the price for our sins, and that we were raised with Him.

Our faith in Jesus is not the faith we may have been taught to apply for people or things. It is faith that trusts Jesus as Lord over our lives, and by His example we follow God's ways and directions. It is a faith that only works through our unconditional love (Gal. 5:6) as we live our lives as Jesus lived His on earth. Our human love doesn't meet the test. We have to walk out our lives with God's love (agape) in our hearts. It must be our motive. It must be the root and purpose for what we do. It is loving God, loving people and loving ourselves in light of the forgiveness God gives us and others that call on His Name. This is unconditional love in all we do, think, say and demonstrate each day. The question is, "do we measure up"?

Aren't We Already Righteous?

Some may reason that through faith in Jesus we have been made righteous by God, as if we had no sin and therefore are automatically saved. Whether we pass the love test doesn't really matter; the price for out salvation has been paid in other words. God understands humans so I just do my best and all will be good in the end. Not necessarily true! God is the final judge, and this reasoning may be a big risk with severe consequences.

Many of us, me included, have struggled for years to feel righteous. The truth is, the righteous of God we receive through faith in Jesus is not a feeling our emotion. Instead, God-given righteousness is how God sees us, how He will judge us in other words. As God counted Abraham's faith as His righteousness, He has imputed or counted us righteous as a result of our faith and trust in Christ. We have to decide to be all in! He then imparts righteousness to us through the Holy Spirit's life-long process of sanctification as we yield ourselves to Him. This is not just me expressing my opinion; it is the Word of God in the Book of Romans!

God's love for mankind is unconditional. So is Jesus's love. So should ours be, beginning with how we love ourselves. It is not pretending we don't sin or that our sin doesn't matter because we have been made righteous through believing in Christ. It begins by seeking and receiving God's forgiveness for our sins IN OUR HEARTS to be able to receive His unconditional love. We have to know we have been forgiven. That means we must be willing to literally stake our eternal lives on what we believe! 

The pre-condition for being able to love others unconditionally, our neighbor as ourselves, is to be able to love ourselves unconditionally! The final accounting will not be of what we have done or not done. It will be of how we have loved unconditionally!

So, back to the beginning: our faith only works through love. Faith in the Gospel of Jesus can only work through unconditional love of God, ourselves and others. You may have heard it said, "hate the sin, love the sinner." Our salvation depends on how we love! THIS WILL BE OUR FINAL ACCOUNTING!

OUTSIDE THE CAMP

Where am I?

I've asked myself this question many times in the last decade. Questions like:

• Is the traditional church real?
• Are religious leaders in churches and ministries living the true Gospel of Jesus?
• What is the true Gospel of Jesus?
• Why do people with different beliefs get angry when I share mine?
• Why has a political spirit been allowed to take over most churches and religious organizations?
• How can people support leaders that don't demonstrate godly values?
• How did I get here and am I outside the camp?

Right off, I hope I'm not being self-righteous in my writings. For many years after I became a born-again Christian, I think I was. You know, better than all the others I judged for their faults. Through pride, ignorance and zeal, I suppose I still am still self-righteous in some ways. But I really don't want to be self-righteous, just righteous in the Way of Jesus Christ. So, if you read this blog to answer some of your questions about where you are, please give me the benefit of the doubt. Just chew up the grass and spit out the sticks!

Are you in a camp?

What is the camp, you might ask? I guess it could be anywhere in life. Professions, trade skills, jobs, family, generations, religious organizations, political parties, even hobbies and other arenas of living are a few examples. These represent groups of people that have similar interests, both natural and inherited, that join together for mutual benefit and that tend to shape the life direction of their members. It is likely we will be members of several camps, either at the same time or throughout our lives.

So, how do we find the right or the most important camp? I don't know about you, but I still have to begin with what I don't want or like. Maybe some of these would be on your list:

• I don't want to be in a relationship with people that are:
•           Disingenuous, that say one thing and live another.
• Always trying to change me to their way of thinking.
• Untrustworthy or dishonest.
• Mean spirited and unfriendly.
• Narcissistic.
• Users and takers seeking gain at my expense.

I could go on, but you are probably asking where we find people that are not like this! Truth is, we all probably have some degree of these attributes. When I look deep in my heart, I know I do!

Where is the right camp?

I think the starting place is within each of us. R.T Kendall has a sermon on YouTube entitled "Outside the Camp." This sermon started me thinking again of life issues I started considering almost four decades ago. I don't fit in most camps. I'm a CPA but I don't make legalistic standards the only way to do my job. I am old: I look and sometimes act the part, but age doesn't define who I am. I have a strong, daily relationship with God, but after 30 years in churches I no longer attend. I like and need relationships with people, yet all but those with a few people have failed. I am still working presenting webinar training, but I still look for the rest of my purpose on earth. So where am I? Where is my camp?  Where is yours?

Outside the camp may be the right camp!

In these blogs, I have called myself a contrarian Christian. This doesn't mean I am stubborn and unbending. It doesn't mean I intend to be argumentative and judgmental. It means that, for whatever reason, I have different viewpoints on a lot of subjects and on religion. This may also be true of you. Many of us are likely outside of the religious camp. We may still be inside but are really outside in our hearts. I believe God's words to Jeremiah (vs.29:11) applies to each of us as well: "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jesus is the Blessed Hope! We may find Him inside the camp, but for me and perhaps you, I believe He is waiting for us to meet outside the camp!

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