“Assembly Required ”I purchased a desk recently that was packaged in a flat shipping box. I don’t mind buying items that require assembly, because I am relatively handy with tools, and am slightly mechanically-inclined. Once I got the desk home, I tore the box open and found to be what looked like (to me) over a million individual components. My usual method of assembling things is to wing-it; to figure out the method of construction myself, without using the provided instructions, and then consulting the directions later, to find out where everything went wrong. But one look at the job in front of me and it was clear that I was not going to be able to even begin to construct this desk intuitively, I was going to need help; I was going to have to go to my last resort first: following the written instructions. Luckily, the instructions were clear, and the assembly went smoothly. The end result was a very attractive desk, which looked just like the instructions said it would; just like the picture on the box. There is no telling what that same desk would have looked like though, had I not followed the written instructions provided. Who knows how many “extra parts” I would have ended up with? Who knows how many parts I would have used improperly and run short on? We all oftentimes try and work out our salvation the exact same way: we wing-it, we try and figure it out by ourselves, don’t we? Why do we do such things? Is it arrogance; do we think we know better than God? Is it mere laziness; are we only interested in short-cuts? Just recently I heard a “faith only” lecture that de-emphasized baptism, and it made me shake my head in disbelief. When one reads the Bible, our instruction manual, how could one reasonably come to the conclusion that little or no effort is required on our part to take advantage of the salvation that Christ’s sacrifice offers us all? I suppose the idea that Christ’s death gives us all a “freebie” would be a popular one to preach; but preaching a popular message doesn’t make that message right. You see, God’s instructions for us are specific, unchanging and cannot be deviated from. There are a lot of people out there who don’t want to follow the instructions as provided, and even worse, encourage others to take spiritual short-cuts as well. We need to read our own instruction manual well enough and thoroughly enough to recognize these “short-cuts” that some advocate, and not only avoid them steadfastly, but speak out against such practices earnestly. The only way to salvation is through Christ Jesus; and when I say that I am not just talking about “accepting” Jesus as your Savior, or “letting “Jesus into your life (whatever those things mean). No, what I am talking about is following the written instructions of God: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”[John 14:6] And just what is
that way that Jesus spoke of? He tells us in Mark 16:16: Hear, believe, obey, repent, be baptized [John 15:13-15]: Those are our instructions we are to follow to work toward salvation. All of those things have to be present, and followed in that order. Naturally, we cannot “earn” salvation, but we do have requirements put upon us all by God; requirements that, if fulfilled, allow him to extend His Grace to us, through salvation in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. We all have work to do, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If I used “faith only” to construct my desk, I’d still have just a bunch of disconnected pieces in a box, wouldn’t I? [James 2:26, James 2:13-15] Don’t be fooled: no matter how hard I believed that the contents of that box would become a desk, if I never lifted a finger to build it, or chose to ignore the provided instructions, I would not have the beautiful desk that I am writing this article about salvation on right now. There are no “optional” steps in God’s Instruction Manual; there are no “extra parts” either. It cannot be added to, or subtracted from [Revelation 22:18, 19]. God is the Master Builder, trust Him; trust His Plan. Now go do the work that He has set aside for you, using the instructions He gave you. — Paul Seely, November 13, 2011 |