John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
I hear this verse quoted often. The usual context is in regard to the intellectual assent that Jesus is the Gate, by which we enter into heaven and there is no other way to enter. I acknowledge this as true, BUT I find myself going one step further and asking:
What is more important, the intellectual agreement that Jesus indeed is the Way to salvation OR to actually walk in the Way?
Let me put it this way. If I acknowledge that Meridian Street runs directly to my house which is the third on the left, I can agree this is true. If I acknowldge that I indeed want to go to my house, I have to drive along "the Way," which in this case is Meridian Street. All too often it seems evangelical Christians want to stand and build intellectual agreement that indeed Meridian Street runs to my house, BUT we spend all our time here.
Instead of walking together or driving together down Meridian street and talking about the landmarks and how we can know we are actually heading the right way on Meridian Street, we spend all our time acknowledging Meridian Street runs to my house.
Yes, Jesus is the Way. Let us move on past this elementary teaching and get on to maturity. Lets talk about living in the Way together. Let's talk about spiritual struggle and dicernment of the spiritual warfare going on around us. Let's talk about working out our salvation with fear and trembling before an Almighty God! Let's talk about a Holy Nation. Let's talk about a people under Christ that are all supposed to be part of a Royal Priesthood. . . . Yes, every believer a Priest! The old order of having a priest do all the God work is done, it was crucified. All have access to God through Christ, the mediator and Perfect Sacrifice. This sacrifice paid in FULL all of our sins and grants us access to the Holy of Holies, heaven itself.
When do we move on to walking the Way together and get past a mere intellectual agreement?
Sometimes I wonder, if some who may not even have this intellectual agreement may be closer to Christ than those who profess His name.
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2 comments:
I agree. I think acknowledging christ as your saviour is the first step, but you have to keep building on that. it's only the starting point on a long journey!
Good comment Jesse/Shannon. It is the starting point!
It seems God has put more emphasis on this particular matter from some reading I've been doing. Another point jumped out at me. From the disciples Jesus called to follow Him, something always seemed to follow. He never asked them to have some mental assent to His Christhood, this was something God revealed to them as they followed, but, rather, their first order of business was to act, to follow, to step. It seems that faith and obdience or faith and repentence or belief and action go hand in hand. If you take one away, you loose the other.
Maybe they do not stand alone, but in unity.
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