I’ve done it myself, and I would venture to say you have too. I’ve sat in church listening to a good sermon, and thought one of two things: “I hope so-and-so is listening to this” or, “So-and-so should be here listening to this”.
Perhaps one of the greatest problems we as believers have is in not working to change ourselves. We think that other people need to change and become more Christ-like, but rarely apply the change to ourselves. We hope for others to feel guilty about the way they behave, and we deflect the conviction from ourselves. Here’s what the apostle Paul said about conviction:
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV).
How many of us examine ourselves to see if we’re truly followers of Jesus? How many of us humble ourselves and seek the conviction and correction of the Spirit of God? It’s too easy in our evangelical way of thinking, once we’ve made a profession of some sort, to believe that we’re home and free, thanks to the grace of God, and we can just live in our own idea of self-righteousness. However, while it’s true that salvation is totally by the grace of God and by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, there are certain conditions. The author and finisher of our faith said it this way:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21 NKJV).
Salvation is a gift, but something is expected of us before we can enter the kingdom of heaven. If we really are followers of Christ, we will work to live as He wants us to live. Does that sound too much like “works”? Then how do you explain what Jesus just said to us all?
If I were a pastor, I would get everyone in the hearing of my sermon to say the following together:
“The Word of God applies to me. This message applies to me. I have to change. I must become more Christ-like. I must learn to do the will of the Father”.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 