The Constant Jeopardy Facing Every Christian
Did you know that every Christian is in constant jeopardy of losing their place in the Kingdom of Heaven? (2 Peter 2:20-22)
If you doubt that, consider Christ’s teaching in His Parable of the Sower. (Matthew 13)
In this Parable, our Lord introduces 4 types of Christians who hear the Word and are initially saved by it.
1) The Christian who hears the Word but it lands in his heart “by the wayside”
2) The Christian who hears the Word but it lands in his heart “amidst the rocks”
3) The Christian who hears the Word but it lands in his heart “amidst the thorns”
4) The Christian who hears the Word and it lands in his heart “in the good ground”
Now do the math. 3 out of 4 of these new believers, a full 75%, don’t last! Sooner or later, the challenges of this life overcome them and they ultimately don’t spiritually survive this earthly life and make it into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Christ made this even more plain when He said:
“Enter in at the straight gate: for it is the wide gate, and broad way, that leads to destruction; and many there be which go in thereat. But straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
You can see that when He says “many”, He means as many as 75%. And when He says few, He means as few as 25%, or 1 out of 4.
So this is the challenge facing every disciple of Christ. Odds that are stacked against you. Odds that can only be turned in your favor by the power of Jesus Christ.
Which begs the question: How do you enter into that power and by it work out your own salvation (Philippians 2:12) so as to secure your place in Heaven?
There are two challenges you have to overcome to achieve this:
1) You must overcome the inner challenges brought on by the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden; your inner demons so to speak, and
2) You must overcome the external challenges you are always facing brought on by the enemies of Christ, who even use that wounded nature of your soul against you in their attacks
Now how do you do this?
How do you overcome both the inner, and external, challenges that keep you in constant jeopardy?
You learn the moral law of Christ to cut out sin at its root, practice its daily application in your life through active virtue, and you do all of this through the discipline of the 4 cardinal virtues. (Matthew 22:37, 2 Peter 1:10-11)
This is the means by which you and every other Christian, every single disciple of Christ, is called to secure their place in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The means by which each will ensure that the ground in which the Word has been planted in their own hearts and minds is good ground, ground that will produce 30, 60, and even 100 fold.
My Making-It-Real subscription service is a daily Bible reading program that’s designed to help you do this very thing. It acts as a guide by providing the means for you to till the soil of your own heart and mind to make sure that the Word of God is freely growing within your own soul.
If you haven’t yet committed to the Program, do so today. The odds really are stacked against you, and together we need to help one another turn those odds back in our favor.
So make a commitment!
In so doing, you’ll be growing in your understanding of the Moral Law of Christ. You’ll be learning to practice active virtue in your every day life. And you’ll be doing this, as a natural built-in part of the Program, through the discipline of the 4 cardinal virtues.
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You can get started working my Essential Spiritual Fitness Program by subscribing to the Making-It-Real service by clicking the following link:
https://spiritualfitnessprogram.com/membership/makingitreal/
You can further your growth using my Essential Spiritual Fitness Program by enrolling in my Faith-Without-Confusion Online Course by clicking the following link:
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God Bless!
Coach Paul
‘Feel, Do, and Be Better!‘
