WHAT ABOUT WORKS?

In Chasing Jesus, I pondered what one pastor called “pew potatoes”…“Sunday-only’s” who seemed to figure just attending services faithfully was enough. I posited that when our Lord said, “Narrow is the gate that leads…” etc., He was deadly serious. He wasn’t one to toss around phrases idly--ergo, we have a challenging faith, not a sit-back-and-enjoy-the-trip, Sunday joyride.

From that, I posed the question. If it’s such a narrow gate for hard-working, dedicated laborers for the Lord, what might it be like on Judgment Day for those who have done almost nothing…brought no new souls to Christ, never gone out into the world to “make disciples of all nations”, at least by example, if not by deeds…visiting the sick and infirm, etc.? “Just how select are the Elect?”, I asked.

Will heaven be much more sparsely populated than we’ve imagined, or is God even far more forgiving than we’ve thought?

I mentioned in my initial blog post the idea of “once and forever sealed” versus “Faith without works is dead”. I will be interested in your comments.

For what it’s worth, here’s my take on it:

If one is truly “sealed”, filled with, and in a sense, taken over by the Holy Spirit, born again-- essentially a new creature in Christ, how can one continually do egregious wrongs, for instance? Murderers confessing to a priest, then going out and murdering again. Greedy moneylenders and slumlords taking advantage of the addicted, the vulnerable, the unwary? …Conversely, how can one not be prone to doing good works?

What I’m saying is, perhaps some are not “sealed” in the first place! “By their fruits shall ye know them”…again, I don’t think an idle statement.

Here’s another: “Work out your salvation in fear and trembling”. That just doesn’t sound like “sealed forever, no matter what” to me. St. Paul speaks of a new creation… “All things are become new”. To me, that’s “sealing”! It would, by definition, seem to imply doing your best in what’s called “works” and in all other aspects of the new life.

As do most Christians, I believe salvation comes by grace, it’s a gift…no way could I ever earn it, but I believe I could lose it. I thus embrace “Fear and trembling”, AKA “vigilance”. It helps keep this old toad on-point. He needs that.

Now, as to you:

Whaddaya think?