Allright, first on the list of things believers generally don’t believe in is Salvation.  (meaning that people don’t seem to think that salvation means actually being saved from anything)

Go ahead, throw a fit.  But if you can put up with me for a minute, I think I can prove this to you.  And I’ll try to make you laugh.

Here’s a typical conversation one might have with a Christian.

“So, are your parents saved?”

“Well, I don’t have a relationship with my dad.  But my mom and my step-dad, Fred, are.  They go to First United blah, blah, blah…”

“Oh.  Your step-dad?  The one your mom left your dad for?  Wait a minute, didn’t you tell me that Fred is an alcoholic?”

“Yeah, but he believes in Jesus.”  Believes IN Jesus?  What does this mean?  At this point, I’m picturing Fred giving Jesus a big high-five… “Way to go, Jesus.  I knew you had it in you.  I always believed in you. ”

“So…he believes that Jesus…is cool?  Likes church?  Gave him a free hall pass on adultery and drunkenness?  What?”

Note:  if you take the conversation this far, you will be getting a very blank look from your friend.  Or he might be getting a little angry.  So you might try this instead.  ”Have you ever talked with Fred about his relationship with Jesus?  Have you asked him about his testimony of salvation?”

“No, people in our family are pretty private about religion.  I love my parents.  I’m not trying to ’start something’ with them.”

At this point, you are wondering if this person has started to realize that they just claimed to “love” someone who may be headed for hell with their approval.  But typically they are not realizing.  Instead they probably think that you are weird.

But here is the Scripture:  ”Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Cor 6:9-10

You probably wouldn’t share that scripture. Because who believes that scripture?  WHO BELIEVES THAT SCRIPTURE?

I had a fear of God moment one when I was struck by how many programs churches present to those in sexual sin that enables them to sit in their bondage, tormented out of their minds, destroying themselves and their families and headed for hell because no one believes the Scripture enough to tell them the urgent truth straightforwardly.

FLEE SEXUAL IMMORALITY!  YOU WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM!  The Bible says that ungodly sorrow leads to death but godly sorrow leads to repentance.  So it doesn’t matter if you cry over your addiction every day in church for ten years!  You will stay addicted because you have not repented!

If you’ve never had a conversation like this and seen the light dawn on someone’s face, I need to tell you how sweet and glorious it is when a sinner repents.  The angels in heaven REJOICE!!  And seeing sinners repent and come to God more than makes up for the sadness you feel at how people can be in church all their lives and never once hear the simple, beautiful message of the power of repentance.  Also if one person receives the truth, it more than makes up for ten who reject it and you.

If you believe the Scripture, you have fear of God over the souls of your friends.  You speak with force, and you do not let people sit in the deception that “I’m saved, you just can’t see it.  It’s the invisible kind that doesn’t bear fruit.”

The church simply has unbelief that salvation actually saves anybody.  Think about it.  When we come across someone who’s “really broken” with the drug addiction and the prison background, do we shrink back?  Do we calculate if they will fit in to our church body?  If there’s anybody equipped to handle their issues?  If we could afford the “Christian counselor” they need?  Or do we get in their face with the confidence of eternity in our eyes and our hearts filled with love and say “THAT is why He went to the cross.  YOU are the one He’s looking for. It was for YOUR ADDICTION, YOUR PAIN, YOUR SHAME.  IT’S ALREADY DONE. Will you BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, CALL on His name, and REPENT?  HE WILL SAVE YOU AND SET YOU FREE!!!  How many stories of how Jesus set ME free do you need to hear right now?”

Obviously, if we don’t have those stories about how Jesus set us free then we have quickly gotten to the core of our unbelief.  Of course, salvation is not just for the point of conversion.  Jesus always SAVES!  It’s who He is! Either we’ve been too prideful to see our need, or have not believed for the miraculous salvation of Jesus over and over and over as we daily encounter our stuff:  our depression, our anger, our confusion, our self-focus.  Do we call on the name of the Lord?  Or do we “handle” life with worry, analysis, and fleshly solutions?  Because normal Christian life is to have another story of how Jesus saved us with every passing day.

If I had to guess how most believers think of salvation, I’d say we tend to think of it more as a club membership attained by assent to certain doctrines.  We don’t tell people to be saved so much as to agree that He is a Savior.  You know, doctrinally.  Why is this?  What is it that we don’t believe about the world, ourselves, and Jesus that stunts our confidence in salvation?  Next time…sin.