Message: Salvation is more than just a prayer
that we pray to make it to the heaven list. It means to repent and surrender
our lives over. In this case they were feeling safe because they were Jews.
Christians often feel safe because we go to church.
Command: Prove by the way that you live that
you have repented of your sins and turned to God.
Promise: Salvation
Warning: Don’t just say to each other “we’re safe.
We’re the descendants of Abraham.”
Application: To me, this passage calls us deeper
than just doing the church things and being a part of the club. In this case
the Jews felt safe because of their lineage. Christians usually feel safe
because they go to church and do moral things. This passage challenges further
than that. Several people in the crowd asked “how?” and he responded
differently to each of them because the hang-ups they all had were different.
The same is true of us because the surrender of our sin is supposed to bring
change. We can’t compare ourselves to others to make ourselves look and feel
better. For me this challenge pushes me past the church things and the
discipline habits. What in me has not changed over the years? What am I still holding
onto because I already feel like I’m in?
