Okay, So I Jumped the Gun a Little

Good foggy morning! We have that freezing fog kind of thing going on here. The fog arrived yesterday afternoon and has decided to stay for a bit. This week I started taking Centrum Silver. Okay, so I jumped the gun a little bit. I'm not quite 50+, but I figure the damage my body endured a few years back qualifies me to start. I can get away with that in the matter of vitamins, but does that work in the Christian life? Can a person who does not yet believe in Jesus begin reforming his life to fit the Christian ideal?

Morally, I suppose a person could begin a self-improvement program. Since Adam took the forbidden fruit we do have the knowledge of both good and evil in our hearts. However, according to the words of Jesus that alone will not save us. To turn a phrase a bit, if we know the truth but refuse to believe in it, it has no way to set us free from the law of sin and death. In other words, no one can be good enough to save himself. A person cannot say on a given day that he will probably surrender to Christ in a few months, so today is a good day to begin a preparatory course in obeying the commands of Jesus. That sounds a lot like the seed falling on the rocky soil.

We need the Holy Spirit to have any chance of obeying God. No amount of personal will power is going to save anyone. A sinner cannot become a saint by trying hard, though many have taken that path. We must be saved by one with the proper credentials. If I know the truth of Jesus Christ, but keep the door closed so that I may try to save myself first through a program of good behavior, I am taking an awful risk with eternity. Trusting in the saving grace and cleansing blood of Jesus must come first, or all that effort is in vain. Better to have never heard the good news of Jesus at all than to hear the word and then try to save myself.

Enjoy the day in Christ Jesus!
Bucky