Walking Away From Christ

Hello friends! I have been reading through Romans the past couple of days and stumbled across Romans 6:16.

"16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?"

As usual, I like to read every study note on every verse I read. One part of the note said that people who do give themselves utterly to sin will die and face eternal punishment. This got me thinking about a friend I have who accepted Christ at a young age, but has since walked away from a relationship with Jesus. But my friend still thinks they're going to heaven. 

I have been praying for this friend's salvation for more than a year now, because it confused me so much about if they was actually going to heaven or not. I read scriptures in Corinthians that stated that the Corinthian's had accepted Jesus as their savior but were still committing sins like before. Then in Paul's letter he was like "STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU CAN'T DO THAT" but they had no idea. They weren't completely in the know about what God wanted of them. 

So that same note on Romans 6:16 told me to go look at Hebrews 6:4-8, and I thought, meh, I have some time, lets do some real bible study.  

"4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned."

So I first read this at least twice because I am a slow reader and I need to read things multiple times to understand them thoroughly. My first understanding of it was that people who have known God and have fallen to sin, and I mean like their life is run by sin and they have no remorse, will not be saved. And then my heart ached for my friend who I have been praying for. I read it again, and studied the notes that accompanied the verse and realized something: my first thought was right! Those who have given themselves completely to sin, even if they once knew God are not going to be saved. 

Now, to clarify, if someone has been letting sin run their life, and they think that they are too far from God to be saved, first off, that is a lie the enemy tells us to keep us in sin. Second, the fact that they feel like they need to repent is proof that they have not let sin completely take over their life, and in fact, are yearning for the Lord.

So after a year or so of praying for my friends salvation, and after reading these two verses I decided it was time to tell them what was going on and explain to them that the life they were living was not going to get them into heaven, or make their life on earth any easier. This is something I have been praying about and have thought about bringing up to them for well over six months and finally God put it on my heart that these things needed to be said. 

I hope that if you are reading this and find yourself in a similar situation as my friend, salvation is not a "one and done" thing. You can't say that you love God and you want Him to be your Lord and Savior and then turn around and go about living life recklessly. You have to surrender to Jesus every day. You have to make a continuous effort. And the best part? God doesn't "grade" you on how well you succeed. Because your performance does not equal your salvation. JESUS EQUALS YOUR SALVATION. He died on the cross, took the weight of all your sins, as His free gift to you: Life. Stop wasting your time chasing a partner, an addiction, money, lust, or earthly success. Start chasing Jesus and you will see your life open doors you thought were locked forever. The road ain't always easy, but you have a Father to run to. 

If any of this resonated with you, I want you to know that you can start living for Jesus right now. All you have to do is say "yes". Yes to a God who created you, who knows whats good for you. Yes to a call to serve and to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Yes to salvation. Please, if you want to have a relationship with Jesus Christ please pray with me, as I pray for you.  

Lord, I pray that anyone reading this would come to know your amazing power and all that you do for them, even when they did not know you. I pray that anyone reading this who wants to have a relationship with you, asks you to come into their life and change their heart, give them determination and motivation to live for you, and to be saved by your Son, who died to save the world.  

If you prayed this with me, please send me a message on the Contact Victoria page, I would love to hear your story, and if you are local I would love to meet you and treat you to some AMAZING coffee. Have a great and blessed week everyone!