Why do we walk the walk?

this guy is definitely saved

Christians are weird right?  Some may be weirder than others but we all have this.... peculiarness about us.  Why is that, what drives Christians to be different from the rest of the world.  Life would be so much easier if we were just like everyone else.

God has told us to be in this world but not of it (Romans 12:2), meaning that we are always going to live here, but we should not act like the rest of the world acts.  God calls us to live a life that has been "set apart" or "holy".  The question now becomes, why?  Why does God want us to be different?

Most people think that we live differently so that we can go to heaven; we don't drink, or cuss, or lie so that God will love us more, so that we can go to heaven.  The better we act the better our chance of going to heaven will be.  Well that's a bunch of CRAP!  Being a good person, doing your best, obeying the law will not get you saved, so you might as well stop trying now (Romans 3:23).

None of us will ever be good enough for God to let us into heaven, only God is good enough for heaven.  It's only because of Gods grace that we can ever get there.  What is grace you ask?  Grace is unmerited favor, its getting something that you don't deserve.  None of us deserve heaven because we have broken God's laws, we have all lied, and cheated, and stolen, and lusted (Exodus 20), and none of us deserve heaven.

If we are willing to admit that we are undeserving of heaven, and count on the sacrifice of Jesus to get us there, then we will have His grace (Ephesians 2:8).  So what is it that makes us weird then, if we don't have to do all of this "stuff" to be saved whats the point of living differently than the rest of the world?

Get your pencil out and write this down "We don't do good works to be saved, we do good works because we are saved".  Rather than trying to be good to earn heaven, we should be good out of appreciation of the grace that we have been given by God.

1 bajillion dollars

Imagine that you were given a bajillion dollars from a good friend, this friend didn't want anything for the money, he just wanted to give it to you because he loved you.  Even though he did not want anything from you, you should be compelled to repay him somehow.  God has given you something worth more than money, and out of gratefulness for this gift we devote our lives to Him.

This is why Christians should be weird, we should be set apart, different, striving for holiness, not because we have to, but because we want to.

Dear Lord,

Help us to strive for holiness

help us to remember that we can not earn your love,

but you give it freely to those that will put their trust in you.

Help us to live a life that is pleasing to you, that our lives would be a sacrifice,

out of pure thankfulness for the gift that you have offered to us.  

In the precious name of Jesus

Amen

If this intrigues you check out this book by Chuck Smith, and be praying for his family as today was the day when he met Jesus.  http://www.amazon.com/Grace-Changes-Everything

Here is a sermon on grace from Francis Chan that you might enjoy as well.