Are you living your life as if you are barely saved?
Barely Saved or Saved to Bare?
By Machelle McDowell
I John 2:28- “And now little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have a confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”
What a profound thought, “barely saved or saved to bare?” It is amazing when you put a play on words just how quickly they can come to mean something totally different.
The definition of bare is: (of a person or part of the body) not clothed or covered. Hmmm. Then, there’s this definition: uncover (a part of the body or other things) and expose it to view. You are wondering where is she going with this?
Can you be barely saved? The answer is no. But, the reality is, we act like it. We live like it. We don’t bear the fruit that is commanded of us to bear. We act as if we have not been covered by Jesus’ grace and clothed in his spirit.
We gamble with our salvation. How little can I do to make it to heaven? How far can I wander away from the shepherd and still be considered part of the flock?
Some treat Christianity like a lottery ticket. How little can I put into it and hit the jackpot?
He Is coming back friends! My heart breaks for those who do not abide in Him. I have many friends and family that I dearly love that claim to be saved but act like they are barely saved. They rest on the assurance of knowing Jesus’s name but do not abide in the relationship. There is a big disconnect between head knowledge and heart knowledge.
Oh Christian, I cringe to think of standing before our Holy God at his coming and shrinking in shame from him because of the disappointment I brought him due to acting like I was barely saved.
I want to stand before Him and bask in his glory and hear Him speak the words, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
Paul speaks of a confidence in Him! How do we find it? It is found in three little words, “abide in him.” What does that look like?
Paul simple states the truth in I John 3:6- “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning.”
Oh, and by the way, when you are truly abiding in Christ, you will experience love and forgiveness in a whole new light.
When we abide in Him we suddenly realize that we are saved to bare! We are to expose our Christ to the world not be of the world. We become bearers of His name and His gospel:
We look like him
We think like him
We act like him
We desire to be a child of God and work towards righteous living.
Does it not challenge you to want others to look at you and witness Jesus abiding in you and you in Him; for them to see our sweet Father in you and to hear them say, “I want what she has?” “I want to be more like him or she looks just like her father!”
The greatest compliment a person could receive is one in which a Christian has been deemed to act like his or her father, JESUS!
You see Christian, when we abide in Christ we are looking forward to His coming and we are ready at all times. We enjoy Christian fellowship and worshipping with one another. We certainly do not find joy and contentment in dabbling in the things of the world, instead we practice righteousness.
Friends you cannot be barely saved. You either are or you’re not. It is time we stop living like we are barely saved and live out our calling upon our lives as Christians…we are saved to bare!
I love the book of I John!