John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

These were words spoken by John the Baptist when he was told that Jesus was baptizing in another place, and that more people were coming to Jesus than to John to be baptized. Remember, John's initial cause for baptizing people was so that they would confess their sins, and be prepared for the Messiah's arrival. His role in history will be remembered forever because he was “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight’” (Matthew 3:3, quoting Isaiah 40:3).

Jesus himself said that "among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist." John had a role that no other person born would ever be able to fulfill, as he ushered in the Kingdom of God and his Christ. So if Jesus's miracles and his own testimony wasn't enough for you to believe, consider the words of John. His role was predicted hundreds of years prior, and even Jesus said he was the greatest among men. And John said that if you believe, you will be saved.

Belief in Jesus is not just a mental assent, or an intellectual agreement that Jesus saves. A childlike faith in the truth of John's words is what makes for saving faith. If you have ever believed with all your heart the words of John, or the words of many other biblical figures, about Jesus, then you are going to Heaven and your many flaws and sins have been washed away...never to be remembered by God. Furthermore, any present and future sins are also washed away: thrown into the sea of God's forgetfulness.

Be of good cheer, especially you who have the worst sins. You have cause to love Jesus even more than those who sin little, and Jesus commended such people with a parable he told at the home of a very religious man. This man was a Pharisee, the strictest of the strict. Pharisees were known for constant prayer, giving very exact and well-planned gifts to God, and for following the bible even down to the uttermost letter. Or so they thought.

Jesus was dining with the Pharisee, and a woman of ill-repute (possibly a prostitute) came in and washed Jesus's feet with her tears. The Pharisee swore that if Jesus was really a prophet, he would know what kind of woman was touching him and he would shove her away. Jesus, being divine, knew what the Pharisee was thinking. And he said this to him: “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

A man said to me, "I am not religious." Good. This means it will be much easier for you to believe in Jesus and be saved. Religious people trust in their own works and righteousness to save them, and they are not saved because salvation is not to be earned. It's a free gift, given only to those who have childlike faith in the one who saves. So if you have many sins, remember that the Doctor comes to heal those who are sick, not those who are well.

 

Attaining to Christlikeness

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30)

When Jesus suffered on the cross, just as he was about to die he declared: "It is FINISHED." This meant that the penalty for the sins of ALL mankind had been paid for and anyone who would believe would be justified. "Justification" now is a legal word that means, roughly, "pronounced innocent." When you believed in the suffering and resurrection of Christ, you were taken before God's judgment seat and pronounced INNOCENT.


The innocence you received in Christ means that all your spiritual toil, all your religious efforts, and all your prayers and fasting gain you nothing when it comes to your standing as a righteous man in Jesus' sight. You're already righteous because of what he did for you, so you can literally add nothing to his work. Ephesians 2:8-9 says "It is by grace you are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves. It is a gift, lest any man should boast." This is why you can disregard those super-spiritual people who look down their noses at you. They are bigots and have imagined they've added to the righteousness that Christ provided for them.


Does this mean you do nothing as a Christian? Just sit and thank God and live your life your own way? No. It means that all your spiritual disciplines, all your toil, and all your labor of love for the sake of the faith are to make you LIKE Christ. They make you LIKE Christ because the more you seek and pursue his face, the more you know him. When you know him, you can't help but become more like him. And being like him is the exact cause for him saving us, as is pronounced in 1 John 3:2: "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."


On the last day, when Christ returns to judge the dead and the living, we who are believers will be made exactly like Christ in his glorified state. That means we will have living bodies like his living body, able to function as he functions in his body; but it also means we will be perfectly like him in character, our choice to conform to him being made permanent and perfect.


So as you search out Christ in the scriptures, as you fast, as you worship and pray and serve the needy, don't suppose that you are adding to your standing as a Christian. Your position in God's eyes is "righteous," not because of anything but the "It is FINISHED" justification of Christ. You can do nothing to add to your positional standing of perfectness created by Christ. What you can do is seek his face with the hope that your mind will be renewed daily, no longer being conformed to the image of the world around you. When that happens, you get to KNOW Christ better, and when you KNOW him better you become more LIKE him in character. Since being conformed to the image and character of Christ is our ultimate prize for endurance in the faith, and our ultimate reward in Heaven, we should be pleased to attain to Christ-likeness here on this earth.