We Are Always Faced With an Either…or…
There is no place on the fence
Throughout the Master’s ministry on earth, you could see Him drawing clear lines between two different sets of people. He always emphasized single-mindedness.
With Him, you were either right or wrong. You were either ready or not. You were either wise or foolish. It was either a yes with Him or a no. Oh, how we need more of that today!
Sadly, we have muddied the waters. We have watered things down and created a middle ground in several situations. We have straddled the fence when we should have been firmly ensconced in one camp or another.
Hey, I am no exception. I have been bang in the middle of those who always sought a middle ground.
I am only just learning the truth. And I feel it is something worth sharing with others who have obtained precious faith. But it had been in the scriptures all along.
Oh, how we need the help of the Spirit to search and discover some of these principles and life-changing truths. But the principle is clear. There are only two roads. The wide and the narrow road. Let’s see more applications of this principle in three key pillars of our Christian faith.
Salvation
I have seen people fumble when asked whether they were saved or not. But the truth is that you are either saved or you are not. Those are the only two states one can find themselves in.
I understand that sometimes new-born babes in Christ may be suffering from self-doubt and wondering whether they are truly saved.
Examples abound of people who claim to believe in God, go to church, are very generous. They say all the nice things about God. And it’s very pleasing to the ear.
But some of them do not know whether they are saved or not. At the end of the day, one is either saved or not. There is no middle ground. Next time the question of salvation comes up, listen to how people answer it.
As a friend says, “anything other than a yes is a no.”
Faith
“For we walk by faith, and not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7, KJV).
You are either in the faith camp or in the doubt camp. Our actions are either influenced by faith or fear.
This is the biggest trap we fall into most of the time. We recite verses by rote, but not much happens. We even offer impassioned prayers but in the next breath, we say something that contradicts the results we had just prayed for. You know the person did not believe in the prayers, or else they would have affirmed what the Word says rather than what they see or feel.
You can only walk by sense knowledge or Bible knowledge faith.
Consider Abraham’s situation as recorded in Romans 4:
“And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead…being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.” (Rom 4:19 & 21, KJV)
So the next time you pray about something, or you are about to make a decision, ask yourself if it is being done in faith, doubt, fear or unbelief.
Love
Whatever you are doing is either being done in love or not. Whether it is in your service to God or humanity, ask yourself what the motivation behind it is.
Remember, it can only be by love or not. I have seen people do many charitable deeds but only for self-acclaim. Such acts are not driven by love. But we are commanded to walk in love. So yes, all we do either have love as the motive or not. There is no middle ground.
Matthew 7:24–27 summarizes it all perfectly. There, Jesus was saying there are only two classes of people. One class heard His words and did them. They were likened to a wise man who built His house on a rock. After that:
“The rain descended, and the floods came and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”(Matthew 7:25, KJV).
Those in the other class heard His words but did not do them. They were likened to a foolish man who built on the sand, with no foundation. The same rain descended, same winds, same floods. Except the results were different.
“….great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:27, KJV).
The storms of life will come. They will test us to see what foundation we built our house on. Remember, the house can only be built on solid rock or on sand. Nothing else. Let us all receive grace to build on the firm, unshakable foundation that is Christ Jesus himself. The chief cornerstone.
