In the parable of the Wedding Feast, Jesus told how the King sent His servants out to invite the lost, “both bad and good.” It’s easy to look at “tax-collectors and harlots” and see they need to be saved, but a huge demographic of unsaved people sit in churches all over the world trying to save themselves by “good” works.
Many false religions have no Bible, and therefore no knowledge of God’s righteousness provided through Christ at the cross. They labor to establish their own righteousness and desperately need the Gospel. But others sit in Bible-professing churches because it’s a nice social, or where they were raised and what they know.
Many trust their heritage for salvation. Others, their good works. Still others hope their sincere dedication to a doctrine or denomination will save them. But there is no salvation by birthright, dedication, or association.
Three questions we need to ask “the religious” are: When did you see yourself as a sinner headed for Hell? When did you know the Cross was for you? When did you realize that “there is none righteous, no, not one,” and that you needed the righteousness that comes from Christ alone?”
In infinite love, God invites “both bad and good” into a personal relationship through Christ… “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” What do you do with a “Person” given to you? Welcome Him, cherish Him, listen to Him, talk to Him, walk with Him, delight in Him, and introduce Him to others, that they also might receive Eternal Life.
Don’t assume because people are “in Church” that they’re saved. The religiously unsaved may be your mission field as much as the highways and hedges. Remember, this is the last place Jesus knocks before the Rapture.
(Devotional by Lisa Cataford)
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