You Can’t Be A Christian On Auto-pilot
On automatic pilot — acting or functioning without conscious thought, as a result of routine or habit.
Salvation is quite a simple formula, good for us. We confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our lives, believe that He died and rose again for our sins and voila! Hell gets depopulated and more importantly we enjoy fellowship with God. Once we are born again, the Holy Spirit makes His home in us and we are sealed for the day of redemption – the day when Jesus comes to earth a second time and the saints are caught up with Him in the clouds (can’t wait!)
We have an inheritance in heaven that awaits us, for starters, our glorified state that no longer has an affinity for sin. (Romans 8:23)
Here on earth: I am not saying work for your salvation, we can’t earn that, but we have to work every single day to make sure we remain conscious of who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us.
If we do not stay on top of our game by seeking God’s face continually (Psalm 105:4), praying without ceasing (Romans 12:12), meditating on the word (Joshua 1:9), letting the word dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16), we will find ourselves gravitating away from God.
This is because we are comprised of flesh and spirit, if we are not using the above ways to feed our spirit, guess who will take the wheel? The flesh, our unregenerate nature that is hostile to God, nothing good dwells in there (Romans 7:18) It is dangerous to live life on autopilot as a Christian, it will never direct you to Christ.
The Christian walk is not passive, we don’t acquire things by diffusion, there is some exertion needed on our parts.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
Philippians 2:12
We need to work
Now my literature skills come in handy, we’re analysing the vocabulary.
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
Philippians 3:13
The phrase “straining forward” does not sound very passive to me, a whole lot of effort there.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12
“Fight” is the Greek word for agonizomai, to struggle, to contend with an adversary, to endeavour, fervently strive
Take hold – epilambanomai, to seize, catch
Do you know where the denja is? Being casual about our faith
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Hebrews 2:1
Pay much closer attention to – prosecho – to hold the mind towards, be cautious, apply oneself, adhere to, take heed
The result of not taking heed is drifting away from the gospel.
Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus
2 Timothy 1:13
Scripture does not hide the tragic reality that some people will be enticed away from the truth and will fall away from sound doctrine, may we not be found among those who drift away.
For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold (to hold fast, keep secure, keep firm possession of) the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
Hebrews 3:14
In 6 Mistakes Christian Converts Make I highlighted that it is a rookie mistake to think that things will be smooth sailing after we say yes to Jesus, storms will come and if we are on autopilot, we will make a shipwreck of our faith. Ours is to endure. We need the same tenacity that an average shopper has on Black Friday when there is one remaining item on special. I am a fan of this sunflower.
Gideon Mhlanga
This is quite an eye-opening article. It reminds me of the words of Jesus when he said:
12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize].
From the Amplified Bible, I learn that the Kingdom of God, eternal life can only be taken by those who are willing to put up a fight with the devil, to continue in the fight, and to claim what is their God-given right. Nothing comes on a silver platter. Christianity that shakes the gates of hell, that makes the devil shudder is that Christianity where the Christian is pro-active and continues to meditate on the word of God, day and night and to continually look at who they are in Christ and who Christ is to them.
Lastly, Jesus says that in Luke 14:28
28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a watchtower [for his guards], does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is unable to finish [the building], all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one who is coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else [if he feels he is not powerful enough], while the other [king] is still a far distance away, he sends an envoy and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not [carefully consider the cost and then for My sake] give up all his own possessions.
From this verse, I believe Christianity is about being intentional, counting the cost and understanding the trade-offs of being a Christian. We cannot be lukewarm, we cannot desire to have one leg in the world and another in Christ, we can’t be nominal Christians, when we decide to be Christians we must sell out completely, once we do that, we will never make a mistake to live Christianity on autopilot. We just remember the words of Peter:
8 Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
Hence as Christians, we realise the importance of being watchful.
I did learn a lot and I did reflect positively to this. article.