“Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham’.” Luke 3:8
As a Christians, it can be tempting to look at this Scripture and think, “That is silly. They thought that just by being related to Abraham that they were saved.”
To put this in a Christian context though, we can ask, “Do we think that just by calling ourselves Christians that we are saved? Are we tempted to think that because we go to church or were raised as Christians that we are saved?”
The New Testament speaks of salvation as being a certain way of life that is experienced. It is an experience of turning from willful rebellion against God to instead a life of loving trust in God. This passage in Luke goes on to demonstrate that repentance results in life change. It means that if we used to cheat, we should no longer cheat. It means that if we used to steal, we should now give generously. It means that if we used to hate and judge, that we now have learned in Christ to love and accept others. It means that if we used to anxiously lust after the things of this world, we now have peace that comes from trusting in God’s provision. We are no longer hopeless, but now have hope. We now have new and great reason for joy.
So, if John the Baptist were to say this nowadays, I think he might say something like, “Going to church doesn’t make you saved. Praying a prayer superstitiously doesn’t make you saved. Simply calling yourself a Christian or being one by association doesn’t save you. You must turn from living without God and instead receive His invitation to follow Him. Following Jesus leads us in a new direction. It leads us out of independence and instead into a life of loving relationship with God. And a life rooted in God produces good fruit. A saved life is a changed life.”