It’s no secret I love fruit related desserts. Peach cobbler, key lime pie, banana pudding, and blackberry cobbler all make my heart (or actually my stomach) pitter-patter with delight. But the fruit I learned to favor more than all others, is my mom’s strawberry pie. I believe I could eat an entire pie in one setting. Which got me to thinking about becoming a Christian.
Here are two undeniable statements:
- You must have strawberries to make strawberry pie.
- If all you have is strawberries, you can not make strawberry pie.
In the world of gelatinous based, fruit delivery systems, these two statements make perfect sense. Why, in the world of salvation based, forgiveness delivery systems, do we struggle with the same concept?
There is no doubt faith is essential to becoming a Christian. There is no doubt strawberries are essential to strawberry pie. But you can have a truck-load of strawberries and never enjoy the benefits of a completed pie. Let me explain.
According to a recipe I found on the internet1, you need a pie crust, sugar, cornstarch, water, and strawberry gelatin to go with your berries. But just putting them on the counter does not a delicious dessert make. You must combine the ingredients in a certain order to arrive in flavor town.
Let’s skip the step of baking the pie crust (Who does that anyway?) and get right down to business. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and water in a pan. Boil while stirring until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in gelatin and then pop the mixture into the refrigerator for 15-minutes until slightly (but not completely) cooled. Wash and cut your strawberries before putting them in the pie crust. Pour the gelatin mixture over the fruit and then refrigerate until the gelatin sets.
If you merely throw everything together in the pie crust, you just have a mess. So, what does that tell us? It takes more than strawberries to make a delicious pie. The same rule applies to becoming a Christian.
No one denies you must have faith to become a Christian (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10). No one denies that without faith, you can not be saved (Hebrews 11:6). So, does that mean faith is all I need to be found pleasing to God? No more than having a bushel of berries means I have a pie.
Just like making dessert, becoming a Christian takes certain ingredients stirred together in the proper order. There is no salvation without Jesus and the good news of his sinless life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection (I Corinthians 15:3-6; Acts 2:32-36). How can I believe unless I first hear the gospel of the Christ? Paul argues you can not (Romans 10:14-17). My faith is based on the truth of the gospel (Romans 1:16), but it alone can not save me. In fact, the only place in the New Testament where the words faith and alone (only-KJV) are found in the same verse occurs in James and the Lord’s brother is clear in what he thinks of “faith-only” salvation. “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”-James 2:24.
Yes, we start with faith. Then we mix in repentance and confession before finishing everything off with baptism. Once a person is born again in faith, repentance, and baptism while calling on the name of the Lord, they are a Christian. You wouldn’t serve a pie shell with unmixed sugar, cornstarch, and berries to your guests and expect them to think they were eating a finished dessert. If I take strawberry pie that seriously, shouldn’t I be just as picky about what goes into my salvation?
Believe in Jesus. He is the Christ who died for your sins on the cross (I Peter 2:22-24). God proved Jesus to be his Son by raising him from the dead to sit at his right hand never to die again (Acts 17:30-31). Repent from a life of sin and unbelief and turn to Jesus confessing him as Lord and Christ (Acts 2:26; Philippians 2:9-11). Submit to him in baptism and let God wash away your sins and adopt you into his family. Then you can enjoy the fruits of salvation and the sweet taste of eternal life.
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