There is a difference between being saved and stumbled by sin, and being lost and enslaved to sin.
Being Jesus's disciple is extremely costly, but it is not supposed to be hard, if you truly, genuinely love Christ. The reason why some people believe following Christ to be complicated and difficult is because they do not love Christ to the point where they're captivated. They are still trapped in religion and rules. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light", and Matthew 13:44 talks about a man who "in his joy" sells all he has to buy a field hidden with treasure.
To be completely honest, I am speaking for myself, as well. I can't say that I'm at the point in my Christian walk where I can easily give up everything, all the time. God for sure still needs to work in me. There are still worldly things that I have trouble letting go, and especially since I've moved out to California, I've been tempted and stumbled by materialism (it's very prevalent in my workplace and I definitely feel the pressure, to a degree that I've never felt before in Florida or Pittsburgh). But you know what? Paul called the Corinthian church "carnal", "people of the flesh", "infants of Christ", not spiritual people, but he still referred to them as "brothers" and a "church of God" and "sanctified in Christ Jesus" and "saints". I may be an immature baby Christian, but nevertheless I still belong to Christ. I do not live under fear, but in peace with God and in hope that he is working in me now and will perfect me at the last day. I continue to move forward.
Now, I am not saying that Christians are excused to sin or that we can continue living our lives unchanged. It is also true that many times people are given false assurance of salvation when they are not actually saved, people who only believe in facts about Jesus's death and resurrection (even the demons believe that) but are not forsaking their lives to be with Christ themselves. Christians should be forsaking everything that is obstructing their relationship with God, but that doesn't look the same for everybody. There is no formula for what specifically to forsake and when. The Bible only has examples of what forsaking everything looks like. Jesus told the rich ruler to sell all of his possessions, because all of his possessions was getting in the way between the rich ruler and Jesus. Then right afterwards, another rich man, Zacchaeus, only gives away half of his possessions, and yet that was enough for Jesus to declare salvation upon him. Is Jesus inconsistent? No! It's not about what you forsake or how much you forsake, it's simply about forsaking what is blocking you from God. Here is a personal example: I deleted my Facebook profile because it was messing up my relationship with God. But does that mean that all Christians who use Facebook also need to delete their profiles? No! That would be the kind of thing that a Pharisee would say. When Jesus said "if your eye is causing you to sin, gauge it out and throw it away", he is not saying that the eye is inherently a sinful object. There is nothing wrong with having an eye! What matters is whether or not that eye is coming between you and God, and if it is, then yes, you better cut it out of your life. And the way you go about confronting a fellow believer who is not forsaking everything is by instructing them on what is right and leading them to correct behavior. You don't just write them off as an unbeliever and walk away -- that's not edifying, it's condemning! Jesus did not come to this world to condemn people, so we shouldn't either.
Salvation is a supernatural work of God -- it is all God's doing. We aren't saved by how hard we worked or how much we sacrificed or how much we've forsaken, because none of us can ever work enough or give up enough to deserve salvation. Who are men to judge what a person must forsake to be saved? Romans 4:5 says "to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness". It doesn't matter how many things and activities you have forsaken. At the end of the day, you're still ungodly by God's standards, because you're not sinless. But the good news is that salvation isn't determined by how much superficial stuff you're able to give up. It's determined by whether or not you put your faith in God, whether or not you trust him to count you as righteous despite the condemnation that you deserve, whether or not you believe that God's ultimate plan is for you to be the bride of Christ, whether or not you see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). And if you really believe that, your heart will change and you will want to give up everything.
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them." This is not terrifying. It is just incredibly obvious. But if God has moved powerfully in your life before, you don't need to fear the status of your salvation when you mess up and love something in the world. Working out your salvation with fear and trembling isn't about fearing hell, but fearing (awe and respect) for God's grandness and holiness and discipline. You just pray that God will restore unto you the joy of salvation. And God will delight in answering that prayer.
Going back to the basics. Feels good.
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