In or Out?

 In or Out?

 

Now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

ROMANS 8.1

 

The LORD will redeem those who serve him. No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

PSALM 34.22

 

I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

JOHN 5.24

 

A parent, frustrated by the door being left open as her kids come and go, might say, “We don’t want to heat the whole outdoors! You’re either in or you’re out!” The train engineer prompts the person with one foot on the platform and one on the train steps, “You’re either going or staying.” In other words, there’s a choice to be made, and the choice is clear. You can’t be halfway.

When it comes to Jesus, there is a choice to be made, and it is a choice everyone has to make on a personal level. Are you in or out? Are you going where he’s going, or are you staying where you are? Because of this choice, there is a dividing line between people. Some people are “in” Christ and some people are “outside” of Christ. Some people are still living under judgment because they are guilty of sin and have rejected the grace and forgiveness Jesus offers them. And there are others who are just as guilty, yet they don’t experience that judgment. They have chosen to hide themselves in Christ, who faced judgment in their place.

Our culture doesn’t like drawing the dividing line between people so clearly. Many people today want things to be less defined than that. They see the claim that some people are in Christ (while others are not in Christ) as superior or exclusive. But God has opened his invitation to all to come in to Christ. Sadly, some choose to stay out.