Last week I wrote about being sick and talked about the body (the church). I discussed how we should take vitamins and drink lots of fluids but I made no promises that we won't ever get sick, only that we should try to prevent it when it happens and try to get over it quickly when it does.

Someone asked me if that meant I believed that we or the church could be "perfect", or if we were not sick one way or another all the time. I know we once had a family attending with us that left and went to a different church because they felt we were not in 100% agreement with each other. Obviously this is not a trivial question if people are going to risk their salvation trying to answer it.

Let me reiterate how some view this, and how serious it is. I have studied with people who felt that the Holy Spirit just "came" to them one day and they knew they were "saved". Nothing they did from that time on could cost them salvation, so they felt, because they had been touched or spoken to by God. This is not just some fringe groups, there are whole denominations that believe this way. Since you and I believe that it is the obedience and love we display that determines our salvation, and not some mysterious inner feeling (that could just as easily have been indigestion) we are not really saved no matter how good we might be. You see, obedience can never be absolutely perfect because it is something that is "performed" (so they reason) but direct interaction with God makes them perfect, at least spiritually. Kind of like Joshua in Zechariah 3, poof and you're sinless. Since we "work" at it (ah, that's the word they get hung up on) we must be missing something or just making it too hard for ourselves. The conclusion of this is that since God makes them saved (so they reason) this salvation cannot be lost no matter what they do. Once saved, always saved. Hmmmmm

Well, consider if you treated your physical body like this. Suppose you visit the doctor and he says you are in "perfect" health. Maybe you really are. Do you actually believe that you cannot get sick? I mean, after all you are in perfect health. Your body's immune system is at peak performance. Surely it will be able to ward of any germ invasion that comes your way. Little things like falling down steps or getting run over, hey, your health will protect you from harm. In fact, eat what you want, smoke if ya got `em, and hang around sick people. When you do get sick, and you will, do you just ignore it because you think it can't be happening? Or do you do something about it?

The thing is, our spiritual bodies are never perfect either. We can always improve, and it's not a one-time thing. In fact, like the physical we can definitely make our spiritual bodes sick by engaging in sinful practices. If we don't exercise either body, both can become flabby and weak. That means study, yes, but put that love and obedience into practice! Faith is alive, not merely something we live with but something we live by, and if nothing else it can GROW. If we mistreat either body, by inflicting things on ourselves that are directly not good for us, we can and will do ourselves harm. Hang around sinful people and you are going to pick up sin, just like the flu. Ignore spiritual problems, or do something about them?

Again, avoid letting our bodies, our spiritual bodies, get sick. Stay away from sin. When you are obeying God, you are walking towards him and away from sin. Keep obeying God and you will avoid sin! Every day you can make the right choice. For instance, when you go to a restaurant you can choose the section you want to sit in, for health reasons. Well, which will you choose for eternity? Smoking? Or non-smoking? Think about it!

Randy