What matters in the way you live your life before God?
One man answers that what matters in life is not your religious beliefs and practices but that you are a good neighbor and citizen, doing good deeds for others. While practicing good toward others is part of being a Christian, it is not equivalent to becoming or being a Christian. Cornelius is case in point – a devout man who gave many charitable gifts, but he was unsaved without hearing and obeying the gospel (Acts 10:2; 11:14).
Another man thinks that what matters is that God loves everyone and that He loves you regardless of who you are and what you do. And thus this person reasons that God will accept you however you are without repentance, whether homosexual, adulterer, etc. But God’s grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly (Titus 2:11-14).
Perhaps another man answers that what matters is whether you are one of God’s elect in the Calvinistic sense. This is the one who believes in unconditional election. For him, what matters is that God has predetermined select individuals to be saved regardless of what they do. But the Bible teaches that God predetermined not the individuals who would be saved but how individuals would be saved, and that is only in Christ, and He gave conditions in order to be in Christ.
Yet another answers that what matters is the sincerity of your heart. If you are sincere in what you do, then God accepts it, because he knows your heart. It is true that we must love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity (Ephesians 6:24). But what we do must be according to truth (Josh. 24:24; 1 Cor. 5:8; Jn. 4:24).
What does the Bible say about what matters?
A lot of things matter. God’s grace matters. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ matters. Faith in Jesus Christ matters. Attitude matters. Lots of things matter, including this: Keeping the commandments of God. “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters” (1 Corinthians 7:19).
For all the emphasis that many in the religious world place upon just being sincere and having a “good heart,” as well as for all the criticism against those who preach the necessity of doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3;17) and remaining faithful unto death in order to be saved eternally (Revelation 2:10), one might think that 1 Corinthians 7:19 was not in the Bible. Some of the last words of the Bible reiterate the point: “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).
-Larry Jones