Pay Attention and Grow Up:

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 

Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 

Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

No good.

I have clearly stated and emphasized in many of my writings on this site that salvation; the gift of everlasting life, is in no way attained or maintained by the believer. Salvation is a free gift that given to the believer by Jesus when he/she believes the Gospel; puts his/her trust in His finished work; His death that happened according to Scripture, burial and resurrection, that also happened according to Scripture (Ephesians 1:13, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The salvation of the believer is attained and maintained by Jesus, and has absolutely nothing to do with the performance of the believer (Ephesians 2:8-9, etc, Hebrews 1:3, 12-2, etc.).

Immature messy lady

I have also pointed out that spiritual growth is not nearly as much of a predictable linear progression through time as physical growth is; I am a living example of this. I do not ever remember a moment that I truly did not believe in God. I also do not remember ever not believing that Jesus was the Son of God; our Savior, who came to earth to live a perfect life and then die in our place for our sins, and then rise again on the third day, at any point after first hearing the Gospel message. I came to Christ as a child, both Spiritually and physically. Nonetheless, I managed to remain as a spiritual baby from the very early 1970's until the mid 2010's; roughly 4 and a half decades. I would have gone to Heaven if I had died, however, I made no substantial effort to grow in my knowledge and in my walk with the Lord during that time period, thus my positive impact on others for the Gospel was minimal at best.

Immature messy man

The passage that I quoted at that top of this post is one of the most misused passages by those who would in one degree or another assert the ideas of the ever-present, deceptive, but false C.O.P. (Commit, Obey, and Persevere in order to obtain and maintain salvation) "gospel;" the premise of lordship "salvation." Folks who would [wrongly] assert this idea to one degree or another believe that attaining and maintaining salvation was at least some part of the believer's responsibility. If one looks even a little bit carefully at the passage, it is abundantly clear that Jesus is speaking to the very disobedient and slack church of Laeodica; not to any given individuals. Salvation, in terms of being saved from damnation and unto eternal life, is always about the individual; it is between any given individual and God; never is it about a group of individuals collectively. God does NOT spew any individual out of His mouth who has put their trust in Christ as Savior; salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and once one believes the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), it is done deal (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 10:28-29, Hebrews 13:5, etc.). That being said, I think, however, that we can indeed draw some other implications from the passage that may apply to our works (or lack thereof). The works of the believer are indeed very important, and they are indeed going to be judged, however, for basis of rewards, and NEVER as a basis for determining whether or not one has salvation (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

Pouty and messy man

Case in point: when I was in my [embarrassing] decades-long spiritual infancy ( I would like to think that I have at least progressed to early adolescence now :-)), I did know enough to understand that one should speak up for their faith; speak up for God when one had the chance. My understanding of this concept was indeed somewhat warped, but I digress. There were times when I would "speak up" for my faith in situations, however I was generally so grossly under studied and unprepared to meaningfully interject during such encounters, and thus usually made no meaningful or useful impact at all, for myriad reasons. Looking back, sometimes my responses were downright laughable. Most of the time, most of my non-Christian friends and acquaintances or strangers would quickly brush it off and dismiss it, and we would move on to something else. I do believe that God spews this pathetic lukewarm "service" and often reckless "boldness" right out of His mouth. It counts for nothing at best.

Was it really that bad?

As believers, we are not to remain spiritual infants; our impact on those around us is not to be lukewarm; we are not to sit on and be torn by the immobilizing rocks that result in a shipwrecked faith.

Shipwrecked.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The Apostle Paul is admonishing the believer to be diligent in the things of the Lord; to read the Word; to rightly think about and discern the Word and know what it says and how to use it, so he/she won't be embarrassed and ineffective (or perhaps counterproductive) when unable to properly respond in a situation, perhaps even misusing Scripture, when he/she may have the opportunity to represent Jesus to a nonbeliever, or to instruct and mentor a less mature believer.

1Pe 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 

1Pe 3:16  Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

Here the Apostle Peter is admonishing us to set the Lord apart from everything else that may be occupying us and to put Him front and center in all respects so that it is He who dominates and directs the entirety of our thoughts and actions. When we are doing this, we are actively and habitually seeking the Lord; we are studying, we are practicing discernment, we are becoming wiser, thus becoming better witnesses to those we may have the opportunity to witness to and otherwise minister to. Therefore, when God is front and center, we are much more likely to be able to give the people who need to hear from us a thoughtful and relevant answer with meekness, which can be defined as power under control (hmm... that sounds God-like), and respect (the sort of "fear" that this passage is referring to). When we speak thoughtfully and respectfully to people, they are far more likely to take us seriously and be receptive to our ever so important message; far more likely to swallow it and take it seriously, as opposed to laughing it off or figuratively spewing it out of their mouths. He also points out that when we are above reproach, which we will be when truly putting God front and center, it may invite some persecution. However, it will be evident that such accusatory persecution is not founded, and the accuser may very well be called on the carpet, so to speak. This may even open up another opportunity to minister to such a person (Romans 12:19-21). This is a major aspect of what spiritual maturity and its fruit potentially look like.

My, he grew up fast.

As the title of this post suggests, it is important to pay attention. It is important to grow up and mature spiritually; the growth which has eternal value and impact, not only on ourselves, but potentially most likely on others as well. Scripture its self clearly asserts that we are to study Scripture. It is also very important to pay attention to our surroundings; particularly the situations, opportunities, and people that we encounter in one way or another in our daily lives. The more we rightly pay attention to Scripture, the more we grow up spiritually/eternally. Thus, the more effectively we are going to be able to accurately and productively pay attention to those around us and be able to effectively use opportunities to effectively bring the Gospel to them, disciple them, and minister to them in any other way that the Lord would direct us to. This is the kind of service to God that is going to please Him and not want to figuratively spew out of His mouth. Let us all continue to ever more diligently pay attention to the God who loves us and wants the absolute best for us, and become more like Him; maturing to be able enjoy His very best for us throughout all eternity. God bless.

Please consider the e-book Aspects of Salvation. free PDF Paperback or Kindle It is great evangelist and Gospel centered read to give away, put in free little libraries, or keep around the house, the church, the office, or wherever, for people to pick up.