Usually when we think of danger, we think of guns, knives, high cliffs, smoking aircraft engines, or, today, a virus. But Jesus says dangers like these can kill only the body; the true danger is the eternal danger of the soul.
Life creates natural enemies, but the one enemy we must avoid making is God Himself. Matthew 10:28.
How does someone become an enemy of God? Probably easier than we think. For all of us are sinners born of sinners living among sinners. And all sin is lawlessness, a violation of God’s Law (1 John 3:4). So rebellion is our default mode until the Holy Spirit draws us to become a child, and friend, of God.
But what does it mean to be reconciled to God, that is, to be His friend? Jesus gave us the answer to that one, too (John 15:14). “You are my friends, if you do what I command you.” He defines His family in similar terms: “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. Matthew 12:50.
All of this implies that while obedience never buys our approval with God, it does indicate it. Those who truly are God’s are those who obey Him and pursue His will. We must be careful here, for we know that no one does this perfectly; further, provision is made for failures and setbacks (1 John 2:1, 2).
John’s point is that Jesus did come to save sinners, but not to leave us as sinners or in our sin. To continue willfully in sin not only presumes upon God’s grace, but is a sign of a heart not in grace or at least not acting in grace.
May God keep us from this, our greatest danger, the trafficking in unlived truth, professing to know a Savior we have no intention of following.
“Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
James 1:22 (ESV)