Imagine that you are a student of a very prestigious university and are on the verge of graduating. For the past four years you have been putting forth your entire effort to earn the necessary credits that stand between you and that diploma you have been arduously working for. Thus far, you have passed all of your courses with an astounding high-grade point average and suddenly all those late nights of preparation and completing assignments become very valuable to you. You decide that you want to ensure that all of your paperwork is in order to avoid any unwelcoming surprises on graduation day and visit the school counselor. Sitting across from the counselor, she asks for your name and school ID to look up your information. Suddenly, you notice a puzzled expression on her face and you begin to worry. She asks you to please repeat your name and student ID, and after attempting it a second time you hear those dreadful words, “I am sorry, but you are not in our system. We have no record on file with that name and ID.” Panic and confusion immediately flood into your mind and you ask her to check again, but to no avail. You present your exams, term papers, class schedules, offer names of your professors, and every bit of evidence in your possession to try and prove that you are a student of that university, only to find out that there was a single document that you did not turn in on time that would have sealed your status as a student of the university, officially. You know which document she is speaking of, and you express that you did not think it was that critical and still had time to turn it in. For this reason, the school counselor laments to inform you that due to your unfortunate choice, all of your efforts were in vain and will not be granted a degree from the university. You plead for the university to make an exception for you since you are one of their top students and it was only one piece of paper that was not turned in, but you are denied because that would be unethical and unfair to the large volume of students who did comply with all of the university’s requirements. You argue that the school is to blame because they never informed you of the missing document, but she retorts that it is every student’s individual responsibility to ensure that all of their paperwork is up to date. Your desperation evolves into frustration and anger, and you begin to make demands and threats against her. As a result of your unhinged anger, she calls campus security to escort you off the premises and you are told that you are no longer welcomed on campus grounds. In a blink of an eye, those long nights devoted to studying and all that sacrifice made to earn a degree becomes useless because of one document you dismissed as unimportant and neglected to turn in. Despite the attempts you make to blame the university for your misfortune, the cruel reality is that it was your disdain for the school’s rules and neglect in following all of them that in the end made all of your efforts, dedication, and ardent labor fruitless. The entire time you believed yourself to be an alumnus of that university, but the university never knew who you even were. Regrettably, this is the tragic condition of several in the world who believe themselves to be Christians, but Christ does not know who they are. The Holy Redeemer warns, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21a). It is a travesty to find out when it is too late that your entire life you lived under false pretenses. You were made to believe that it did not matter where you worshiped God, because God is in “all religions,” but never made time to confirm if this was so. You were told that all you have to do is believe and you will be saved, but did not make an effort to fact check that statement. You were assured that once you were “saved,” you could continue to live life under your terms because it was now impossible for you to fall from grace, and were satisfied with this answer and chose to blindly believe it. You became negligent with your spiritual growth and responsibilities, complacent with your self-justification that the Lord understands that you did not have enough time. Due to your worldly priorities, since He is a compassionate God, you failed to realize how you had already replaced God in your heart. Indeed, the worse mistake any man can make is to ignore Christ’s example as He prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42, emphasis added). It is curious how humanity will remember that God sent His Son to die on the cross for the remission of our sins, but always seems to forget that Jesus did so voluntarily submitting to His Father’s will. Ergo, the value of Jesus’ clarification that “he who does the will of My Father in heaven” is who gains entrance into the kingdom (Mathew 7:21b, emphasis added). Like in our story earlier, one must accept that God has established His commandments to be followed exactly as He so desires it. However, similar to our anecdote, man zealously strives to serve the Almighty on his terms, deceived that this will suffice to appease Him. One misconception is that all one must do is live a good, moral life to gain admittance into heaven. Yet, it is interesting to read in Holy Writ that the most holy and moral Man “came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him” (Matthew 3:13, emphasis added). Remember that “John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4, emphasis added). Does this mean that Jesus had sinned and was in need of baptism? Certainly not! Scripture declares “that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:14-15, emphasis added). Holy Writ also reveals that John himself at first did not want to baptize the Lord expressing, “I need to baptized by You, and are You coming to me” (Matthew 3:14, emphasis added)? The Redeemer, however, explains to John that it was not a matter of had He sinned or not, but because “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15, emphasis added). In other words, Christ needed to obey with His Father’s will in every aspect. For this reason our Holy Lord, a good man, was baptized by John. If He had not fulfilled this requirement because He believed that He did not have the need for it, then His crucifixion, in the end, would have been for naught. Thus, Christ teaches us with His example that it is imperative to put aside our will and submit to the Father’s will if we are to be recognized by His Father. Thus, Scripture assures us that “the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity’” (2nd Timothy 2:19, emphasis added).
