In several places in the Gospels, Jesus describes Himself as a stone that has either become a cornerstone to those who accept him or become a stone that breaks or crushes those who reject him. It is instructive to note that he presents no middle ground. In the judgment you dwell with God forever or are banished to the lake of fire; there is no in between. My wife is fond of saying that when it comes to salvation, you can’t sit on the fence because there is no fence! If you’re not all the way in the kingdom of God, then you are still out of it.
We may not all be familiar with the term “snap-action switches” but we use them all the time. Snap action switches are designed to be either on or off, with no in between. I remember as a kid trying to get the light switch in my bedroom to balance in the middle, but I never succeeded. It’s impossible for a properly designed snap action switch to stay in the center. At the opposite end of the control spectrum is the modern light dimmer. It goes from on to off with infinite levels of light in between.
In the scriptures, salvation is not a dimmer-switch type of issue. Jesus said, “Whoever is not for me is against me.” “Not everyone who [merely] calls Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father Who is in heaven.” In the book of Revelation Jesus tells the Christians in Laodicea, “Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:16)Time after time in the scriptures when a character is given an order by God we read, “He rose up early and” then did whatever it was that God had ordered. Why rise up early? Because people who are faithful to God have a snap-action mentality toward obedience. Delay is not innocence; it is a form of disobedience. Delay is simply a way of saying “No” in a soft voice. No matter how you nuance it, “Not right now,” actually means, “No.”
Many things in life are like that. Even though you may have planned your wedding and are on the way to the church building, or even standing before the minister, until you say, “I do,” you are not actually married. There is no middle ground.
A dying man may have his pen poised over a life insurance policy, but it he drops dead before he signs it, his heirs will get nothing. The policy is either inforce or it’s not. There is no middle ground.
Suppose you are standing with wet feet on a bridge that’s about become electrified by a falling high-voltage wire. If you don’t jump before the wire hits the bridge you will be electrocuted. You may fool yourself into thinking that you are in the process of jumping. You may be warming up, your legs may be flexed, and your muscles may be straining, but until your feet break contact you are still on the bridge, and you will die when the wire touches it.
Either a person has said “yes” to God, repenting and being baptized or they have not. There is no middle ground.
Why do I bring this up? It seems like more and more people are unwilling to face the fact that a person is either saved or lost. I hear people say things like: “I don’t know if my uncle is actually a Christian . . . I think he is.” Don’t fool yourself. If a person is actually a Christian, you will eventually know it. Paul says, “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. . .” There are some things that are just too good to be held inside for long. Being given eternal life and delivered from the wrath to come is one of them.
I think the problem is that we want to be “nice,” and we don’t want to seem judgmental or ‘holier than thou.’ But we may actually be jeopardizing someone’s eternal destiny. What would you think of a doctor who is unwilling to telling a person with a potentially fatal disease that they are ill, just because he doesn’t want to upset them? He would actually be allowing the disease to progress beyond any hope of cure. The word “malpractice” comes to mind. It’s a life or death matter. And so is salvation. In fact it’s an eternal life or death matter.
In the book of Acts there’s an account of a Roman Centurion named Cornelius. We learn that he was “a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.” (Acts 10:2) But an angel appears to him and tells him to send for a man named Peter who “will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.”(Acts 11:14 ) Did you notice the phrase “will be saved”? It’s future tense. He is a devout man, gives alms, prays regularly, and his prayers are heard by God. BUT he is not yet saved! I have friends who are in the same condition, but unlike Cornelius, they ignore the tug of God on their heart and won’t take action. They are deceiving themselves.
So where are you in this matter and where are your friends? It’s time to take action. It’s time to speak up. There is no fence. The choice is all or nothing like a snap action switch. Your feet must be off the electrified bridge. You must actually say “I do.” You must actually sign the insurance policy. There is no in between position. Delaying the decision to accept Christ, be baptized, and born-again is simply a muted way of saying ‘No.’
As Paul puts it:
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. (Romans 2:4–5)