My sister sent this meme to me recently. I mean…the Bible does say that God wants to protect his people like a hen gathers chicks beneath her wings. 🤷
“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge…” Psalm 91:4 (NIV)
I recently received an email from a reader asking a question about going to church and whether or not that affected their salvation. This reader basically wanted to know whether or not they would go to hell if they didn’t attend church. This week I thought I would share my response with you since others out there may have the same or similar questions.
I have a job working at a restaurant on the weekends, and I work almost every Saturday and Sunday. I know it says in the Bible to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Also, I know some people say the Sabbath is Saturday and not Sunday and that some Christians have been confused by this. Will I be going to hell, in your opinion, for not keeping the Sabbath since I work a lot on the weekends?
It is not my place to say if you will be going to hell because I am not God, and I do not know your heart as He does. However, my initial reaction is that, no, God will not send people to hell if they do not go to church on Sunday (or Saturday). People who say this are operating in what’s called “legalism” (rule-keeping). Jesus, and later Paul through his writings, firmly corrected people in the New Testament for legalistic attitudes and behaviors. Keeping the rules isn’t enough to make us holy or wipe our sins clean. Only Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection can do that.
“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 (NLT)
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (ESV)
“Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” Galatians 2:16 (NLT)
Your salvation, and going to heaven, are about your relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. It’s about truly knowing Him and being known by Him. It’s about making HIM your number one priority over all other things, making Him Lord. This means surrendering and submitting to Him as your “master” as your… leader, ruler, guide, boss, etc. Basically, He needs to be the ultimate authority in your life where you trust and obey him completely. Jesus can’t just be your savior—He needs to be your Lord. You need to have a genuine relationship with Him, and this involves more than just going to church.
“And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.” John 17:3 (NLT)
Recently I received an email from a reader questioning some strong emotions they have been experiencing even though they do not currently have an active relationship with God, nor are they involved in church or prayer. The reader expressed feeling an emotional draw and pull towards church. They communicated that they cry every time they hear a Christian or gospel song, in addition to experiencing overwhelming and even exhausting tears during the couple of times they have attended church as an adult. Their question was to ask how they could be experiencing such emotions and a draw to something with which they are not even that involved. My short answer: Our soul longs for God.
Deep down in our innermost being, our souls long for God. There are numerous scriptures in the Bible that talk about this.
“He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 (AMP)
“Through the night my soul longs for you. Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you…” Isaiah 26:9a (MSG)
“O God, you are my God, and I long for you. My whole being desires you; like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you.” Psalm 63:1 (GNT)
“My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I come and see the face of God?” Psalm 42:2 (AMP)
“My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.” Psalm 84:2 (AMP)
“I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.” Psalm 143:6 (NASB)
“My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.” Psalm 119:81 (ESV)
“My soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen long for the morning; more than watchmen for the morning.” Psalm 130:6 (WEB)
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:13 (NLT)
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “When I will send hunger over the land, Not hunger for bread or a thirst for water, But rather [a hunger] for hearing the words of the Lord.” Amos 8:11 (AMP)
Something is missing without Jesus. Deep down something inside of us feels incomplete without him. Only Jesus can complete us. We have a hunger or thirst for something inside of us, and Jesus is the only one that can satisfy that hunger/thirst. Continue reading
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