Not saved by Name over Door.

This idea struck me from a Sermon on TV, and the Preacher said something and it struck a chord with me and got me thinking, and this has developed from that.  None of us are ever saved by the name over the Door-Post, but only by the Blood applied to the Doorpost. Salvation is not by Denomination, but by a personal intimate and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  The Foolish Bridesmaids heard this from Matthew 25:12 “But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” They had “Churchianity,” and not “Christianity.”

By just being a “Bridesmaid” and part of the wedding party, did not give them the right of passage or access to eternity.  The door was shut to them, but remember Jesus = Door, and also in the Hebrew mindset Door = Decision.  They had not made the decision or had ever committed to being “Saved,” or living saved.  They were “In the Church,” but not “Of the Church.”  This concept is found in 2 Timothy 3:5 “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”  They had no vital connection or relationship; I guess we just call them “Pew Warmers.”  How so very sad to have spent so many years “In the Church,” and to not be “In the Kingdom.”  They had “The Name Applied,” but not “The Blood Applied;” how so very sad and such a huge waste.

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 10:9 “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” Here is another text from John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”

Here we are advised that it is really all about relationship, communication and communion.  A wife is only a wife when she is a wife.  Put it this way, you marry your sweetheart, after the reception she goes back home to her flat, and back to her job next morning and her life continues as it always had.  She has a new name, but nothing has changed; she is married, but has no concept or joy of marriage.  She is not now living with, or even connected to her new husband.  This is Vine – Branch concept from John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

It is so critical that there be that vital connection where the sap/relationship is always and ever flowing, and only then will there ever be fruit and outward evidence.  We call it “Holy Spirit,” which fits this concept, He is the sap that comes up the Vine (Jesus Christ) and into us the branches.  Go back and read the story once more, and then note that God the Father has the pruning equipment, he will prune and work on a slow branch, but if they continue to refuse to grow and to bloom and fruit, then they are reluctantly removed and discarded.

We are not saved as a Branch, or because we are a Branch, but we are saved as being part of Jesus Christ, by our life giving connection to the Vine.  None of us are ever saved, or ever will be saved, by the name over the Door-Post, but only by the Blood applied to the Doorpost of our heart and life.  Anybody can claim to be a Christian, or even a member of a specific denomination, they can have their name on the record books, but do they actually live right and Christlike?   To make it more personal, if Jesus Christ stepped up right beside them, would they look sort of like two peas in a pod, or do we now see them as “Chalk n Cheese?”

If one adds to the mix this Parable, That is the Parable of the Wedding Robe as found in Matthew 22:1-14, and of course the “Punch Line,” come in Matthew 22:11-14 “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  For many are called, but few [are] chosen.”

Here is a “Wedding Guest,” who thought that their Name over the doorpost, or their way, their system, their status in the Church, or whatever, was going to make them acceptable, but in “Cities of Refuge,” language, they got tossed out to be destroyed by the avenger of blood.  It is only the blood applied to the doorposts, which is Passover concept; that shows the humility, the obedience to the Scriptures, to forsake sin and to repent and to accept the blood that was shed for us on Calvary’s Tree.  One has to apply the blood to make it effective.

If your Doctor gave you a bottle of pills to cure your deathly ailment; holding the sealed bottle in your hand, focusing your attention to it and believing that it will cure you, or any other method will avail nothing; the bottle must be opened and the contents must be consumed in the manner prescribed on the label.  You must internalize the pills, and the scriptures also must be internalized and consumed, and then we have life and life everlasting.

Dear Reader, please remember that “None of us are ever saved by the name over the Door-Post, but only by the Blood applied to the Doorpost.” It is all about relationship and not about membership.