Believers Stray. Too

Why does the believer continue to sin?
He knows, of all men, that God will chastise.
The Christian knows well that his God made men,
How Christ was travailed their souls to reprise,
And scriptures which teach him how best to hew;
That wages of sin mean death for the lost,
Distress in their lives for the redeemed few!
He knows that his sin incurs massive cost;
They serve only to nail Jesus anew,
And, seen by the lost, helps them to resist;
Gives new strength to Satan, men to pursue,
Plus, his future reward, less will consist!
Knowing all this, he trespasses anyway,
By will and intent, determined to stray!

When a Christian tries to persuade a friend to join him in the quest to follow Jesus, he is often considered as a person who thinks he is better than his friend. Would that it was true! No, he's no better; he sins, too; as much or more than his friend. In fact, observing the two of them as God can, it would be difficult to tell which is the Christian, and which is the unsaved friend! If the only observable difference between them is that the Christian is seen in church at times, maybe holding a Bible, there is no guarantee that the believer is a believer.

However, there would be one positive sign: He is trying to save his friend from an eternity in hell by trying to persuade him to join him on the trail of the saved! That is an act of love, and love for your friend is the best way to win God's approval. There are many other ways to win His approbation, also. Jesus emphasized dramatically some of the ways in teaching about judgment day. When every dead person has been resurrected at the end of time, they will be separated like sheep from goats in front of King Jesus.

"Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'" (Matthew 25:34-36)

Love alone is not enough, though; you must believe in Jesus.