cousined asked: So, I feel like I should know the answer to this and already do possibly. But when people say all you gotta do to be saved is accept Jesus, and that there’s no extra stuff after that, what does that mean exactly? What comes with accepting Christ? 

Unka Glen answered: Well, it’s actually a good question, what you’re asking about is being saved by grace (undeserved forgiveness) versus being saved by “works” (good deeds, or right living, or being religious, etc.). The Bible, thankfully, makes this totally clear: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

As simple as grace is, and as much of a cornerstone of our faith as it is, it can be hard to grasp the implications of grace. We live in a world of “this-for-that”. Of course, there is an exchange of sorts, when you accept Christ as Lord of your life, you are no longer Lord of your own life… you give up your hopes, your dreams, your desires, and you let your Lord call the shots.

Considering that you get eternal life in Paradise at the cost of the blood of Christ Himself, it hardly seems like an exchange worth making much of, but I don’t know about you, as jacked up as my life was when I gave it God (and Lord, it was jacked up), some part of me still wanted to hang on to it. 

In Biblical times there was a special type of servant, in Greek, they were known as “doulos”. They were slaves who had been set free by their master, but if they loved their master and wished to voluntarily serve Him, they would press their ear to the doorpost, and the master would pierce their ear as a sign of willing servitude (as in Exodus 21:5-6).

You see, I think some people worry that once you experience being set free from the your sins, you might use all that freedom to do more bad stuff. I mean, some people would gladly have you living in total fear, just to keep you from doing the wrong thing with your freedom. But 1 Peter 1:6 says “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves (doulos).” 

You and I were given our freedom, but we said: Lord, I never want to leave your house. Pierce my ear. Let the world know, I don’t serve out of obligation, I serve out of love and thankfulness.

All the servanthood I muster out of my one little mischievous life does not make me saved (I was saved already), and it does not keep me saved (I don’t have that power, plus any good deed I do is with His strength and wisdom anyway). I’ve simply been adopted into the family of God through no merit of my own.

As Romans 8 says, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”