Perhaps you know of someone, like I do, who shared his kidney “just because” it was as he said.,..the right thing to do. He stepped up and offered a kidney to save another whose life hung in the balance. But here is the question: what if God said you could give your salvation to someone who is in need—would you like Paul be willing to spend eternity in hell so they could spend eternity in heaven?
Thankfully we know that for certain that we are redeemed and sealed and our salvation is secure–and this would not be a possibility but there still is that question: would we be willing? What does our response say about our heart?
As Paul continues to pour out his heart to the unbelieving Jew his heart is literally broken as he knows what lies before them if they do not repent. So it is with us who have unbelieving loved ones, friends and those across the world that are following false religions seeking to earn their place in paradise/heaven. But, is our heart as broken as Paul’s? Does it send us to our knees praying diligently for them daily because we know they are seeking eternity on their own terms and they will with all certainty fail? One day they will only hear “I never knew you” from the lips of the Savior because “they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works.” In contrast “the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
May we earnestly not only contend for the faith but pray for those who are walking in darkness.