What motivated you to first become a Christian? Was it a powerful sermon, the realization of your sinful state, or the fear of judgment? For me, it was the realization that I wasn’t ready for Jesus’s return. Jesus himself regularly discussed discipleship as inheriting eternal life and avoiding punishment (Matt 19:29; John 3:15). However, if our motivation is exclusively based on fear of judgment, we run the risk of our relationship with him becoming too “transactional.” Salvation then becomes something we have “earned” through obedience and therefore we “deserve” our reward.
This attitude is the kind of attitude that Jesus challenged in his ministry. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that righteousness is not just about technically obeying the law but the heart’s attitude in doing so. We must not rely upon our ability to “do the right things” but rather focus on the right heart while also being obedient.
Our salvation is not a transaction in which we pay the price of being a Christian and receive our due at checkout. There is more to entering the kingdom of God than swiping our baptism card at checkout, logging our attendance, showing up occasionally, and uttering “Lord, Lord” while telling Jesus all the good deeds we did (Matt 7:21–23). This life requires a complete and total transformation of who we are: becoming dead to sin and alive to God (Rom 6:11).
As we mature in the faith, our motivation for salvation becomes less about avoiding destruction and transforms into a longing to be with the God we love (Phil 1:23). Being a Christian has demands, but our salvation is not a transaction with God. We obey, not because of compulsion, but because we love Him who first loved us (1 John 4:16–21; 5:2–3). We have died with Him and now we must live with Him (Rom 6:8). The price has been paid, so we must glorify God with our body (1 Cor 6:20).