This is NOT a test

Hey All,

Ok, I was watching TV the other day and someone gave their opinion of what Christianity entailed, which was a test. I've often heard or read about the idea that God is testing someone, this is a test to see what they will do. Well I don't believe at all that the idea of Christianity is that there is a test where our life is based upon either good or bad things we do and that in the end we go to either Heaven or Hell based on how we were in life. In my opinion, that's honestly ridiculous. I've read the Bible cover to cover a few times and no where can I recall where it said that life is a test. It's not pass or fail. Not at all, rather it's believe or not. It's faith, not works.

Galatians 2:16 "Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law." 


Romans 6:11 "And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved"


So we are saved by faith alone. In the end, we go to Heaven to be with Jesus not because we did a whole bunch of good stuff in our lives but because we recognized Jesus as the son of God, that he came and died, and rose again, that he defeated death and saved us from our sins. We recognized and put our faith, our trust, our lives, in God's hands. 


Life is not test. Maybe you've felt before that God was testing you in a situation, that you felt as if you were under scrutiny for what you were doing. Well, God is a loving father. What loving parent (who loves perfectly, better than our earthly parents could ever be) would set up life as a series of tests to challenge their child and see if they're good enough or not? No parent would because any loving parent unconditionally accepts and treasures their child, believing in their worth and value that cannot be measured or tested. 


Sometimes we do encounter situations where we feel as if there is a choice or action to make. We may have to choose right from wrong. Well, not ever do we have to go it alone or rely on ourselves. In situations like that, just ask God to help you. For example, maybe you've been praying for patience and then all these situations seem to come along that act to 'test' your patience. Is God bringing you 'tests' because you asked for more patience? I don't think so. I think your eyes are on trying to be more patient so you recognize those situations more easily than you would if your focus was on something else, like resisting your temper. Situations can arise that call for patience, but God will help you to be patient- if it was a test, you'd be totally on your own. These situations may seem to come more frequently because God is helping you to build patience- look at it as a positive rather than a negative. It isn't- oh will she be patient or not? It is more like, it is time to try to be patient and God will help her to do that.


Christianity is all about God, following Christ, his love for us. It's believing that God sent his son Jesus in the world to die for us, and then who rose again to give us life forever. It's about creation, the fall and the resurrection. It's about life. It's about grace. We are saved by the grace of God. We go through life, the ups and downs, the mistakes and sorrows, the joys and triumphs but through it all, God redeemed us even though we don't deserve it and can never ever do anything to deserve being saved and forgiven ("We are all infected and impure with sin.When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags"- Isaiah 64:6). We can just rest in the assurance that we are forgiven, that God gave us grace- an undeserved gift- because he loves us.


John 3:16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."