What are you seeking?

"He [God] will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality [from God], he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth [of the gospel], but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury." (Romans 2:6-8)

By nature, by birth the air we breathe is self, self-preoccupied narcissism. Our culture breeds and breathes self: self-glory, self-worship, self-seeking, self, self, self!

And it is only by the gospel of, or about Jesus Christ that we are able to breathe the air of freedom from thinking and living for self, and think of, and live for Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us. In and from ourselves comes only death and bondage to our sinful selves. But Jesus is the true life, freedom, and happiness. To have him is what deep down all of us need.

This is what we read in St. Augustine's Confessions "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

Our salvation is a free gift of God, only through or by faith in Jesus Christ, because Jesus is the gospel, the very good news:

trusting Jesus that he is 100% God and 100% Man;

and trusting Jesus that as a human representative of the fallen human race he perfectly obeyed God the Father in our place in his life on earth;

and trusting Jesus that he died on the cross the death we were to die for our sins;

and trusting Jesus that he rose from the dead and conquered death over him, and over those who put their trust in him in all these main aspects of our salvation.

Jesus justifies us form all our sins, and gives us his perfect and everlasting righteousness - "The Finished work of Christ for us".

And Jesus by his Spirit is also gradually changing us into the same image of his holy and righteous character, learning to trust God, and love one another - "The Continuous work of Christ in us", which he will perfectly complete at his second coming.

So, as Christians we live and are saved by faith in "The Finished work of Christ", what he has done for us. But are we also trusting Christ in "The Continuous work of Christ", what he is doing by his Spirit in us?

What Jesus did for us is the source of our salvation. What Jesus does in us is the fruit of our salvation. You'll know if you have the real salvation if you're bearing fruit of obedience, or if you're loving for others as yourself.

A dead tree don't bear fruit. A live tree bears fruit. Simple as that. Dead person (or a tree) when it comes to God, as our verse above says are "those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness". A living person (or a tree) are "those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality [from God]".

One ends in "eternal life". The other ends under "wrath and fury".

Here's the question: Is your life more about you, and my life more about me? Or is your and my life more about Jesus, the gospel and the grace of God?