Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

It wasn’t that the counsel couldn’t hear Stephen but they refused to so much as even consider what he said. They were stiff necked, meaning they could not repent or turn and they were uncircumcised in heart because they were hard hearted toward the things of God. Lest we be the same, we must open our hearts to God’s Word so that we may find application for our lives. Acts chapter seven leads us to ask three very important questions of ourselves.

First, am I basing my activities on a personal relationship with God or am I trying to gain a personal relationship with God through activity and ministry? There is only one way to a relationship with God and that is through Jesus Christ, Who died on the cross for our sins. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:5 that there is but One Mediator and that is the man Christ Jesus. We cannot mediate between God and ourselves because there is nothing we could do on our own that would be sufficient. But the Bible tells us:

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Apart from Christ we cannot please God, but once we are made pleasing to God through Christ we can then please God in service to Him and that springing forth out of our relationship with Jesus.

Second, we should ask am I allowing anything to be an idol? We can make anything into an idol, even such things as family, work, finances, and even church. Anything we elevate above God is an idol. Just as the people of Israel had turned the Temple into an idol, so we can also elevate a gift above it’s Giver; we can make the church building, church ministries, and even church activities an idol. We can make family an idol. Anything that we allow to come between us and God or elevate in importance over God is an idol. God never gives idols, but we might take God’s gifts and turn them into idols. Families who observe Christmas are going to see an illustration of this on Christmas morning, as children receive gifts and have to be reminded to say thank you or even ignore the giver by turning all their attention toward the gift.

Third, Am I rejecting grace for works? It’s important that we understand (as Ephesians 2 says) we are not saved by works but by grace through faith. That faith is not from ourselves, but is itself a gift from God and so we cannot boast in our salvation. We cannot earn or merit salvation but in Christ we can honor God with our lives.

Colossians 1:10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

In Christ we can please God, but if we are relying on works for our salvation then we are not saved and we cannot please God.

Finally, we should ask ourselves, am I a works snob? The reality of salvation is expressed through works, and genuine salvation will be evidenced by works just as James wrote that faith without works is dead. But works do not make one Christian better loved by God than another Christian, though there will be a disparity in heavenly rewards from one believer to another, according to works. The Bible says that all works built on the foundation of Christ will be tried by fire; some will survive to reward and others will burn. Those that burn were built using materials that cannot endure the test, materials such as pride.

There is a phrase that’s getting tossed around a lot in Christian circles. I’ve seen this phrase in books and I’m hearing this phrase more and more in podcasts and it is really starting to bother me. That phrase is “True Believer” and I’m not bothered when it’s used to point out that some who call themselves Christian are not really Christian. But I’m bothered because I see it used lately to divide over non-salvation issues and in areas where the Bible doesn’t call for division. In many cases, Christians use the phrase “True Believer” when referring to themselves because “they are this” or “they do this or that” and, of course, those others don’t. Someone who is a disciple of Christ doesn’t have to make that distinction because Jesus makes that distinction for them. Any distinction that we have to make about ourselves that is not defined by our relationship with Christ is prideful.

Regarding rewards in heaven, very meek, simple Christians who simply love Jesus, who serve humbly and faithfully in church and who simply are good neighbors will have great reward in heaven. At the same time, many televangelists and celebrity Christians who brag about their works, write of them in books and talk about them in interviews, will enter heaven to little reward, their prideful works having burned and they themselves entering into heaven smelling as if they were purchased in a fire sale. Glorify God in your life, building on the foundation of Christ but don’t glorify or rate your works as being better or above that of others because God will not reward works snobs.