One of the fundamental teachings of the New Testament is that how we live is important. It is not enough to simply read and believe. We need to actually do what the Lord tells us. Otherwise, our so-called Christianity is empty and hypocritical.
The path of salvation, preached by our Lord Jesus Christ, is a way of life.
Some might say that since nobody is perfect, we must simply trust that God will forgive us for our sins. Yet the reality is that God always forgives. He loves us. He draws us to Himself with “bands of love” (Hosea 11:4). God’s forgiveness is not in question. What is in question is whether we will accept His forgiveness, accept it not only in our thoughts and emotions but in the very way we live, accept it with all our strength.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
Mark 12:30.
So it is that Jesus, in the conclusion to His Sermon on the Mount, speaks in dramatic terms of the importance of actually doing His sayings.
. . . whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.
Matt. 7:24-27.
Of course we all make mistakes. There are times when we do not do His sayings, and then we must resolve to do better. But there can be no doubt that the path of salvation, preached by our Lord Jesus Christ, is a way of life.