Question

Which of the following does faith in Christ look like, or are both faith?

Person #1  "If I choose to follow Jesus and live the christian life and then die one day and find out that I was wrong, I haven't really lost anything.  In fact I still would have made a good decision because if you follow what the Bible teaches you will live a good moral and happy life.

Person #2 "If Jesus Christ is not God and has not died for my sins and is not going to give me a place with Him one day then I have wasted my life.  If I don't get to go to heaven with Jesus after this life on earth then I am the biggest fool of all.  If it is true that this life is all there is then let us eat the best all the time at every meal, let us drink to a drunken stupor every chance we get, let us do everything we can to make our bodies feel happy, because in a sense just in a few short days we die.

I have heard quite a few people say something like person number one when defending why they choose to be follow Jesus, and when I hear it it always terrifies me.  It may not be the exact words as what I used to describe the thought process.  I heard one man say, "you know I'm just not willing to take the chance."  By this he meant, the chance that there actually is heaven and hell and that if he hadn't 'got saved' he would go to hell.  It sounds like insurance to me, and I don't think Jesus deals like that.  The New Testament followers looked to Him as the life boat, not a life jacket to wear in case your boat wrecks.  This is not over-analyzing either.  It only takes about two minutes of honest reading in the New Testament to see that there faith was not casual.  Paul said near the end of 1 Corinthians that if we have hoped in Christ in this life only we are of all men most to be pitied.  He said if Christ is not raised let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.  There he was quoting the secular Greek philosophy of his time, and was affirming that if this faith in Jesus does not turn into sight one day then we all that have chosen follow Him are pitiful fools.  If Jesus has not died for us and rose for us then we are idiots who have chosen to give up our agendas for His will.  

Anyway, as always I appreciate any of you who take the time to read this.  I know I am choppy at times.  I am trying to get better and better at getting these ideas out.  These are all rough drafts from my head.  

Ryan