Firstly, what is a Christian? Someone who is a disciple of and follows Jesus. It doesn't matter if they don't use the title, "Christian", because the disciples were first called Christianos at Antioch. You can called yourself a follower of Jesus of Nazereth, a follower of the Messiah, a follower of the Way, etc. it means the same time.
If you follow Jesus, if means that Jesus is alive to you today, that He is real and living and speaks to you, that He delivers you and heals you and gives you new life, etc.
Can you be born a Christian? No. It is not like a religion or a way of life based on lifestyle of rules, it is simply obeying and following the living Messiah.
"Christianity", or discipleship, is all about choice. It cannot be forced on anybody. We cannot compel a person to follow Jesus - they have to meet Him and respond to His invitation.
Discipleship is not inherited. It can be taught, "discipled", but it is not an inherent state one inherits at birth. Belonging to a race, or having a father or mother who is a Christian does not make you a nothing. Nothing will make you a Christian except your own free choice to follow Jesus.
Following Jesus is not about rules, steps or even a system. The world is crazy, and no system, even the best system delivered by God Himself on the Mount of Sinai, will not save us. Only Jesus can save us. Outward obedience cannot save us. Good deeds cannot save us, because good deeds will never be good or perfect enough. We can't think in terms of a formula when it comes to discipleship.
Except that a man be born again, He cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That is something Jesus told Nicodemus, that is recorded in the third chapter of the gospel of John.
We are born unsaved. We born in need of salvation. Rather than being born Christians, it is quite the opposite. We are born apart from God, alienated from Him because we are Flesh and He is Spirit. That is why He came in the flesh, that we might be born in the Spirit, that we might have a new birth and be "born again".
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (Joh 3:5-6 KJV)
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
(Joh 1:11-14 KJV)
The way of salvation is open to all, to anyone regardless of birth or deeds. It is without discrimination, but, it is for us to choose it or reject it. To choose it, and few will choose this narrow (literally troublesome) course, is to choose eternal life. To reject it is to reject the one chance God gives to escape our certain fate of destruction and doom.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
(Joh 3:36 KJV)
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
(Joh 3:14-21 KJV)
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
Let Us Not Bury Our Heads in the Sand
As Christians, we must be mature and realistic enough to cope with the real world, to work with people who we disagree with and to be lights in the darkness, the salt of the earth.
Often, we are not realistic or mature. We don't want to have to deal with problems within our own spheres and we definitely fear encountering opposition from the world. That is cowardice.
Social and moral problems are pervasive today. Christian morality and beliefs are not the dominant beliefs any more. So what? Does the Bible tell us how to live in a sinful world? Does it tell us to hide, or does it tell us to go right out there and save souls.
We are here not to only work with and interact with those we like or whom we agree with. We are on this earth to be salt and light. If we marginalize, avoid or do not know how to interact with people whose choices and lifestyles differ from us, then we have a lot to learn from Jesus, who was God and came down to live amongst stinking, dirty, and sinful mortals.
Are we as Christians allowed to choose whom to serve and who not to serve? Jesus came to be a servant to all, especially and only to those who did not deserve it.
What should we do when encountering sin? Resist it, overcome it, and grieve for those caught in it. We should be taking opportunity God gives us to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to witness to and have interactions with unbelievers.
If I am a Christian, I have to treat every person like I treat Jesus, and like how Jesus would treat every person.
We don't force our beliefs on people; we point them to Jesus who offers the supernatural solution to our dire, natural state.
We don't go against our consciences, but we should be virtuous and strong to overcome the world, not quick to run away from anything that doesn't fit into our comfort zone. The world is uncomfortable. It is often disgusting and filthy and definitely unclean. But we if do not go out into the world and reach people, who will?
What would Jesus do when faced with sin? Jesus would be grieved. He would weep, he would pray, he would love anyone and lay down His life for them.
Are we grieved and distressed by the state of the world and the hearts of men, or are we disgusted and righteously outraged.
Grief, I believe, is the answer. We should not praise sin; we should not run away from it either. We should grieve because of it and overcome it with the blood of Jesus.
Grief comes from love, love comes from God. Condemnation does not come from love, but conviction does. We can pour condemnation on the world but it will not convict anyone. People are convicted by their God-given consciences and by sincere love. They are condemned by their own natural states; that is why they need Jesus to heal and deliver them.
God has a better way, but that way is paved with blood and tears. The Christian life is marked by suffering and sacrifice, not by prosperity and ease.We have to honest firstly about what walking on the narrow way and following Jesus means for us, and we have to be real about our faith and living it out in this world.
Often, we are not realistic or mature. We don't want to have to deal with problems within our own spheres and we definitely fear encountering opposition from the world. That is cowardice.
Social and moral problems are pervasive today. Christian morality and beliefs are not the dominant beliefs any more. So what? Does the Bible tell us how to live in a sinful world? Does it tell us to hide, or does it tell us to go right out there and save souls.
We are here not to only work with and interact with those we like or whom we agree with. We are on this earth to be salt and light. If we marginalize, avoid or do not know how to interact with people whose choices and lifestyles differ from us, then we have a lot to learn from Jesus, who was God and came down to live amongst stinking, dirty, and sinful mortals.
Are we as Christians allowed to choose whom to serve and who not to serve? Jesus came to be a servant to all, especially and only to those who did not deserve it.
What should we do when encountering sin? Resist it, overcome it, and grieve for those caught in it. We should be taking opportunity God gives us to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to witness to and have interactions with unbelievers.
If I am a Christian, I have to treat every person like I treat Jesus, and like how Jesus would treat every person.
We don't force our beliefs on people; we point them to Jesus who offers the supernatural solution to our dire, natural state.
We don't go against our consciences, but we should be virtuous and strong to overcome the world, not quick to run away from anything that doesn't fit into our comfort zone. The world is uncomfortable. It is often disgusting and filthy and definitely unclean. But we if do not go out into the world and reach people, who will?
What would Jesus do when faced with sin? Jesus would be grieved. He would weep, he would pray, he would love anyone and lay down His life for them.
Are we grieved and distressed by the state of the world and the hearts of men, or are we disgusted and righteously outraged.
Grief, I believe, is the answer. We should not praise sin; we should not run away from it either. We should grieve because of it and overcome it with the blood of Jesus.
Grief comes from love, love comes from God. Condemnation does not come from love, but conviction does. We can pour condemnation on the world but it will not convict anyone. People are convicted by their God-given consciences and by sincere love. They are condemned by their own natural states; that is why they need Jesus to heal and deliver them.
God has a better way, but that way is paved with blood and tears. The Christian life is marked by suffering and sacrifice, not by prosperity and ease.We have to honest firstly about what walking on the narrow way and following Jesus means for us, and we have to be real about our faith and living it out in this world.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
It's Not About Right and Wrong, It's About Jesus
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
(John 3:17-18 KJV)
Today, my Facebook page has been invaded. I am being bombarded. My feed is awash with thousands (I'm exaggerating) of articles proclaiming why Fifty Shades of Gray is SO SO Wrong.
Wrong. Abortion is wrong. This is wrong. That is wrong. So and so people are evil and perverted.
It would seem that condemnation pours continually from Christians, at least those who haven't compromised on the Bible.
It's not that I condone such things, but I fail to see the point in heaping condemnation for something that is by nature already condemned. Of course, we must be the voices of morality and truth. Of course someone needs to speak up to give people an alternative to what they are hearing, but...
What do we really want to accomplish by telling society that everything it does is wrong? We pose problems, but are we emphasizing enough on the solutions and answers to those problems?
The problem is human answers will never suffice. If we want to promote the Bible's morality we must promote the Bible's solution, a spiritual solution and not a human answer.
We Christians have a lot to say on social morality. Many oppose abortion, but many also oppose contraception. If we really want people to stop aborting babies, maybe we should be stopping conceptions in the first place, right? Safe sex and all that... No, no, no. We don't want people to be promiscuous either; we want to enforce our traditional model of marriage, a model that also can be perverted in the form of all kinds of wrong things, like domestic abuse, child neglect, etc. etc. Families fall apart. People get divorced. People experience hardship. Even if you follow the Biblical pattern 100%, regardless of whether you are a Christian or not, things can go wrong for you.
We have such a narrow vision of what is right, and we want to fight against everything that goes against it. But can we really control people? Can we stop people from engaging in things that we don't agree with? Do we really to keep telling what we do is wrong? Can we control society and force everybody to follow the rule of law of the Puritans?
I think we should take a moment to realize that EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD IS WRONG AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN SINCE ADAM'S FALL. This world is f*cked up, to put it crudely in modern terms.
Everything, even good things can be abused. Everything that happens, harms people. Even the very best things like our Christian religion and our moral convictions.
Either we're telling the world that it is wrong to justify and elevate ourselves, OR we are living as lights in the darkness, quietly and meekly walking in God's ways without blowing our trumpets. We make choices that glorify God and avoid things that don't edify other people.
People have consciences, and deep in our hearts God has put a moral compass in us that is very difficult to ignore. We don't always have bombard people with 10 or 20 reasons why whatever it is they practice or enjoy is wrong - if they feel the emptiness and the guilt and the pain, then they will seek the healing and cleansing Jesus can give.
What we can do is stop preaching "This is Wrong" or "That is Wrong" as our main message, because pointing out these things doesn't automatically give people the answer. If abortion is wrong, then shouldn't we encourage safe sex? If promiscuity is wrong, then what in the world do we expect hormone-ravaged teenagers to do? Do we really expect everyone to be abstinent until marriage? What do you expect people to do who struggle with same-sex attractions? What do we expect people to do who feel alienated from their bodies and who are driven to depression and self-harm? Can we make them conform to our standards? No. We can't provide people with solutions, we can only point them to the one who can change them. It's not wrong deeds that needs to be purged, but the states of our hearts.
We need to start pointing people to Jesus. If they say, "I'm born like this, I can't help it." but they are looking for a solution, we can't possibly find a human way to deal with that. All our best efforts will backfire.
There is only one person who can really help them, and that's Jesus.
Jesus is alive. Jesus is living.
He can speak to people.
He won't turn people away because of who they are and what they've done.
He will accept everyone as sinners.
And then He will be able to give them the power no one else can give, the healing no one else can offer.
Jesus can change lives.
Jesus can tell people, "Go and sin no more."
Jesus can convict people and change their hearts without a single word (like the woman who wept at his feet).
If a people who identifies as such-and-such comes to Jesus, Jesus can do what we can't do for them despite our best efforts. And He will do it.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is transformative. We aren't meant to change society, we're meant to bring people to Jesus to have their lives changed.
The thing is, Jesus doesn't force Himself on people. But those who seek Him (and, mercifully, even those who don't) will find and encounter Him.
A untransformed society cannot be expected to conform to Biblical morality. The world will always be sinful and full of sin until Jesus returns. We will always be the minority in this world. We will always be going against the grain. We will always be the ones left out, misunderstood, marginalized, even persecuted for our faith in Jesus and the way we live. That shouldn't affect us in the slightest or detract us from our ultimate goal of proclaiming Jesus as ultimate answer.
(John 3:17-18 KJV)
Today, my Facebook page has been invaded. I am being bombarded. My feed is awash with thousands (I'm exaggerating) of articles proclaiming why Fifty Shades of Gray is SO SO Wrong.
Wrong. Abortion is wrong. This is wrong. That is wrong. So and so people are evil and perverted.
It would seem that condemnation pours continually from Christians, at least those who haven't compromised on the Bible.
It's not that I condone such things, but I fail to see the point in heaping condemnation for something that is by nature already condemned. Of course, we must be the voices of morality and truth. Of course someone needs to speak up to give people an alternative to what they are hearing, but...
What do we really want to accomplish by telling society that everything it does is wrong? We pose problems, but are we emphasizing enough on the solutions and answers to those problems?
The problem is human answers will never suffice. If we want to promote the Bible's morality we must promote the Bible's solution, a spiritual solution and not a human answer.
We Christians have a lot to say on social morality. Many oppose abortion, but many also oppose contraception. If we really want people to stop aborting babies, maybe we should be stopping conceptions in the first place, right? Safe sex and all that... No, no, no. We don't want people to be promiscuous either; we want to enforce our traditional model of marriage, a model that also can be perverted in the form of all kinds of wrong things, like domestic abuse, child neglect, etc. etc. Families fall apart. People get divorced. People experience hardship. Even if you follow the Biblical pattern 100%, regardless of whether you are a Christian or not, things can go wrong for you.
We have such a narrow vision of what is right, and we want to fight against everything that goes against it. But can we really control people? Can we stop people from engaging in things that we don't agree with? Do we really to keep telling what we do is wrong? Can we control society and force everybody to follow the rule of law of the Puritans?
I think we should take a moment to realize that EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD IS WRONG AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN SINCE ADAM'S FALL. This world is f*cked up, to put it crudely in modern terms.
Everything, even good things can be abused. Everything that happens, harms people. Even the very best things like our Christian religion and our moral convictions.
Either we're telling the world that it is wrong to justify and elevate ourselves, OR we are living as lights in the darkness, quietly and meekly walking in God's ways without blowing our trumpets. We make choices that glorify God and avoid things that don't edify other people.
People have consciences, and deep in our hearts God has put a moral compass in us that is very difficult to ignore. We don't always have bombard people with 10 or 20 reasons why whatever it is they practice or enjoy is wrong - if they feel the emptiness and the guilt and the pain, then they will seek the healing and cleansing Jesus can give.
What we can do is stop preaching "This is Wrong" or "That is Wrong" as our main message, because pointing out these things doesn't automatically give people the answer. If abortion is wrong, then shouldn't we encourage safe sex? If promiscuity is wrong, then what in the world do we expect hormone-ravaged teenagers to do? Do we really expect everyone to be abstinent until marriage? What do you expect people to do who struggle with same-sex attractions? What do we expect people to do who feel alienated from their bodies and who are driven to depression and self-harm? Can we make them conform to our standards? No. We can't provide people with solutions, we can only point them to the one who can change them. It's not wrong deeds that needs to be purged, but the states of our hearts.
We need to start pointing people to Jesus. If they say, "I'm born like this, I can't help it." but they are looking for a solution, we can't possibly find a human way to deal with that. All our best efforts will backfire.
There is only one person who can really help them, and that's Jesus.
Jesus is alive. Jesus is living.
He can speak to people.
He won't turn people away because of who they are and what they've done.
He will accept everyone as sinners.
And then He will be able to give them the power no one else can give, the healing no one else can offer.
Jesus can change lives.
Jesus can tell people, "Go and sin no more."
Jesus can convict people and change their hearts without a single word (like the woman who wept at his feet).
If a people who identifies as such-and-such comes to Jesus, Jesus can do what we can't do for them despite our best efforts. And He will do it.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is transformative. We aren't meant to change society, we're meant to bring people to Jesus to have their lives changed.
The thing is, Jesus doesn't force Himself on people. But those who seek Him (and, mercifully, even those who don't) will find and encounter Him.
A untransformed society cannot be expected to conform to Biblical morality. The world will always be sinful and full of sin until Jesus returns. We will always be the minority in this world. We will always be going against the grain. We will always be the ones left out, misunderstood, marginalized, even persecuted for our faith in Jesus and the way we live. That shouldn't affect us in the slightest or detract us from our ultimate goal of proclaiming Jesus as ultimate answer.
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