What Makes a Christian and Where Can We Find Them...

Christians can be pretty brutal to each other and I include myself in that statement. We often judge other Christians by the doctrines they support, the denomination that they are a part of and how we perceive that they conduct their lives. Only we tend to be one heck of a lot harder on our fellow man than ourselves,

We routinely disobey Christ Jesus when he stated in Mark 12:31 that  the second greatest commandment was to “Love your neighbour as you love yourself.” Instead we condemn those around us for their every thought when in reality we are just as bad for our lack of love and compassion to the very people we judge. As our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7:5 “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.”

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, Jesus showed how the father loves His sons. One cashed in his inheritance and left home for the high life. Eventually he ran out of money and finding himself in the pig pen feeding the hogs contemplated how even the servants in his father’s home were better cared for than he was in his challenging fall from grace. That said he prepared a statement to lay on his father when he returned that went something like “Dad I’ve been a fool.” I can’t expect your forgiveness but I’m prepared to be a servant and to work for you as hard as I can.” “If you’ll have me.” Well his father saw him coming across the fields and rejoiced. He instructed his servants to put together a feast of celebration and to cloth his returning son in a fine robe. The prodigal tried to perform his speech but his father was having none of it and welcomed him back into the family.

His brother who had managed the property with his father wondered what the commotion was all about. When he found out that the feast was for his brother then he was beside himself with resentment and rage. His father came to him to try to calm him down and bring him inside to enjoy the celebrations. The angry brother vented his anger and disdain upon his father. Complaining that his father had never so much as given him a small goat to share with his friends. The father couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He told the man “You are not a servant you are the son. Everything that I have is yours and always has been.”
 
You see both of the young men misunderstood the relationship they had with their father. They were not servants but rather they were sons. The prodigal thought that having left the family business and taking his inheritance put him outside the fold. But his father knew that this could never happen and welcomed him home with great joy. A son and never a servant. He could never earn his way back into his father’s good graces because he could never have left them in the first place. Regardless of what he had done.  

The other son thought that he was a servant and that he had to earn his position in the family business. Not realising that he was the son and heir. He had only to ask his father and nothing was beyond his reach. He was a beloved child even though he had never realised it.

So you see we Christians are the beloved children of God our Father. We may not realise it but God loves us with all of His being. Anything we desire we need only ask. We have to be humble and walk in the Spirit. However, never forget, you and I, if we are Christians we are a part of a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a People for God’s own possession. It is essential that we treat each other with love and patience not judgement and condemnation. We are family of the Living God, Yahweh Elohim.

Part of understanding being a Christian is to know that we belong to God but we are also under constant attack from the forces of the enemy. The aim of Satan is to mess Christians up so badly that you won’t be able to tell them from non Christians. They’ll be judgmental, uncompassionate and generally not great people to spend time with. If the devil has it his way he wants to discredit us completely so that no one will listen to a word we have to say and everyone will have a bad Christian story.

We have to up our game and understanding how that might work brings us back to the great commandments again. The first “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind and all of your strength.” The second great commandment being “Love your neighbour as you love yourself.” So if you love Yahweh and spend time in communication (prayer), with Him and you love your neighbour as you love yourself. Then there is a much better prospect of successfully defeating the devils strategy to discredit Christians.

You see time spent with God will bring you closer to understanding how much He loves mankind. Which will in turn, help you to understand how to love your neighbour as you love yourself. To my mind we need to stop looking as others as heathen and look at them as fellow men. A bit like looking at all Israelites as a part of the nation of Israel even though many may not be practicing Jews. We need to look at the lost as our brothers and sisters who have a broken relationship with God but know that as Christians we can help them with that.

So what is a Christian and where can we find them. A Christian is simply a person who believes on Jesus Christ. That our Lord and Saviour carried our sins on the Cross at Calvary and paid the price for those sins. That they might be forgiven and have eternal life. These flawed and yet justified people called Christians are all through society.

So if you’ve had a bad experience with Christians. Remember that they are still just people who still sin and make mistakes. One of those mistakes can be that they don’t remember that they are not without sin this side of glory. So you may need to cut them some slack when they get all self righteous and judgmental. Never forget though that you need to be concerned about your own sin and where you are going when you pass from this life. Do you have an eternal destiny with Christ Jesus? A hope of Salvation?

A Couple of Questions

Acts 13: 23-25 “Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.”
In the scripture above John the Baptist is described as preaching a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. The question I would ask is “Did the people who heard John preach repentance have the ability to make that decision? One assumes that John told them of sin and the need to repent of it. To literally change direction and forsake wrong doing? So being in their fallen state could they lift their minds to such a lofty state as to forsake sin and accept the baptism that John offered there at the river Jordan?

Mark 6: 7-13 “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into a house, there abide till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city. And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.”

Again I ask the same question about the those who heard the disciples preach repentance to them. “Did the people who heard disciples preach repentance have the ability to make that decision? In their fallen state how could the lift themselves to such a state of mind that they could not only understand what was preached to them but make the decision to accept it as the truth.

Given the proclamation that Christ Jesus made that if the people of the village gave them no welcome that they should shake the dust from their feet and that it would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgement. It is obvious that God expected them to hear the disciples out and make a decision.

Now if we accept that no one can approach Jesus of Nazareth except that the Father draw them near. This is the truth because the bible tells us so. How could these folk in their depraved state hear this truth and make a decision? Another scripture comes to mind.

Hebrews 11: 1- 3 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

The scripture above begins a discourse describing how Yahweh took the obedience of a number of Old Testament saints to be Faith. So when the disciples came to a village and preached repentance when the people were convicted to accept their testimony as the truth and to turn from sin. Yahweh took their obedience as Faith. And yes there is a scripture that implies that Faith is a gift from God. There is some controversy about that particular verse and what the base languages were saying. But if the Holy Spirit convicts the hearts of people and they are moved to obedience thereby exhibiting Faith in the Yahweh Elohim and the Saviour, Jesus of Nazareth. Surely that is a thing to make the heart of the reader rejoice.

Predestination: How I See IT

I belong to a Presbyterian Church that has a proud tradition of Calvinism. They adhere to the Calvinist Doctrine of Predestination and are strong proponents of the Westminster Confession of Faith. This teaching permeates all of the teaching of this denomination of Presbyterianism.

I on the other hand am not a Calvinist. In fact quite the opposite is the case. Now I have crossed swords with some of the staunch Calvinists over whether mankind is predestined to salvation or are some of us predestined to salvation while everyone else is essentially predestined to eternal damnation?

You might be thinking that this is going to be another beat up on Calvinism but I would have to say that is not my intention on this occasion. Hopefully never again actually. For a while now I have been staying away from Church and seeking God over a number of issues. How to accommodate other Christians with different view points with out being tempted to go on a crusade over doctrines being one of them.

Another being, should you shake the dust of your sandals or not allow peoples purported heretical teachings to cross the threshold of your home. In other words are their terminal bottom lines on what people believe in God’s sight or are there simply more important fish to fry? Should we just bury the hatchet and focus on the important things like ministering to our brethren, feeding the poor and getting the gospel to the lost? The later being the decision that I have arrived at. However, I have one last opinion piece to share on how I see predestination in action before I finally move on to more important things in the service of Yahweh.

So in this vein I would share John 3: 16-18 with you. “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."

Now my beloved brothers and sisters would say of this scripture that it does not imply Grace to all who would believe on Christ Jesus. That the word ‘World’ in verse 16, they would say, has a general meaning not a specific one and so does not mean the gospel is for all men. Further that verse 18 which says quite specifically that those who don’t believe are condemned implies that God is quite stern and that the wicked would seem to be predestined for damnation.

I believe that these verses are crucial and when taken with what is said earlier in Christ Jesus’s discussion with Nicodemus and show a much more loving perspective of God’s purpose to redeem fallen mankind from the disastrous fall in the Garden of Eden. You see Jesus outlined Yahweh’s wonderful plan to Nicodemus about salvation. He spoke of the need to be reborn of water and of the Spirit. He told of the Love of God for all the World, All Mankind. That God gave His only Son that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but inherit eternal life.

Now this implies that all of the World, all of Mankind, has a decision to make. To believe or not to believe on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Jesus states in verse 17 that He did not come to condemn the World but to save it. The gospel is to be heard by all men.

Now speaking of all the World which includes mankind and all of creation of which the apostle Paul tells us creation groans under the burden of sin (Romans 8: 19-23). He includes those who have attained salvation in that statement. So, if John 3:16 applies to the world, all of creation, then how does predestination apply to a rose bush for instance. It clearly groans under sin by carrying dangerous thorns on it that can be very poisonous. Is it predestined to salvation or damnation?

Ridiculous you say but is it? It would be if all of creation applied to all of life on Earth. It is true that all of creation groans under the burden of sin but it is mankind that caused the fall and it is through his redemption that as a whole that the rest of creation can be restored in the coming Kingdom of Jesus Christ. So the word World, in John 3:16. means all of mankind because mankind fell and only in his redemption can the rest of creation be restored as well. Thus the gospel is for everyone and that means that when exposed to the gospel that all of mankind has a decision to make. Everyone of us has to decide for eternal life in Christ Jesus or against it. Those who accept forgiveness of sins through Christ Jesus will not perish and those who reject Christ Jesus will not only perish but as verse 18 states are condemned already for not believing on Him.

Given man’s depravity, you may ask, how then can he think of asking God to forgive His sins or not ask as the case may be? Well if God loves us enough to give His only Son, Jesus Christ, for us. Doesn’t it follow that he would make sure that mankind can respond to this incredible offer?

Now given that there are many scriptures that speak about predestination and that there are equally as many scriptures stating that the gospel is for all. Doesn’t it follow that if you completely disregard either group of scriptures that you will be only dealing with half of the story. One side stating that God has an almost legalistic roll in deciding who is justified by the salvation in Christ Jesus. Under the law as you will. The other side stating that God’s love is such for His fallen children that there is nothing that can prevent them finding salvation in Christ Jesus. If that is what they desire. Now under grace if you take my point. Together a comprehensive truth but taken separately only part of the trail that is the narrow way.

The story of salvation is closely connected to the question that Jesus answered in Matthew 22: 36 -40 “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Firstly we are to love the Lord our God, Yahweh, with all of out hearts, soul and mind. Secondly to love our neighbour as ourselves. Now I would say thirdly, to obey Paul in Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” and then Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Finally we need to remind ourselves of an important spiritual truth from Romans 8: 1- 4 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

To those who love God with all of their heart and love their neighbour as they love themselves. Who walk in the Spirit and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. We demonstrate the love which God has for all mankind. The love of God is manifest in us to all the World and we demonstrate it by obeying the Great Commission of Matthew 28: 19-20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.?

Yahweh Elohim uses this gospel of salvation in Jesus of Nazareth, His only begotten Son. To draw all mankind close to the Saviour and I believe enables them to make a decision about whether to believe on Jesus or to reject Him. Those who believe are predestined and those who reject the gospel are dead, in their sins, already because of their unbelief. This is because of His love for all of mankind. No one is forced to believe on Christ Jesus any-more than they are forced to reject Christ Jesus. This is how I see in any-case,

Star Wars, The Force Be With You!

 

We live in troubled times. Secular Humanism, Scientific Atheism and of course Evolutionary Spiritualism. All combining together in an attempt to purge Christian Morality from the hearts and minds of thinking mankind.

 

It has worked as well, especially in the developed nations. We now have 35+ years of children born into a moral vacuum. In their often not so humble opinions there is no right or wrong. As long as people are not doing anyone else any apparent harm then we should leave them alone to do as they please. Sounds a lot like Satanism to me. Do as you will is the first commandment of those who follow that particular fallen one.

 

So, when we look at the Star Wars Universe and see the Jedi and the Sith. We think of that force running through everything in the Cosmos. The Yin and Yang of Earthly Buddhism in some sought of perpetual balance. The righteous are the Jedi and the wicked are the Sith but we are told that is the way of things and we must struggle to keep the balance that is required in the force.

 

Further, in Star Wars we can become God like if the force is strong in us. We have to learn how to meditate and seek the force within us. We're told that we can manipulate the physical to assist in daily life and to defend ourselves. We can be good or evil depending on our strengths. There is no right or wrong in the force only the balance of Good and Evil, Yin and Yang. Sound familiar? Yes the continuum of the force is similar to Buddhism or some aspects of the Hindu religion. Everything is God and essentially all things are a part of the divine. We are to seek enlightenment.

 

The proponent of the this type of, dear we say, enlightenment is Satan. What he said to Eve in the Garden of Eden is basically the same 'Self is God' rhetoric that we find in the multitude of religions that he has unleashed on humanity over the centuries. Eat of the tree of knowledge and be like God knowing good and evil.

 

This is all very well when you live in a world which is ruled by the Prince of Darkness. A continuum of good and evil seems quite logical. Being the God of your own life is quite appealing. The only problem is that this is not the truth of the cosmos.

 

The truth is that Yahweh Elohim is the creator of the heavens and the Earth. He is the one and only God and His son Jesus Christ who died on the Cross, in shed blood, to pay the price for our sins and has the only name under Heaven by which we may be saved.

 

It is not the good side or the dark side of the force that saves a man. It does nothing in fact. Rather, it is the righteousness of God as opposed to the unrighteousness of sin that we need to be seeking. It is not a continuum but actually two in congruent parallel lines that we should be looking at. One line the way of Jesus Christ and righteousness stretching to the right toward heaven and eternity. The other line the way of sin and the devil stretching left toward eternal death and hell fire.

 

We need to understand that those who love God. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are on the right hand side on the righteous way to salvation in Christ Jesus. Those who reject Christ Jesus are on the other line on the left hand side heading to eternal separation from God and to the second death in hell fire.

 

It is interesting that we speak of the politics of the right and the politics of the left. I don't think the most people realise what is being spoken of here. The right or the right hand side speaks of the righteousness of God. It is a Christian term for the things of Yahweh Elohim. For godliness if you will. The left or left hand side speaks to those who believe things that are contrary to the ways of God. The ungodly who will be left behind or those who are on the left side of God in their thinking. Perhaps those who reject Christ Jesus and are left. This way of thinking does have a certain symmetry with the continuum of the force but I still think those who walk in their sins are actually on a different road heading in the wrong direction.

 

When we speak of the force about those who are good and those of the dark side. We could say those on the right and those on the left. In reality though it is the righteous who follow Jesus Christ who is Yahweh Elohim and will ultimately prevail while those who follow Satan and stay in their sins will ultimately fail and die the second death in Hell Fire.

 

As always it is whether you hear the gospel preached and accept that Jesus bore your sins on the Cross. If you believe on Him you will not perish but will inherit eternal life (John 3:16). While those who reject the saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross have perished already (John 3:18).

 

So whether you are attracted to Star Wars and the seductive mantra of the force or if you are tempted by the ideology of Eastern Religion. The idea that we are all God and need only look within to find the inner God. That it is all about inner peace and finding enlightenment. I would advise you to look to the one true God who so loved you that He gave His only Son for you. That in believing on Christ Jesus you will not perish but inherit eternal life. That you might be born  of the Spirit and of water. That in the waters of baptism you might die to sin with Christ Jesus, as he died on the Cross, and be raised to the newness of life as Christ Jesus was resurrected