What It Means to Be a True Christian

Posted on by korgrocker

“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognise that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority.”
2 Corinthians 13:5-6 NLT

Something here in our verses today will bring us up short and cause us to pause our lives while we ask ourselves a question. Am I a Christian with genuine faith? But before we can answer it, we have to define what it means to be a Christian. Many think being a Christian is all about following Christian morals and being a “good” person. Such people can go to a church on a Sunday, listen to the sermon, sing the hymns, and say the prayers, but somehow there is a lack of any connection with God. No relationship there, in the way that we pilgrims know God. Occasionally, a crisis will drive them to their knees, but for most of the time, they live their lives as they always have, sinful and unchanged. But being a Christian is more than that, as we shall see.

Paul asked the Corinthians to “examine themselves to see if [their] faith is genuine”. He went on to define genuine faith by saying that if they fail to understand that Jesus is among them, then they “have failed the test of genuine faith”. It’s all about Jesus. Paul implied that it was all about knowing Him and sensing His presence with them day by day. 

So, back to our question. Who or what is a Christian in the way that Paul was implying? From our verses today, Paul used the word “faith” twice, and that is a central principle in answering the question for ourselves. Unfortunately, the word “faith” has become corrupted today because it is used to define a number of different religions, by calling them “faiths”. So, according to the authorities, we live in a “multi-faith” society that includes Muslims, Hindus, and others, as well as Christians. There have even been ”multi-faith” services held in our churches, and our current King in the UK considers that he is the defender of “faiths” rather than being the traditional head of the Christian church, the defender of the faith. The University of Edinburgh goes further and offers not only “multi-faith” support for students but also offers seminars in fringe topics unfamiliar to us pilgrims, such as Yoga, mindfulness, and Tai Chi. Confusion reigns, therefore, over the use of the word “faith”. 

A Christian is someone who belongs to Jesus Christ, by trusting in Him, following Him, and being transformed by Him. So straight away, the Corinthians had a measure for their belief. Paul wrote in Romans 10:9-10, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved”. Is that something the Corinthians were doing, or had done? We don’t know, but we can apply this to ourselves. Jesus said that true believers in Him are “born again”. John 3:5, 7, “Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. … So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again’”. This is a divisive verse amongst Christian communities today, because many fail to understand what this really means about their faith. The wording “being born again” even causes offence to some people because it implies a radical experience of salvation. But it is a spiritual process, sometimes rapid, as it was with Paul on the Damascus road, or gradual over a period of time, as it was with C S Lewis. Regardless of the way we pilgrims came to believe in Jesus, the reality of our faith in Him prevails. 

For the Christians in Corinth, it appears that some subversive elements had crept in, something that was probably not unheard of in those days. The Apostle John wrote, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here” (1 John 4:1-3). These verses from John complement the verses that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, and again the word “test” appears. And straight away, we can think of churches today that fail this test. For example, I can think of a cult that only believes that Jesus was a prophet, and yet they call themselves “Christian”. 

There are other characteristics of Christianity that we must continue at another time, but in the meantime, we declare that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour. We love Him and worship Him because of who He is and what He has done for us.

Dear Heavenly Father. We thank You for Jesus and His sacrificial death on Calvary’s Cross. We fall on our knees before Him today, in love and adoration. Amen.

Stop Complaining

Posted on by korgrocker

“But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)”
John 6:43-46 NLT

Jesus told the people who were murmuring amongst themselves about His claim to be the “bread that came down from Heaven” to “stop complaining”. This passage of Scripture recording Jesus’ claims to be God’s Son contained several references to Him being the bread of Heaven. The people around Him seemed to be having great difficulty in accepting or understanding what Jesus was saying, and He had to repeat His message several times. But we have to position what Jesus was saying in the culture of His times. The Jews were steeped in their history and particularly the times after the flight from Egypt and the journey through the wilderness, where God fed His people for a massive forty years. There were no doubts amongst the God-fearing people of Jesus’ day, that God had performed the miracles that they were taught about at their schools and in their homes as they grew up. So the phrase “bread from Heaven” would have been immediately associated with manna, and the miracle  that Jesus performed in feeding the crowd grabbed their attention, because it was the closest they had come to experiencing being divinely fed as their ancestors had been. 

Jesus had been known by many of the people all their lives, so although they could probably accept that God had performed miracles through a human being – after all their Scriptures recorded many such events – they were unable to accept that this “human being” before them was not just any human, but the Son of God Himself. So they complained and murmured because of, what was to them, His audacious claim. 

Unfortunately, there are many people today who puff themselves up and make outrageous claims about themselves and their spiritual abilities. But in all the froth and bubble, there is the danger of missing the very person who is making a genuine claim. This is what happened with many of Jesus’ listeners, and it continues to happen today. But instead of complaining, we must check them out. We read in Matthew 7:15-16a, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. …”. There is also 1 John 4:1, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world”.

We pilgrims must never become complainers. Such people are never popular, because complainers are not a blessing to others. Rather than complain we must look to God for guidance, because He will “lead us into all truth”. Complaining achieves nothing and can make us, and others, depressed. I know we live in a world that encourages people to complain, often in the hope that they will receive some sort of monetary compensation for bad service or something like that. But when it comes to issues around God and His servants, we live in a different Kingdom, God’s Kingdom. Here there will never be any need to complain.

Dear God. Through Your grace and mercy, we have nothing to complain about, other than about our own sin. Please help us to know You more, day by day. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Unstable People

Posted on by korgrocker

“They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.”
2 Peter 2:14 NLT

How can any person be lured into sin? Such a thing is surely not possible. The Bible is a clear and indisputable source of what is right and wrong, and therefore must be the final arbiter over anything that even carries a hint of sin. But one thing I have noticed in my pilgrimage through life is that some people become overly dependent on the minister or pastor for their spiritual lives. And I have also noticed that some ministers or pastors, through their own insecurities, foster dependent relationships. These are mainly harmless I’m sure, because the leaders I have known are people of integrity and well founded in the Bible and its teaching, but the influence is there. This is something that I personally came upon as a young Christian, and I experienced much hurt and disappointment when the person I looked up to didn’t quite live up to my expectations. My house of cards came tumbling down, and I believed God spoke to me about only being dependent on Him, and Him alone. Yes, we look to our pastors for teaching and leadership, but not for an unhealthy relationship. We must hear God for ourselves – that is why Jesus came to this world, that we might have a personal relationship with Him. And that is what good pastors teach.

But that is not what Peter was writing about in 2 Peter 2:14. He was referring to deliberately-false teachers, and the previous verses call them out for their fruit. Peter writes, “they scoff at things they don’t understand“, they do harm, “they love to indulge in evil pleasures”, “they delight in deception”, and so on. Peter is very scathing about such people. We wonder who he had in mind when he wrote this, but what we do know is that the churches Peter was writing to don’t exist today. Perhaps, in the end, the false teaching prevailed, because what has been proved time and time again in history is that a church that lapses into error will, sooner or later, disappear. As an aside, the established Presbyterian and Anglican churches in the UK are in serious decline, and perhaps this is because what they teach is no longer distinct from the society around them. Are they in fact guilty of luring “unstable people into sin”? God will not bless anyone who rejects or corrupts His teachings and principles, and He will turn His back upon them. But we shouldn’t be surprised when people end up in a sinful place. Paul wrote to Timothy, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.” Thankfully, His grace and mercy will prevail, and anyone who falls into error has a path back into His arms through Jesus.

Jeremiah heard some hard words, about false prophets, from God, and he wrote them down in Jeremiah 14:14-15, “Then the Lord said, “These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I will punish these lying prophets, for they have spoken in my name even though I never sent them. They say that no war or famine will come, but they themselves will die by war and famine!” I think we can see that being either a false prophet or teacher might not be a good place to be in!

Some leaders sadly fall into immorality, and, because of that, inevitably some of their followers will commit the same sins. People in their churches will see their leaders as role models, worthy of respect and admiration even. But apart from some high profile cases that get mentioned in the news, most leaders are good people who try and pastor their flock well. They take seriously the verse, “Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16). One church I knew had a leadership that decided that they shouldn’t drink alcoholic beverages. They took this stand because their church was located in a culture that had a problem with alcoholism, and they adopted this position to show that an alcohol-free lifestyle was possible. Their counter-cultural leadership was commendable.

But returning to “unstable people”, the Apostle James wrote, “But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do” (James 1:6-8). In the end, regardless of anything else, our “faith is in God alone“. It’s all about Jesus and following Him with inspiration and help from the Holy Spirit. There is no other way in which we can avoid the erroneous messages of false teachers.

Dear Father God. Only You have the words of eternal life. Please help us to follow them, we pray. Amen.

Privilege and Authority

Posted on by korgrocker

“Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us”. 
Romans 12:3 NLT

Is Paul getting a little ahead of himself, by claiming that he can effectively speak for God? He claimed that he had “privilege and authority”, a status not given by a societal or governmental process, but by God Himself. The problem for some people is that they do not observe, or participate in, the process that provides such authority. In history, many people have claimed that they have some special power or mandate given to them by God, and, through that, they have gone on to deceive people and lead them down a path that is nothing to do with God at all. The Bible accounts call them false prophets, and Jesus warned about them, as we read in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves”. So how can we validate Paul’s claim that God had given him His authority?

In the Matthew 7 account, Jesus went on to teach His disciples how they can avoid being misled by these false prophets. Matthew 7:16-17, “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit”. And He finishes the section by saying, “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions” (Matthew 7:20).

So back to Paul. He claimed that Jesus had appointed him to his ministry. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him” (1 Timothy 1:12). Romans 1:1, “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News”. Paul was obviously recognised as an Apostle by the other Apostles at that time. Paul met with the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem, and we read in Galatians 2:7-8, “Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles”. There are other verses in the New Testament that confirm Paul’s appointment as an Apostle, so we can rest assured that he did indeed have God’s authority, and he considered it a privilege.

If we apply the false prophet test to Paul, it soon becomes very clear that his single-mindedness in furthering the work of the Gospel throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region and beyond, often at great personal cost, was indisputable. No bad fruit there at all. And as a legacy Paul left us with his letters, that have shaped and instructed disciples ever since.

We believers, pilgrims for Christ, also have the same authority that Paul had. We read in Matthew 28:18-20, “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age””. The early disciples were given the authority to make more disciples, who go on to make even more. And that process has been continuing ever since.

So, the question is, how many disciples have we made? We have Jesus’ request, His mandate, and authority to do so. Hmmm… 

Father God. Please forgive us for our lethargy in spreading the Gospel to those around us. We pray for Your guidance to take us the the right people, at the right time, so that we too can obey Your instructions to make disciples. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Witnessing Prophecy

Posted on by korgrocker

“And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.” Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.””
Revelation‬ ‭19:9-10‬ ‭NLT

It is almost as though the angel tossed in a throw-away comment. A nugget of gold emerging unexpectedly in John’s vision of the wedding feast. The angel made the statement to John, “For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus”. What was the angel saying here? 

What is prophesy? Many people think that they can foretell the future and call their message a prophecy. Christians can get excited when a brother or sister brings a “prophetic word” in a meeting. “Prophecies” can take the form of pictures or visions, poems or songs. There is a prophetic gift of the Holy Spirit, as we read in Romans 12:6, “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.” But three things must be noted. Firstly, any prophetic message must align with Biblical truth. So a “prophesy” that declares something that conflicts with Scripture, or tries to add something to it, must be viewed with suspicion, and, if necessary, discarded. Secondly, prophecies are for edification. We read in 1 Corinthians  14:3,  “But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.” Thirdly, as our verse records today, the angel reminded John that prophecies must provide “a clear witness for Jesus”. 

Ultimately, the purpose of a prophetic word must be to point the hearers back to God. It could involve the speaking out of Scripture, God’s Word. It could involve our testimonies of God’s grace and love. It may even connect a Biblical message with someone’s life and future. But in the end, it is all about God.

We must always be on the lookout for prophecies that don’t stack up, and we must beware of false prophets. The Apostle Peter warned about them, as we read in 2 Peter 2:1, “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.” Jesus warned His disciples about false prophets, in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves”. 

We pilgrims can be assured that the angel’s words describing to John what was about to happen – the greatest and most devastating war that this planet has ever seen – were true and came directly from God. Prophetic they may have been in John’s vision, but they gave a “clear witness for Jesus”. The marriage feast and Armageddon will both happen one day. Probably sooner than we think.

Dear Lord and Father God, we thank You for Your prophetic words recorded by John. Please never let us despise prophesy. We pray that You will give us the discernment to separate the good from the false. In Jesus’ name. Amen.