Monday, 16 May 2022

ARTICLES ON SOULWINNING: THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

CHRISTIANITY

A Christian is one who has confessed the Lordship of Jesus over His life.

Romans 10:9 says, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
He first believes and then confesses.

Christianity is not the imitation of Christ. In Christianity, there is the imitation of Christ. No one can imitate Christ if he does not have the life of Christ. You can only imitate Christ if you have His life.
This means we cannot tell everybody to imitate Christ. The imitation of Christ is addressed to those who are in Christ.

Christianity is the life of God in a human person by Jesus Christ. Christianity is having the life of God in you. It is what you become. It is that nature you received from God. You and God in one divine creation.

The death burial and resurrection of Jesus brought Christianity. In Acts 11:26, the Bible says the Apostles where first called  Christians at Antioch
The was because they behaved like Christ. They were Christ-like.

After you are born again you can imitate Christ by walking in love (John 13:34) and by keeping His commandments.
The old law has been abolished, a new one one has come.
Ephesians 2:15
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

If you keep the old commandments Aaron is your high priest.
We don't keep the laws of Moses, we keep the laws of Jesus. If you keep His laws and commandments, in you verily is the love of God perfected. 1 John 2:5




CHRISTIANITY IS FULL-TIME
Holding forth the Word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain (Philippians 2:16).

Live each day with the consciousness that you are first and foremost a Christian. Christianity is not something you do; rather, it's who you are. For example, your gender isn't something you qualify for; it's who you are. A true Christian is someone who has discovered his true reason for living. Where you are or what you are doing right now is not what really matters; there's nothing you are in this world that will be forever.

Whatever you are involved in now is your vehicle for reaching the world. For example, if you're a student, you're in the school first of all as a Christian, before you're a student. When you have this consciousness, you'll live each day as a full-time minister of the gospel of Christ.

Everyday, when you wake up, tell yourself, "I am first of all a Christian, and I function today with that consciousness." When you practise this, your life will become purposeful, because all your energy and strength will be channelled into one thing: leading people to Christ. Paul the apostle said, "...woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:16). It was his personal conviction, for He understood his calling into the Christian life. If the essence of your education or career is not about reaching people for Jesus, it''s not valuable in heaven. Whatever you are involved in is your opportunity to reach the world for Jesus. That's why Christianity is full-time.




SOMETHING GREATER THAN RELIGION
... And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch (Acts 11:26).

Ask people about the major religions of the world, and the first one many would probably mention would be Christanity. But there's nothing in the Bible that suggests Christianity is religion. Though many Christians have even helped propagate the notion that Christianity is "the world's greatest and most respected religion," the truth is, Christianity is not a religion.

Religion is man's work towards God, but Christianity is God's work in man. It's a call to oneness with Divinity. Christianity is Christ alive in you. Little wonder the Bible says in Colossians 1:26-27 MSG: "This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, therefore you can look forward to sharing God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message."

God didn't want us looking up or reaching out to heaven for Him; He wasn't even satisfied to merely be with or live amongst us as "Emmanuel"---God with us (Matthew 1:23). Rather, He chose to take up His abode in the quarters of our hearts! That's Christianity! It's the life of God lived out through you. It's the unveiling of the Living Word in a human life! Until this becomes a revelation to you, all you have will be mere religion.

Thus, the reason we go to church, pray, preach the gospel and do the things we do as Christians isn't because we've received religion, but because we've received God's nature---His life. That's what Jesus brought to us. He made it possible for us to receive into our spirits the same quality of life that only God has: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

Thus, if you're born again, you've become a partaker of God's divine nature, having been imparted with His life! This is what it means to be a Christian-having the nature of God in your spirit and His pulsating life in every fibre of your being.




CLEANSED FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them… (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Sometimes, we may consciously or unconsciously do or say the wrong things, but God has made provision for our cleansing: “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Notice that He didn’t give any conditions for the cleansing; so you never have to worry about unknown sins in your life. Then in the ninth verse of 1 John 1, He says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Thus, after you’re born again, if you do something wrong, and confess it to the Father, He’s dependable and can be trusted to forgive you and cleanse you, not only from that sin, but from all unrighteousness.

How wonderful to know that we serve a God whose nature it is to forgive. He’s not watching from heaven to strike you or punish you anytime you do something wrong, no! Rather, He watches over you to keep you from falling and present you holy, unblameable and irreproveable in His sight (Colossians 1:22). He’s never mad at you! He took the responsibility for all your sins – both past, present and future.

Our opening verse says God was in Christ, reconciling the world – the world of sinners – unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. This means that He’s not holding your sins against you. You say, “Even after all the wrong things I’ve done?” Yes. Your sins were laid on Jesus; there’s therefore now no condemnation for you (Romans 8:1).

Refuse to allow a guilt-conscience or sin consciousness hinder you from serving the Lord as you should. If you ever do something wrong, quickly repent, and confess it to the Father. Remember, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

ARTICLES: GRACE: GOD’S GIFT TO YOU

GRACE: GOD’S GIFT TO YOU  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ (Ephesians 4:7) Romans 5:17...