Is being a Christian only about going to Church and following some rules? Or is Christianity about being like Christ, about knowing the Love of the Father through personal relationship, about doing the Love of God through service to man (especially the ones who are on the brink of destruction), and
1pe 1:14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
about living as fruit-bearing branches who get life from the Vine? Being a Christian means have the supernatural Love which is God within the heart of flesh.
1 Cor 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Matt 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
I am one who so pitifully has practiced traditional churchianity way too long and has minimized the need to ‘take up the cross’ and follow Christ. Matt 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Taking up the cross, yielding my body as the Temple of God, loving God with all my heart/soul/ mind, loving my neighbor as myself, visiting the widows and orphans in their affliction, bearing GOOD fruit, and serving tables are not optional requirements for a genuine Christian. But are rather fruit resulting from abiding in the Vine. And a harvest of lost souls is rotting in the fields while I only read about them yet do little to affect the harvest. Why am I so terribly ineffective?
Walking the isle of a church during what we southerners call the invitation is the first step….not the last. At age nine I took that walk of repentance during Vacation Bible School. At age nine by the Grace of God and through the redemptive act of Love by the person of the Son, I was forgiven the curse of sin which held me since Eden. But doctrine and tradition convinced me that I am destined to sin as long as I remain in flesh form. Yet the Word says otherwise. I have much practice reading and hearing the Word but I have insufficient practice at doing the Word. Jas 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
God does not require works for salvation. But service born out of a heart filled with His Love bears the fruit of good works. To be ’born of the spirit’ is to take on the DNA of the Father the same as one was born of the flesh has the DNA of flesh. Taking on the DNA of the Shepherd allows one to be the ’sheep’ of His pasture. John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
In Eden, God gave me the ‘free will’ to choose Life in Him or to choose Death. And choose I do with every thought, every decision, and every deed.
De 13:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
I am in a war that has raged since Eden. And if I am not of the Army of God then I am surely of the army of Satan. (Matt 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. )
True Christianity is not a doctrine, a tradition, a denomination, nor a philosophy. The real-deal Christian is one who follows Christ, who takes up the cross daily, who yields the crucified flesh body as the Temple of God, who loves God with the heart/soul/ mind, who loves neighbor as myself, who visits the widows and orphans in their affliction, who bearing Godly fruit, and who carries in his chest a heart regenerated through fellowship with the Divine…with the Vine. Heb. 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him
.
Hi, thanks so much for droppin’ by my humble site and leaving such wonderful comments.
Hope you’re well. God bless!
It’s true a lot of people call themselves Christians but they are not really acting Christ-like.
I was captured by your first couple of questions at the top of the post, because for many years, though I was sure that I had a relationship with Christ, it was totally one-sided. I claimed Christ in my life, but I was caught up in doing the church thing, “going to Church and following rules”. Recently, however; God renewed my heart with a greater understanding of His grace from whence spurred me to a greater sense of producing “spiritual fruit”, out of love for Him. Perhaps a better word for “spurred” is COMPELLED.
Today, the works, or evidences of fruit that are displayed, are from a life entwined with Christ. He truly has become the Vine in my life that sustains me, the branch. Furthermore, as Ephesians 2:10 aptly states, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We will come across plenty to do for Christ, as we walk daily with Him. The great thing about that kind of work is that it is produced out of a love for Him, and not from a sense of requirement to Him.
Oh..Sonny….My heart is so delighted after reading your comment. I know by what you said…the depth of your sincerity. I want the whole world to know His preciousness…His unselfishness…His ‘Fatherly’ heart! Like you, most of my self-produced fruit was faithfulness to church…the church family…and its programs. And it was wonderful. The people were precious. Times were more simple. Fewer choices had to be made. And God has always manifested Himself to me in awesome ways. He has always been ‘drawing’ me to Himself…..for MY benefit….now His own. Now I ‘hunger and thirst’ for the joy of righteousness that comes only through serving others…..in the in the name and presence of Jesus our Redeemer. The deepest desire of my heart is to come to the place spoken of in John 15:7 ….’If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, AND IT SHALL BE DONE UNTO YOU.’ Sonny, I see tragedy, brokeness, illness, and the most destructive work of the destroy…those who are ‘dead’ while they live. My heart fills so completely with the compassion from God that I want to reach out my hand and touch them with the renewing and healing power of the Father. He is teaching me daily concerning serving the ‘spirit’ and not the ‘flesh.’ One is Life. The other is Death.
Again, thanks for your comment. He alone the Way.