I wonder if …….
One thing that you will find in life is that you will be constantly wondering about people you meet: Are they a Christian?
Look at the person sitting next to you. Are they a Christian?
Did they tell you so?
What makes you think so, whether they told you so or not?
Words are cheap, actions easy to fake – at least for a short period of time (like long enough to get married to you and then you find out that you made a BIG mistake – yup, it happened and has to many of my friends!).
Okay, so how are you, during your life, going to spot those fake Christians? Well, there are four things you can look for in a Christian:
- Desire for fellowship
- Thirst for the Word
- Conviction for their sins
- Fruits of the Spirit
Just so you know if ANY one of these items is missing in the life of a professing believer – guess what they are not!
Possibly outside of being concerned whether or not your future spouse is a Christian or not – someone else’s standing in Christ is really not much of your concern.
Because:
Who prepares the lost to hear the truth?
Who witnesses to the lost?
How?
Who confirms the truth and brings the lost to repentance?
Ok, so I think I have made the point as to where you fit into the lives of a non-believer here. And outreach is not the point of this lesson – inner-reach is the point of this lesson. What is inner-reach? Well that is your ability to look at yourself and decide whether or not you really are Christian.
What? (you say!) Can you think you are a Christian and then not really be one? Can you live you life as a Christian and find yourself not in Heaven when you die? Sadly, the answer is yes. Jesus tells us two things:
- There are those who are lukewarm to His word and He will spew them out of His mouth.
- And, in the last days the deceptions will be so convincing that even the true Christians would find themselves mislead – were it possible.
But, how do we know if we fall into either of these categories? Believe it or not, the answer is actually the same to each situation – you have to appraise yourself and your walk with Christ. If your appraisal is anything like mine – you will still wonder if you are Christian decades later ----------- sigh…….
Many people are not sure of their salvation in Christ since they lack sufficient information on the subject – one of the strongest arguments for you being in a discipleship program there is.
Although true, I still hate this comparison, however: If you were to take Buddha from Buddhism or Mohammed from Islam, it would be no disaster to either religion. But, if you are to take Christ from Christianity – you are left with nothing since Christianity is a personal relationship with Christ.
Your commitment to Christ must consist of three things - your intellect, your emotions and your free will.
Intellect
Christianity is not a blind leap of faith. Rather, it is built upon centuries of history, science and life examples. (Think of 3 examples:
________________ __________________ ________________________
We must accept what is presented in the Bible as fact, either by faith or by having proved to ourselves the truth of the Holy Word. Hence, we have the intellectual quality of salvation preparing us for the “Great Commission”. Because we KNOW of the Bible’s truths and know we must do as we are commanded (read Matthew 28:19-20).
Emotions
The emotional part of your commitment to Christ is very important, as with the wrong emphasis, you will lead a very confused and defeated life in Christ. It must be understood that when you accept Christ, your emotions must not be the basis of your commitment or conversion to Christ. I’ve seen people crying and I have seen people not bat an eyelash when they were making the decision to become a Christian. They are both saved – because neither one was making a decision based upon how bad they felt at the time, were under emotional stress from a pastor’s message or just wanted to identify with Christians (yup, I’ve seen all three of these!).
Rather, our thinking believer knew (accepted as fact) Christ’s resurrection and believed by faith that they were saved.
But, remember, emotions play a big part in our lives once we start to live our lives in Christ. God created us as emotional beings, emotions ruled our lives as non Christians and emotions help to direct us in God’s path as we walk “the walk”.
To know that we are Christian, three things must be evident to ourselves: God’s Word in our lives, confirmation from the Holy Spirit and our changed lives. We can’t lie to ourselves – each of us knows exactly what we are really like on the inside and what motivates us.
Remember, we must live by faith – which does involve our emotions – while not seeking an emotional experience and calling this any basis for our salvation.
Free Will
It is your right as a human to reject anything that you don’t want in your life. Granted, there are consequences for every decision in your life. A wrong choice and you could find yourself crippled, dead, hated by all of your friends or suddenly with an unexpected family. The choice is always yours – as are the consequences.
So, it is our decision to accept Christ or not. He will not force himself on you. His ultimate plan is for you to be his – but hey, you can lead a miserable life and become His on your deathbed. Your loss, His gain.
Once we have turned our lives over to Christ, we must allow Him to lead, direct and mold us into the person He wants and needs us to be, always trusting Him through all of the tests and trials that His Will, will make us pure – as gold tried by fire.
Remember to accept Christ on faith is enough – once. You don’t have to constantly ask for His forgiveness, but to praise Him all the more when we fail because of that forgiveness. He assures us in the Word that once we are His we are always His. He will never leave us or desert us. We are the only ones who can block Him out (and He will always be there waiting for us to come back to Him) and when we do – we ask Him for His forgiveness for having stumbled again and thank Him for that same forgiveness.
