What Kind of Christian Are You? (Part 3)

I started this series, “What Kind of Christian Are You?”, because I think many Christians believe that God has a very loose standard regarding who he embraces as his adopted child.  I believe God has a greater standard and greater aspirations for us!

The gospel is filled with all kinds of promises God made to encourage us to trust Him, not only with our past but with our present and our future. These promises can seem across the board to any and all who call Jesus their Savior and Lord.  Yet many believers that go through a tough time wonder where God is and why he hasn’t bailed them out of their circumstances. This period of frustration often causes many to fall away from their faith in God because they assume that God does not keep his word nor back up his promises.

I believe our modern expectation of how to have a relationship with God has shifted significantly over time.  The average Christian church today, often without realizing it, has presented one’s forgiveness and relationship with God simply as a simple payer. Although I do believe responding to God can start with a simple prayer, there is far more that is needed in developing a healthy Christian life. In my opinion, salvation and adoption as a child of God has changed from the understanding of what real Biblical salvation is. Today, we assume because a person prays a simple prayer to God and asks for forgiveness that God is over joyed and accepts that prayer at face value.  However, the Bible speaks very clearly that this notion of forgiveness and adoption into the family of God is not easy. Because God’s offer of forgiveness and adoption was gained with the high price of the death of Christ on the cross, God does not embrace a simple “I’m sorry” from sinners but rather a deep, heartfelt transformation.  Please consider this analogy that Jesus presented about receiving forgiveness.

Matthew 7:13-14

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  [14] For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. 

Please, please don’t misunderstand me.  I am not saying that we have to do all kinds of “works” to be saved nor that God is unwilling to forgive freely.  What I am saying is that God would be a fool (I’m speaking sarcastically) to forgive a person who has not counted the cost of what God expects for this wonderful gift.  In the beginning of the Gospel of John it is stated very clearly.

John 1:9-12                                                                                                                           

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. [11] He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.       [12] But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 

John says that God came and offered his forgiveness and adoption freely but there was a major condition. We had to embrace all that Jesus taught and stood for. That’s a far cry from the gospel many churches preach today. The term “Easy Believers” was coined because of the distortion it implies, which is that one can embrace a Jesus of their own making who doesn’t expect anything in return except an occasional thanks.

So, my essential point for this series of articles is that there is an expectation that God requires to qualify us for forgiveness and adoption, namely faith. You might think this is obvious yet, in many Christians circles, it is not. This is partly due to the misunderstanding of what faith is and how it works. The writer of the book of Hebrews makes a statement about faith that is both clear and yet can be easily misunderstood.

The first part that is revealed about faith in the book of Hebrews is that “Biblical Faith” has an expectation that is solid enough to stand on.

Hebrews 11:1                                                                                                                           

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

Looking at the average Christian, from my experience, many will confess they have faith yet few will stand on such faith in some areas of practice. This is relates to almost any area but predominately in the area of money. From tithing to being generous Christians struggle with living biblically as Jesus taught. Another area of challenge is parenting. Rather than discovering and following what the scripture says, parents develop their own standards. Then there is marriage and who we choose to marry. The list goes on and on but the basic truth is obvious, what we call faith is often more situational than it is biblical.

Secondly, Hebrews states very clearly states that, without faith, God finds our confession unacceptable. This passage from chapter 11 illustrates that biblical faith has changed people’s lives.

Hebrews 11:6                                                                                                                            

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarded of those who seek Him. 

Let me close with a potion out of the book of James. This book was one of the first biblical writings after Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. It was written before any of Paul’s epistles or any of the four gospels. It was a standard for the early church to evaluate each believer’s life.

James 1:5-8                                                                                                                                

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. [6] But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. [7] For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, [8] being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

If we approach God and ask for forgiveness of our past sins then God expects we will trust him with our future. If we fail to have that kind of trust then God basically says he doesn’t believe us and waits for our belief to change. Our real beliefs are what we stand on and it is where we need to put our confidence.

Questions:

1) Would people be able to see our faith in action?   If our faith is not obvious to others then it might not to be to God either.

2) God doesn’t expect perfection in our faith but he does expect growth. Do you see your faith as something you are growing in or is your faith stagnate? Let the Holy Spirit reveal the truth about your faith and then follow what he and the scripture says to do to change it.

May the Holy Spirit move powerfully in our lives to strengthen our faith.

Pastor Dale