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Grace Presbyterian Church Characteristics of the Christian by Pastor Bob Burridge ©2001 |
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Introduction We are called to make the glory of our Creator's Lordship known. He's the Maker and King over all that is. He's the standard of what is good and holy. And he's the loving Redeemer of all his people in all ages. This is good news, so we call it the gospel. But there have always been those who claim to be his, who with spiritual pride do more to exalt themselves and judge others than they do to walk humbly in God's ways and to make his glory visible. This is very confusing to the world, and to the church. How can we recognize the true believers and faithful churches? How does anyone know that he is not among those who even deceive themselves? Jesus warned His followers about such dangerous persons. He called them false prophets, wolves in sheep's clothing. This means that they won't be easy to recognize by their claims and by how they present themselves at first glance. I never saw a wolf dressed up like a sheep. I think I would be able to pick him out of a flock. But the question is, would the sheep, not being as skeptical as a human, nor as used to recognizing a costume when they saw one, be able to spot him? How can we, as the flock of Jesus Christ, identify those who under the wool, have the cunning, claws and teeth of a hungry fox? If you asked the deceivers, they would openly claim to be one of God's sheep, and to know what is right and true. Like the Pharisees, they may constantly quote Scripture. But they are not honest with themselves or others. They either add to it, or distort God's word to come up with different meanings. The Bible is a tool they use to manipulate others and to excuse themselves from their accountability to their Maker. They don't view Scripture as a source of absolute truth and as an infallible guide for holy living. Jesus explained in Matthew 7
Twice in that passage, in verses 16 and 20, Jesus said, You will know them by their fruits. So, what are the fruits by which we can recognize those who are not the true children of God? The Bible specifically lists what should be exibited in every believer. Galatians 5:22-23 itemizes them for us:
The Apostle Paul expanded upon the characteristics of love as God sees it in the classic passage of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
Jesus told His followers in John 13:35,
We might imagine some quick thinking marketing expert or promoter coming up with a fast and easy alternative. He might have asked,
It certainly would be a lot easier if all we needed to identify ourselves was a T-shirt, a sloagan, a badge, or a well placed bumpersticker. But that's not God's way. How shall men recognize true disciples of Christ? They will be the ones who show these evidences of changed behavior in their lives. This beaming testimony is what Jesus pointed to in his Sermon on the Mount when he said in Matthew 5:16
No one in this life will exibit these characteristics prefectly. But every believer ought to treasure these attributes and be working on developing them in himself. They should openly and humbly confess when they fall short and point to the grace that restores them though they deeply offend our Holy Lord. This means that true believers have the Holy Spirit at work in them to produce a love for God's ways, and a quick repentance when they fall short. They will recognize the amazing grace that cleanses their souls from the stain that reveals what would emit from their lives if not for the Sovereign Power of a loving Savior. It should deeply concern us to know these characteristics of the Christian life well, and to know how God says we are to exercise ourselves in them to strengthen their visibility in our lives for his Glory. Those content to be Christians by mere profession, by the outward benefits they enjoy, or their outward dress, are in grave peril of discovering the hide of a wolf under their white coat of wool. Love, that all encompassing word, is what Jesus said would mark out his people from the world. This is the first exercise of evangelism: to cultivate the evidences of the gospel in our own lives so that the work of grace will shine as a light upon the Father's transforming power. An outward show of words, claims, pragmatic reasoning and a tendency to argue his way to a verbal conquest has always been the markings of the wolf dressed up like a lamb. Sticking out from under the costume will be unrepentant moments of anger, impatience, pride, selfishness, rudeness, bragging and jealousy. Jesus went on to say in Matthew 7:21-23
The false prophets are ones who claim to be real spiritual believers! They cry out "Lore, Lord!" They testify that the God of Scripture is their Master. But, since they are not faithful to His ways, he is not truly their Lord. To argue their way past the Judge, they list all the good works they believe they have done for him. They believe they have prophesied God's word, spoken and acted in his name. They claim to have cast out demons and performed many miracles! But even the magicians of Pharaoh's court, and the cultists of Caanan did things they and others believed were supernatural acts. Today many are taken in by claims of miracles in Christ's name. TV and radio preachers combine their wild and irresponsible notions about God with supernatural signs and wonders. They deceive many. Paul warned the Thessalonian believers about such as these in 1 Thesssalonians 2:9
Jesus will tell those self-decievers, and decievers of others, that he never knew them. He will tell them to depart from him. And he will expose the wolf under the costume as those who practice lawlwssness. Jesus was quoting from Psalm 6:8 where David cried out to those tormenting him, to leave him alone. God is likewise offended, not impressed, with all their outward show. The tragedy is that there are indeed false Christians who lead many astray. How are we to distinguish the true people of God? How do we become assured by the Holy Spirit that we are truly His? Not by their claims, badges, slogans or bumperstickers. Not by our outward show, Not by our clothes, rules or knowledge; But by their fruit, the evidence that the fruit of the Holy Spirit growing inside the heart. The best intellectuals, the best showmen, the best looking, the most vocal, the most active, the most enveyed. are not always the true disciples. The ones who's lives show evidence of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, these are the ones who evidence that God is at work in their lives. These are the real evangelists who exibit Christ's glory and salvation to the world in which God has called them to live. There is always people discussing the mark fo the beast mentioned several times in the Book of the Revelation. Sadly many see its fulfillment in tattoos, body piercings, UPC codes and other such marks. Intriguing speculations about conspiracies, hidden codes and futuristic prophesy sells books, draws audiences to TV and Radio show (not to mention the donations they elicit), and packs huge crowds into seminars and convention halls. Few of those pop-theologians and marketers of religion bother to mention the significance of the mark on the head and hand which characterizes those who are followers and worshippers of what is called the beast. There is an ancient warning in God's word found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Its found in the section instructing parents to teach God's commandments to their covenant children. In verse 8 of that section it says,
In the context the meaning is clear. God's word must bind our hand and be on our minds. In binding it on our hands, the word of God directs what we do. In binding it on our forehead, the word of God directs our thoughts. In later times some of the Pharisees made this into a physical rule. They would tie straps around their hands and hang leather pouches over their forehead with the commandments written on them. But this outward obedience didn't help at all in sealing their actions and thoughts with the binding power of the word of God. It was to be taught, not worn as jewelry. The word of God must bind our lives, our deeds and thoughts. And when it does it will produces evidences in our attitudes and lives. This is the mark of the true believer, the redeemed child of God. Born again by grace. Every person bears one mark or another. Either he evidences the binding of God's word on his hands and head. Or he evidences that he is still separated from God with a lost and deceived soul. Those who bear the mark of being a child of God have often been the victims of persecutions, shut out of business transactions or denied jobs. Its increasingly difficult for young believers to find work if they determine to keep the Sabbath holy and refrain from labor as the fourth commandment requires. But those whose acts and minds, whose hands and hearts, show that they are bound to a different standard, the standard of evil, of the beast, will find a welcome comraderie in the world that is offended by Christ. How much easier it is when we imagine the mark of the beast to be some futuristic tattoo or imbedded computer chip in our hand or forehead. But how much it cuts to our soul when we realize that many have taken on that sign already by living and thinking according to the world, rather than as God's word instructs us. What then is the mark of the Christian? What characteristics set us apart and assure us that the Holy Spirit is truly at work in our hearts? It is to love the brethren which includes all the characteristics of biblical love as specified in God's word. Jesus said in John 14:15
And we already saw our Lord's words in John 13:35
If we take these words of Jesus as our starting point, we see that badges will just not satisfy the need of identifying the true children of God. It would certainly be easier if that's all we had to do to show Christ to others. But then again, wolves can wear badges. And they do. In the following chapters we will take up the characteristics that should mark out the true Christian. We will explore what it means to love the brethren and what it looks like when the Holy Spirit's work more and more evidences itself in our lives. And we will examine the means God ordains in his word so that we can exercise these gifts so that they grow stronger in us by his gracious enablement. |