1. You love Him
"Love" is a word thrown around like a rag doll today. It's meaning is found in the eye of the beholder, defined however the person wants to define it. Jesus, the Word and Creator of all things--thus qualifying Him for having the right definition--defined it in several ways: a) laying your life down for your friends, the way He did for us (John15:13); b) having a deeper affection for Him than for even your family (Matthew10:37); and c) living in obedience to His Word (John14:15). A disciple is one who has left all to follow Him, acquired a love for Him that surpasses love for even family, and is willing to die for Him because obedience to His command is worth even death. "Though you haven't seen Him, you love Him" (1Peter1:8).2. You know He loves you
Far from the myth that "actions speak louder than words", actions do provide context to the words that are spoken. God told Israel that their mouths honored Him, but their hearts denied Him (because He could see their hearts) (see Isaiah 29:13). Jesus' act of dying on the cross to bear His peoples' sins ("His people" being those who believe in Him--John3:16) demonstrates His and the Father's love for us--that while we were still sinners and ungodly, "Christ died for us" (Romans5:8). For the one who is in Christ, this isn't just a head-knowledge that gets sung about on Sunday mornings at church--this is the very center of their existence, that they are those whom Jesus has loved, like John continually referred to himself throughout his Gospel account. This can be communicated and told...and it should be (1Peter3:15-16)...but the cross and all of its effects can only be appreciated by those who are in Christ. See Paul's prayer for us to understand this more in Ephesians3:14-19. When understood, this loves makes a person into a new person--a new creation in Christ (2Corinthians5:17). They can't explain everything, but they know they love Jesus and they believe that He loved them first.This is important because many live lives of religion where they try and please God enough that perhaps He will one day say that He loves them. In Christ, we know that He pleased God for us. And in believing in Him, we're not seeking to please Him in hopes that He'll love us, but rather, because we know He already does love us. And living in Christ is a joy when you're not performing for a grade.
3. You hate sin
On the cross, Jesus became sin so that we would become God's righteousness (2Corinthians5:21). He bore our sins in His body that we would die to sin and live to righteousness (1Peter2:24). God hates sin (Psalm5:5, 11:5), and on the cross, God treated Jesus like He had committed our sins, so that we who committed them would be treated like we hadn't. Jesus was "cut off" for a short time so that we who were cut off would be grafted back in...adopted into the family of God through our big brother Jesus having purchased our adoption. Because of this, Christians despise and grieve the sin they have in their lives, because sin destroys and leads to death (James1:15). They hate it so much that they're willing to dig deeper to find the real reason behind it. For example, if a man lusts after another man's wife, he'll afterward think, "why did I do that? I know I shouldn't, so what makes me do that?" The presence of sin grieves him because Jesus died to put away sin and make us new creations who are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. They also hate seeing others destroy themselves in rebellious, unrepentant, following after sin. This grieves the Christian, the same way it grieves God.4. You are convicted in areas that need repentance
Being willing to dig deeper, conviction then comes. The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John16:9-10), and to lead us into all the truth (John16:13). He shows us what the "sin underneath the sin" is, and leads us to see what areas we need repentance in. This is important, because most will usually only assume that the act of sinning is what needs repented of...and this is true, there is a reason why the Christian would still give into things that lead to death while eternal life dwells in them: the flesh, which battles with the Holy Spirit, wages war on the person "to make them do the things they don't want to do" (Galatians5:15-25). This is contextualized to the exact situation, and one finds their self with a choice.5. You then repent
Since hatred of sin and even conviction isn't enough--actual repentance is necessary. Jesus said that those who love Him will keep His commands (John14:15, 15:8), and His command is to abide in His love (15:3-5). Love for Him and love for sin can't coexist, because they're two different masters, and both can't be served. One will either follow after one and deny the other, or vice-versa (Matthew 6:24). Those in Christ renounce and forsake that which would hold them back from fellowship and eternal life with Christ. Justification (God's pronouncement that we are forgiven in Christ) is only a reality if it is then followed with faithful obedience to God's leading (see Romans5-6). Justification comes by faith in Christ, but if it be without the good works the Father has given us to do (to repent, be faithful, follow Him by His Word and Spirit, etc.), it's not real. Faith without works indeed is dead (James2:17). We consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, because Christ died not only to give us forgiveness but also freedom from the sin that had us needing forgiveness (Romans6:11, 1Peter2:25).#s 6-10 will come next week, Lord willing! I hope this is helpful for you, and thank you so much for taking the time to read. Grace and peace be on you and in you, in Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment