She had serious challenges in her life as the rest of us. She called for help. The first question I asked her took her aback: Are you a born-again Christian? She replied she was a Christian. I corrected her; I didn't ask whether you're a Christian or not, but asked, if you were a born-again Christian. She took umbrage as if I made up the question, yet that was the first question our Lord Jesus Christ asked Nicodemus, a Jewish Rabbi who sneaked in at night as a silent disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him." Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again" (John 3: 1-3). She told me she was born in the church, had a Christian name and had been a Christian all her life, so why was I asking her, if she was a born-again Christian. Her voice was hard and hostile. She demanded an apology, but I didn't offer any.
The other day, I read the story of a man who left Kansas State with his wife and family, relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts and told everyone that he had been offered a scholarship to the MBA program at Harvard Business School. For three years, he would leave home, went to campus and did what every graduate student does, but three years later, he was busted. He made it up, including his letter of admission and everything. He wasn't a student at Harvard. My mind went to the story of the Kansas scammer as I spoke to the lady who called for help. It is possible to be born into a Christian home, christened in a church, given a Christian name and attend church all your life and still not be a Christian. Really? Yes, it's possible. So who then is a Christian? Let's hear from the One we all bear His Name; Jesus Christ, because a Christian is anyone who is a true believer and follower of Jesus Christ. It's from the Word: Christ that we have the collective nomenclature: Christian. We pick up from our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus in John 3: 1-5 above. "How can someone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You] must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
From the above Nicodemus Discourse, our Lord Jesus Christ said that no human being can enter heaven unless he/she has the Holy Spirit in his/her life. What does it mean to be born of water and Spirit? It means, you're washed externally by water through water baptism signifying your death and crucifixion with our Lord Jesus Christ. The water baptism is an open display of renouncing your past life of sin and disobedience to the Lord God Almighty. The punishment for your and my sin and disobedience to the Creator should have been death, but since Jesus Christ died for us all-the whole of humanity- the Cross for my sin and your sin, and the sin of the whole world; you and I, including the whole human race, do not need to die on the Cross, because; "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5: 21). But the Lord Jesus Christ had not been crucified when He had this conversation with Nicodemus; hence the need for water baptism. John the Baptist told the Jewish audience the same truth in Matthew 3: 11: "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (See also Mark 1: 8; Luke 3: 16).
Water baptism was put in place by the Lord God Almighty to prepare us for the Coming One-Jesus Christ-as the Lord God Almighty promised in Ezekiel 36: 25: "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols." But the Lord God Almighty knew that cleansing us with water alone would not be enough for us-human beings- to stop sinning and obey Him so He promised two other things He would do in the same Ezekiel 36, verses 26 and 27 thus: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.…"
These three promises were fulfilled when Jesus Christ came, even though He is God, but took on human flesh to die in our stead and resurrected also in our stead to show those who believe in Him how their futures would be also in the journey of life to eternity. After He-Jesus Christ- said in John 19: 30: "It is finished" He meant, He had fulfilled all the laws and ordinances, including water baptism and had suffered and had been punished for the sin of Adam and Eve which caused all the mess in the human race or to use the theological word; "atoned for." Consequently, the promises that the Lord God Almighty made in Ezekiel above could not be put into operation. This was how every human being on the face of the earth should appropriate those three promises and for those who accept those promises, they're called Christians. Those who do not accept those promises are called non-Christians and Jesus Christ Himself said those two sets of people will account for their actions on the Day of Judgment, because; " For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son" (John 3: 16-18). From the above scriptures, we can identify three sets of Christians. Actually, there is only one set of Christians, but three different routes in spiritual growth.
THOSE WHO THINK THEY ARE CHRISTIANS: The first set of "Christians" who think they're Christians are those that were born into Christianity, raised in Christian homes, given Christian names, attend church services regularly and perform supernatural duties such as praying, celebrating Christian holidays, read the Holy Bible, especially Psalms when they need things from God and live the way they want. To them, Christianity has been part and parcel of their lives and hence they see themselves as Christians. When you ask them if they are born-again, they look at you askance retorting; "I do not want to go that far, after all, Christianity is Christianity, so what is all this talk about born-again?" They assumed that some "Super-Christians" made up that phrase; "Born-Again Christian" or it is newfangled epithet coined by the Pentecostal Movement. But our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said emphatically and unambiguously; "You cannot enter the kingdom of God, unless you're born-again." Period! These "Christians" will tell you they're not all that bad and so God Almighty the Great Judge will look at their "good deeds on earth and will let them into Eternal Paradise. There are six characteristics of these self-proclaimed Christian:
(1) Every human being on earth will be judged by good behaviors and deeds and since they are not all that bad like armed robbers, serial rapists, murderers, and the rest egregious sinners, they will make it to heaven.
(2) All members of the human race are worshipping the same God Almighty and thus, being a Christian is just one of such ways.
(3) Jesus Christ is one of the prophets of the Lord God Almighty and one of the ways to go to heaven.
(4) It is not sinful to seek spiritual help in other religions and consult other religious practitioners, as long as one is not harming a fellow human being. Among the Yoruba people of West Africa and in the Diaspora, it is called "ansa jo" meaning; "seeking spiritual help from herbalists as long as you find solutions to your earthly problems."
(5) They have mixed traditional religions with Biblical worship and present it to the world as Africa's version of Christianity. After all, there is nothing wrong in preserving our tradition and culture even though Peter warned in 1 Peter 1: 18: "For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers." We see many of such pagan worship masqueraded and masked as African religious worship all over Africa and here in the West, but any spiritually-discerned person will know it is demon worship.
(6) Finally, these people are dealing with sundry issues of the flesh in their lives and it will be too long to list their sinful characteristics. In short, they have no intimate and personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, period.
THE SAVED CHRISTIANS: These are those that responded to the Gospel or Good News by faith, in tandem with Romans 10: 17, because "…faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ…" There are numerous ways and reason these people respond; from seeking solution to spiritual meltdown, personal and earthly issues, sickness, financial worries, and many more. It may be true direct invitation, radio, television, Internet, crusades, tracts, one-on-one evangelism etc. Convicted in their hearts of the need to live straight, they answer the altar call. Initially, they are happy but not joyful. They are made to recite Romans 10: 9-10: "…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
There are two reasons the Lord requested this open affirmation and declaration. First, only the Lord Jesus Christ knows your heart, but Satan doesn't. If you believe in your heart and do not say it out, Satan will tell God, I do not believe he's for you, because I can't see his his/her heart." Consequently, your belief in your heart tells God while the mouth confession informs Satan and his demons. At this stage, you are a saved Christian, but aren't born-again. So what's the difference? A saved Christian will make it to heaven the moment he/she proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in his/her heart and confessed with mouth openly as stated in Romans 10: 9-10 above. But there is a danger; if you remain on this earth after being saved, there is the likelihood you may lose your salvation, if you do not become a born-again Christian. Just like the dude above at Harvard who was not admitted into Harvard Business School, the first sets of "Christians" above are like that dude. They assumed they're Christians by association but are not known by Jesus Christ. The saved Christians here are the second sets of Christians, who got admitted into Harvard unlike the fake dude above, but unfortunately, they did not complete the program. No wonder Apostle Peter admonished in 2 Peter 1: 10: "Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election." The only way to make sure you were admitted into Harvard unlike that dude is your letter of admission. Does the Christian have a letter of admission into heaven? Absolutely! That was why Peter said every follower of Jesus Christ should confirm and make sure. So what is the assurance of a saved Christian?
The Book of Romans supplied the answer in Romans 8: 9: "…if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ." Do you read that again? If you do not have the Spirit of Jesus Christ, you do not belong to Him, period! What is the Spirit of Jesus Christ? The Lord Jesus Christ Himself identified Him in John 14: 15-17: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever--that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.…" John 15: 26 identified this Spirit of Jesus Christ also known as the Spirit of Truth as "… the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father--he will testify about me." If you're saved, you do not need to hang around here on the earth since heaven is your ultimate goal anyway so why not just go to heaven the very day you gave your life to Jesus Christ? It simply means, to God you must be prepared for your permanent home because, accordingly to Philippians 3: 20: "our-Christians-citizenship is in heaven." So how do you know you are a citizen of heaven while here on earth? Anywhere in the world, there are certain things to look for when a person says he/she is a citizen of a nation. The same thing, if you belong to Jesus Christ and your citizenship is in heaven, what are the things you should present to anyone to prove your heavenly citizenship? The first evidence of your citizenship in heaven as a Christian is your heavenly passport and that is the Holy Spirit. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ told Nicodemus, you and me that we must be born-again. So what does it mean to be born-again?
THE BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS: Our Lord Jesus Christ warned the disciples as He was about to leave this physical earthly abode in Acts 1: 4-5: "On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Since they would be His ambassadors all over Judea and to the furthermost part of the earth, they would need heavenly passport to prove their heavenly citizenship even while here on earth.
The same thing you and I need the Holy Spirit to prove to the world; fellow believers and non-believers alike, that we are indeed Christ followers and citizens of heaven here on earth. Here are three basic things to look for in your life and in the life of anyone who has the Holy Spirit as the Heavenly Passport of his/her Christly citizenship in heaven;
(1) You will behave exactly as Jesus Christ behaved when He was here on earth. As the popular saying; like father, like son and like mother, like daughter. When you see an American citizen, he/she behaves like an American. When you see a Briton, the same and when you see a Nigerian citizen, the same. This was what our Lord Jesus Christ meant in John 16: 8: "And He-meaning the Holy Spirit-when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment." Remember the Promise of God in Ezekiel 36: 25 alluded above? The first thing the Holy Spirit does in a believer's life is to remove your heart of stone and replace it with heart of flesh. How do I know or recognize the heart of stone? It's very simple. Here are the eight signs to look out for according to 2 Peter 1: 5-7: "faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love." How much of these listed characteristics and behaviors do you exhibit as a citizen of heaven? The more you have of them, the more you are conforming to Christlikeness.
The second sets of things, characteristic and behaviors that the Holy Spirit will take away from your life are also other sets of signs to know you are indeed a Christ follower or Christian. They are 17 in number namely: "adulteries, fornications, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, and revelries" (Galatians 5: 19-21).
If you are a saved Christian as noted above, some or all of these 17 characteristics and behaviors will still be noticeable in your life. If you belong to the first set of "Christians" identified above, you won't even know and neither will you care, if these 17 characteristics and behavioral traits are in your life. Finally, here are the 9 characteristics and behavioral traits the Holy Spirit will put in you as soon as you belong to Jesus Christ and begin to demonstrate the signs of Heavenly citizenship namely: "love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Galatians 5: 22-23). So ask yourself, am I a saved or born-again Christian? You don't need to run from pillar to post or from church to church or from pastor to pastor; rather look at your life and make the checklists of these characteristics. You will discover those traits are still prevalent in your life and thus know, if you're a Christian by name with no claim of relationship to our Lord Jesus Christ; saved or born-again Christian indwelled with the Holy Spirit. It is as simple as that and it is not complicated.
Source: http://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/fayemiwo/031715.htmlTo be Continue |
