Christian Growth (1)
Though a person will go to heaven after accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, there life as a Christian does not end. Rather, they have reached the beginning of a life long journey with God.
The first thing to realize is that Christians are no longer merely their own. One needs to give up the "I can do what I want, however I want, wherever I want" attitude and replace it with the more humble, "I belong to God and must do His will" attitude.
Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
1 Corinthians 6:20 - For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
God literally saved our lives spiritually through His Son, how can we not spend our lives thanking Him for it?
So, what does God ask we do with our lives for saving us from Hell? He does not ask much, as we saw above, it is called "reasonable" to serve the God who made and then saved us. God truly only asks three things. First, to love Him and others with all of our being.
Matthew 22:37-39 - Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Above all, we should have a great love for God and others. Secondly, God asks that we live a holy and separate life. Holy means pure, and separate means we do not do things or hang around people consistently that would cause us to sin.
1 Peter 1:15-16 - But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy
2 Corinthians 6:17 - Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
Now, this is understood in the frame work that we can never truly be perfect or be truly separate from the world. To do so, we would have to live in communes or monasteries, with no interaction with the outside world, and we would live in constant shame and anguish over are already forgiven sins. Even Jesus Christ ate with sinners. God merely wants us to through Him strive to do what is right and to not do what is wrong, as well as keep away from people who would cause us to sin or appear to be in deep sin.
1 Corinthians 5:10 - I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
1 John 1:8 - If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The final job all Christians have is that we are to soul win. What is this? Soul winning means that we actively do things to that would help other people become Christians. Is this biblical? Yes. Jesus Christ commanded that we do this, and as a whole the Bible supports this idea.
Matthew 28:19-20 - Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Mark 16:15 - And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Proverbs 11:30 - The fruit of the righteous [is] a tree of life; and he that winneth souls [is] wise.
It is our personal job to tell our friends and family and even strangers that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He loves them, and that He died and rose again for their sins. If we live a holy life and love God but don't show others how they can be saved, it is like getting a life saving medicine but then ignoring the thousands of others that need it to survive. Now, that does not mean we should ever force a person to convert or even to listen to the Gospel, as that will only result in animosity towards Christianity, and Christ never forced His love on anyone. Merely, we are to be actively telling others of the Gospel.
If we do these three things, I believe we will be fulfilling the three main duties of Christianity.
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