TheShiningLight

Salvation

 16 May 2007 
 
WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?

A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ.  These followers were first called Christians at Antioch Acts 11:26.  In order to follow Christ, you must:
A  DO WHAT HE SAYS,  and
B  FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE.

WHAT DID CHRIST COMMAND?

If you will enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS Mat 19:17. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love Joh 15:10. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments 1 Joh 5:3. Which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ Rev 12:17.  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus Rev 14:12. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life Rev 22:14.

We are told to pray to our Heavenly Father, your will be done Mat 6:10.  Will you express this sentiment and then refuse to do His will yourself, by defying His commandments?

I have kept my Fathers commandments Joh 15:10.  Since sin is the transgression of the law 1 Joh3:4 and Christ had no sin Heb 4:15 He kept the commandments of His Father.

How can we as weak mortals keep all of God's law?  Our Lord said that He would send us a comforter Joh 14:16, 14:26. The spirit of power, and of love and of a sound mind 2 Tim 1:7.  The Holy Spirit of God and of Christ Ph'p 1:19-20 and 1 Cor 2:10.  In this way, Christ can dwell within you.  Hereby know ye the spirit of God, Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God 1 Joh 4:2.  Now Jesus Christ is consistent. He is the same yesterday, today and forever Heb 13:8.  Therefore He will be doing the same things today that He did in the past, He will be keeping His Fathers commandments!  It is the spirit of Christ in you, that empowers you, to keep the Fathers commandments!

A Christian;  1. Believes God,
                      2. Repents, turning away from past law breaking,
                      3. Commits himself to keep all God's commandments at baptism,
                      4. Has the atoning sacrifice of Christ applied to himself (see PASSOVER article),  thus having all sins forgiven,  5. Is now reconciled to God, gaining access to Him, with the right to call Him  Father Rom 8:14-16 and Gal 4:6.

Ultimately, being a Christian is about committing oneself to keep all the commandments of God and it is about taking personal responsibility, before God, for our conduct. We are each responsible for everything that we do and we will each be personally judged by every word of God.
 
 
How do we become a Christian?

The carnal, physical mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be Rom 8:7.  The human mind simply cannot even begin to understand the things of God    (see the DEATH and  RESURRECTION article).  The process of becoming a Christian can only begin with a miracle from God.  He must open our limited human minds to begin to understand His ways.  He must begin to REVEAL those things to us that we could never understand on our own.  It is the Father who begins to lead us toward Jesus Christ through the agency of His Spirit  Joh 6:44.

Next we must be exposed to the Words of God.  This comes through the study of the holy scriptures and is often assisted by the preaching of the servants of God Matt 28:19-20.  In this confusing world, how are we to know who are the true servants of the Living God?  The answer to this question is given to us in Deu 13 and Deu 18:20-22.  While this speaks of prophets it is equally applicable to anyone who claims to be a man of God.  The things they say MUST be true and they MUST teach all men to keep all of God's commandments.  In other words EVERYTHING that they say MUST be consistent with every word spoken by God Luk 4:4.

Third;  The student must be responsive to God.  He must be a doer of God's Word Jas 1:22-25, he must act on what he learns.  He must FOLLOW where God's Spirit leads Joh 14:26.  We learn when we do.  It is the experience of the doing which helps us to understand what God is revealing to us.  When we respond with obedience to God, by doing those things that are being revealed to us, then He will reveal more.  Things are revealed, one step at a time and are given, only as we respond and act on what we have already been given. 

This process of learning is also a process of  REPENTANCE,  of turning away from sin, which is the transgression of God's law 1 Joh 3:4.  We must STOP rebelling against  God by defying His commandments and START to seek and do His will.  This means that a radical CHANGE TAKES PLACE IN OUR LIVES. We become converted from doing things our own way into doing things God's way.
Once we have reached the point where we are ready to make a commitment, it would be wise to count the cost.  The Kingdom of God is taken by violence Mat 11:12.  It is through much tribulation that we may enter the Kingdom of God  Ac 14:22.  In this world you shall have much tribulation Joh 16:33.  Be comforted for Christ has overcome the world, nevertheless be prepared to be rejected by those you love, to be denied the best things this world has to offer and to suffer the ridicule, hate and contempt of society.  This world loves it's own, if you are not of this society it will NOT love you Joh 15:19.  If you embrace this way, be prepared and expect many trials with eventual persecution and martyrdom Mat 10:21-36, Joh 12:25.  This is a LIFELONG COMMITMENT with an expectation of much trial.  It is NOT to be entered lightly.

Once a decision has been made to commit oneself to this way, the next step is baptism.  The word baptize means, to immerse.  This immersion is symbolic of a death and burial of the old sinful self and the resurrection to a new life in Christ.  To simply sprinkle a few drops of water on someone does NOT reflect this concept.  Baptism also symbolizes the washing away of sin through the application of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God 1 Cor 5:7, Joh 1:29.  Finally, baptism represents the making of an agreement, the taking on of a commitment to accept the application of that sacrifice and to go and sin no more Joh 5:14, remembering that sin is the transgression of the law 1 Joh 3:4.

This is a marriage espousal agreement between us and Jesus Christ, commiting us to keep all the commandments of and do the will of God.  Such an agreement must be made by mature and informed persons, who know what they are doing and know what they are getting into.  Marriage is NOT for children.  To sprinkle a child and pronounce him baptized  is an act of forcing an uninformed, innocent and helpless person into a situation over which he has no choice.  Children are unable to make such commitments.  To make a baptismal commitment, one must be mature, informed and able to act out of free will.
 
When we choose to make this commitment we should be baptized (immersed in water) into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Mat 28:19.  Since this is done at the direct command of Jesus Christ, it is done in His name, that is, by His authority. When this commitment has been made, we may then ask that the Holy Spirit of God be given to us.  This is the gift of God and Christ and enables us to keep our commitments to Him.  In the book of Acts we find that the Holy Spirit of God was given through the request of the saints of God in praying for the newly baptized Acts 8:14-17.  In other places the Holy Spirit was given by God without this service by the saints, however it has always been the custom in the Church of God to follow the example of the apostles in this matter.

It should be understood that only those who have made their baptismal commitment may observe the Christian Passover by taking the symbols of UNLEAVENED BREAD and WINE in Memory of  Jesus Christ, our Passover sacrificed for us  1 Cor 5:7.  This service is always to be observed at the beginning of the fourteenth day of the first month of the biblical calendar.  In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's PASSOVER  Lev 23:5 also Num 28:16.  As only those who are physically circumcised and commit to keep all the commandments of God were allowed to take part in the  Passover of the Mosaic Covenant, only those who have been circumcised in their hearts through the commitment of baptism may partake of the Christian Passover  Deu 10:16, Rom 2:29.

Also let it be understood that all baptized persons are obligated to partake of the Lord's Passover, following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ Mat 26, Mark 14, Luk 22, Joh 12-17 and 1 Cor 11:19-34.

This completes the beginning of the process of conversion toward God.  From here we must go forward in learning and growing and overcoming until the day our physical lives end.  We must continue to purge out the leaven of sin 1 Cor 5:6-8.