Let's Abide with Christ Together
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Apart from Him we can do nothing
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Apart from Him we can do nothing
Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. He was supernaturally conceived. Christ came to bring the New Covenant to all of humanity. The New Covenant is personal salvation based on faith in Christ, that is available to the entire world. To fulfill the needs of the Old Covenant, Christ lived a sinless life and offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, dying on a cross. After 3 days, He rose again, proving He was God (just as He said), and that He had power over death. After 40 days, he ascended again into Heaven and is waiting until the day and the hour that only the Father knows to return to earth and establish His throne. There he will reign for 1,000 years, until this heaven and earth passes away, and a new Heaven and new earth is created where all who have genuinely put their faith in Christ will live forever with Him.
Jesus Christ’s sacrifice provides redemption for everyone. Originally, when God created the human race, he created us without sin. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they introduced sin into the world. Every human is now naturally born into a state of sin and disobedience to God. Because God in His holiness cannot tolerate sin, that means we are born separated from Him. Therefore, it was necessary for God to provide a means through which man could be reconciled to God. His plan led to Christ’s death on the cross.
When we “accept Christ”, our decision must include an acknowledgement and repentance of our sin. It is because we are sinners that Jesus needed to sacrifice Himself on the cross. The Bible tells us if we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves. Repentance is not simply being sorry for what we have done; it is committing to turn away from a life of pleasing ourselves and choosing to follow Christ in surrender of our wills and obedience to His commands.
Sanctification is the active work of God molding us into the image of His Son once we have chosen to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. As we continue to surrender daily to Christ and follow Him in obedience, He will bless us spiritually and renew us so that we can grow into a mature faith. If we stay committed to surrendering to and obeying Christ, we will continue to grow spiritually throughout our entire lives.
The Bible is the inspired word of God and is an authoritative guide to our lives in Christ. It should be interpreted as it is plainly intended. We can trust it’s history, instruction, worship, and prophecy to be accurate and truthful. When clearly literal, it should be taken literally. When clearly allegorical, it should be taken allegorically. Its deep truths can only be accepted by revelation from the Holy Spirit, meaning it will not hold the same value or meaning for an unbeliever.
Prayer is communion with God, only made possible through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. His “once-and-for-all” sin offering makes it possible for humankind to be reconciled to God. Christ’s shed blood imparts His righteousness to us so that we may enter into God’s presence. We pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, empowered by the Holy Spirit. This illustrates that the entire godhead is intimately involved in every aspect of our prayers.
Fellowship with other genuine Christ-followers is how we function as one Body in Christ. We are to join with each other in worship, instruction, and ministry. We are to help provide for each other’s spiritual, emotional, and physical needs through an attitude of serving one another. Genuine Christian fellowship is marked by a love that is uniquely recognizable.
God is holy – He is perfectly good and righteous, and worthy of worship and complete devotion. Since nothing unholy can be in His presence, His church must also strive to be holy. It is a responsibility for followers of Christ to pursue holiness. We are to live heavenly minded rather than earthly minded. However, holiness is unachievable on our efforts alone; it must be empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Discipleship is the intentional, lifelong pursuit of following Jesus Christ. It is intended to be done in partnership with the person who introduced you to Christ and with other believers. The disciple learns about the faith through the abiding disciplines, with the aid of other, mature disciples. The aim of a disciple is to grow and mature in Christ so that they are one day capable of discipling others.
Disciples are expected to surrender to Jesus Christ. It is intended to be continual and total. Jesus Christ tells us that we are to give up our own way, take up our cross and follow Him continually. Jesus warns us to count the cost of being a disciple. At times the level of surrender Christ calls us to will be very difficult. It will cost us things that are very dear to us. For some of us, it could even mean costing us our lives. But it is part of the process of journeying with Christ.
Love is central to the 2 greatest commandments – to love God with all your heart, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. All of Christ’s commandments He calls us to obey can be seen as subsets of these 2 commandments. Love is also how the world is to distinguish disciples of Jesus Christ. Our love for each other is supposed to be radical and complete. Christ expects our love for each other to reflect his love – sacrificial and servant-oriented. Our love for the world is expected to extend even to those who hate us.
The last command Jesus gave us to obey was to go out into the world and make disciples. We are not “gifted” in sharing the good news of the Gospel – we are commanded to do it. It is the responsibility of every believer. While we share the good news with others and tell them how to become a disciple of Christ, it is God who works in others’ hearts to bring them into the Body of Christ. Once we lead a person to Christ, we are responsible to see them baptized and to train them in the faith until they are mature enough to make disciples themselves.
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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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We’ll let you know when new articles are posted
(typically 2-3 a week)