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"Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which
is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out
devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from
me, ye that work iniquity."
—Jesus
Christ
Apparently, many
people actively engaged in Christian ministries —will be
rejected —a very sobering wake-up call for all of us. But
why will some be accepted and others rejected? What is the Lord's
acceptance criteria? What is a Christian?
Christ's Highest
Priorities for the Believer
When
asked which was the greatest of all the commandments,
Jesus provided the following answer:
"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. On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:37-40.
- Loving
GOD
- How do we express
our love to GOD? Jesus showed that our love is evident as obedience
to GOD. This means that by GOD's grace, we become committed to
serving righteousness. By submitting ourselves to Christ's teachings,
by His grace we are sanctified, and over time transformed by
the renewing of our mind.
Loving
Our Neighbor
"Then
shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world: For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat: I was
thirsty and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me
in: Naked and ye clothed me: I was sick and ye visited me: I
was in prison and ye came unto me." Matt. 25:34-36
"Pure
religion and undefiled before GOD and the Father is this, To
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep
himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27
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"And Jesus
answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho
and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and
wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance
there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he
was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the
other side.
But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw
him, he had compassion on him and went to him and bound up his
wounds, pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast
and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
And on the morrow
when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the
host and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou
spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Which now of
these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell
among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him.
Then said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise." Luke
10:30-37 |
In the parable
of the good Samaritan, Jesus provided a wonderful example of
the distinction between relationship vs. religion.
The good Samaritan
was motivated purely by love and showed his compassion towards
a stranger - his neighbor, instinctively. No analysis,
no weighing of risks and options. The good Samaritan acted from
an instinctive moral imperative: "what if it was I in
that situation?…how would I want to be treated?
But the two religious
professionals crossed the street, to avoid getting involved.
This is yet one
more of the many comparisons that Jesus makes between relationship
with GOD -and religion.
Bottom line,
our salvation and sanctification by the Word is intended to produce
a transformation in us that makes us love-oriented people…motivated
by love and primed for helping those in need by:
- Giving them
food
- Giving them
water
- Giving them
shelter
- Giving them
clothing
- Visiting
them when they are sick
- Visiting
them when they are in prison
- Visiting
the fatherless and widows in their affliction
- GOD is Love
—and He Loves People
- When we love
people it indirectly shows our love for GOD. In fact, this linkage
is so great that, as we perform community services for the needy,
it is as if we did them directly for the Lord.
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"Then shall the King
say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world:
For I was an hungered and
ye gave me meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me drink: I was a
stranger and ye took me in:
Naked and ye clothed me: I
was sick and ye visited me: I was in prison and ye came unto
me.
Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered and fed thee?
or thirsty and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger
and took thee in? or naked and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick,
or in prison and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer
and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done
it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto
them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungered and
ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink:
Matt. 25:43 I was a stranger
and ye took me not in: naked and ye clothed me not: sick and
in prison and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst,
or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison and did not minister
unto thee?
Then shall he answer them,
saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one
of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
Matt. 25:34-46 |
Love
is our highest purpose.
Try This Simple
Test
If we
began listing all the things that we appreciate about GOD and
reasons why we loved Him on a sheet of paper, would it fill half
of a page? A full page? Would we have to write on the back? Or,
could we, like King David, fill an entire book with our adoration?
A Christian
Serves Righteousness
"Being
then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
Rom. 6:18
But Love is
Not Enough...
"Ye
call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am."
John 13:13
Perhaps one of
the first truths that needs to be realized after salvation is
the duality of Christ's roles. GOD became a man - to save us
-but that Man, Jesus, is GOD. Consider the continual appeals
by Jesus in reminding the disciples of their duty to serve Him:
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And why call ye
me, Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say? Luke
6:46 |
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If ye love me, keep
my commandments. John 14:15 |
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He that hath my
commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will
love him and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21 |
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Jesus answered and
said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words:
and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make
our abode with him. John 14:23 |
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He that loveth me
not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear
is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. John 14:24 |
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If ye keep my
commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept
my Father's commandments and abide in his love. John 15:10 |
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Ye are my friends,
if ye do whatsoever I command you. John 15:14 |
Evidence of
Heavenly kinship —Obedience
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"Then one said
unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without,
desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him
that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And
he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said, Behold
my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will
of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother
and sister and mother." Matt. 12:47-50 |
Walk —Not
Mere Talk
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"But what think
ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first and
said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.
He answered
and said, I will not: but afterward he repented and went. And
he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered
and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain
(two) did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first.
Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans
and the harlots go into the kingdom of GOD before you."
Matt. 21:28-31 |
It is clear from
these references that Christ's acceptance criteria is obedience.
Our obedience is evidence of how much we love GOD. Our love shows
how well we know Him. Our knowledge of Him shows how much effort
we have devoted to learn about Him. How effective our Bible study
is reflects the true condition of our heart.
And all this
is done through grace.
- SUMMARY
A Christian is
one who is born-again and loves GOD and loves his neighbor. The
evidence is reflected in his/her obedience to GOD's Word. To
love and serve GOD properly, we first must get to know Him. And
to get to know Him, we must devote some quality time in studying
His Self-Revelation. To be taught the Holy Spirit (1John 2:27),
we need to get a new heart from GOD.
- Recommendations:
- 1. Start
by petitioning the Lord for a good heart:
"And
I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within
you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will
give them an heart of flesh:" Ezekiel 11:19
Invite the Lord
to work within your heart to get the obstacles out of the way,
so you can serve Him better. The pure in heart see GOD.
2. Make a
sincere effort to develop skillful competence in the Word.
"Sanctify
them through thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17
There are a lot
of reasons why we need the Word. (The average Christian has probably
spent more time studying eighth-grade algebra than he has in
learning the basic teachings of Christ). Develop a schedule to
get the Word daily and systematically (Genesis to Revelation
- not skipping around). Use narrated *tapes or CDs of the Bible
if you have to -but get some quality time in the Word every day.
(What's more important?)
*www.scourby.com,
or look for Alexander Scourby's narrations of the Bible on Ebay.
3. Get to
know the Lord - not just about Him. Knowing Christ as Savior is crucial,
but so is knowing Him as LORD. Make yourself available to the
Lord, in prayer and by faith. Let Him know that you really want
to know Him - not just utilize Him like some cosmic Problem Solver.
4. Ask the
Lord to let your love grow for Him. He will anoint your eyes so you can begin
to see His unlimited attributes in nature - and in people. To
know Him is truly - to love Him. And you will become more forgiving,
more gracious and more loving as you get to know Him better.
5. Guard your
heart from distractions. Allow that growing love to become your conviction
-to serve righteousness -and not the sinful impulses of the flesh
or pride. You will develop a sincere burden for the unsaved and
it will be nearly impossible for you to ignore opportunities
to help others.
A person such
as this…motivated entirely by GOD's LOVE, is the standard
that the Lord is leading us to. It is this type of obedient believer
that provides the excellent building material needed
for the Church, as we shall see in the next Section.
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