Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Sunday, January 20, 2008 11:27:37 AM
In this day of easy believism we know that many will profess to know Christ, but are not known by Him and are identified as lawless [Matthew 7:22-23]. The definition of Christian is reduced to anyone making a profession of belief in Christ independent of the eye witness apostolic testimony that defines Him. To appeal to the New Testament to define the meaning of Christ and Christian is not acceptable to those who reject the authority of the Bible.
What do we know of Christ and how do we know the truth about Christianity except what is revealed in the Bible. Christ as the Great Shepherd of the sheep defines who are the Christians and what they believe…’My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me’ [John 10:27]. Therefore, for someone to profess Christ and yet not believe and follow His doctrine reveals himself to be deceived. The world loves to profess a Jesus made in the image of a modern liberal. The real Jesus is despised and rejected of men.
In the OT Messiah is prophesied as the messenger of the everlasting covenant. He is ‘given as a light to the Gentiles to open the blind eyes and to free the captives that sit in darkness’ [Isaiah 42:6-7]. On this side of the cross who but the blind would deny that Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of the blood atonement of Christ for the sins of His people. This is the good news prophesized by Jeremiah…’[The Lord] will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more’ [Hebrews 8:12].
We give men the impression that it is a matter of making a decision to become a Christian. We deceive them into thinking that it is within their power to be saved. Faith is their ticket to heaven, and the content of their faith is not to be questioned.
But what says the Scripture? Because we are ‘dead in trespass and sin’ men are incapable of exercising saving faith until renewed by the Holy Spirit. It was this that Jesus testified when He said ‘that no one could come unto Him except it were given unto him of the Father and except the Father draw him’ [John 6:44 & 65]. We must remember that, ‘Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ [John 3:3]. Surely seeing the kingdom of God is the act of faith and such faith is impossible apart from regeneration. The regenerate are the ones who see and enter into the kingdom. These are the New Covenant Christians who are ruled by Christ’s Word through the Spirit. These are the members of the living temple being built by God. [I Peter 2]
So the gospel message goes out…’these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead’ [Acts 17:30].