“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever 1Peter 1:23”
The Christian life is that of training, relationship and of discipleship. Christ is the ‘standard man’ and believers are expected to be a mirror image of Christ. The glory of a believer is never evident until such a one grows into the fullness of his Master’s image. This concept requires diligent study as a disciple and deliberate actions initiated on the paths of obedience to the Master.
“As many as received Him, He gave power to become the sons of God, even to those that believe in His name…” John 1:12
The scripture aptly describes the beginning of this interesting journey into fulfillment of destiny. An individual begins his walk with God at the foot of Calvary. Any attempt to shunt this fundamental step on the Christian walk with God usually results in a low quality, fake and absolute facade of the Christian experience.
This is not about church attendance, for that is “churchianity” not Christianity. It is not about church participation nor about striving to live a pious innocent life. It is not about joining the crowd; it is not about having a form of godliness. It is not about learning Christian language and gimmicks. It is not about calling the name of the Lord. It is the issue of an experiential knowledge of God.
When I gave my life to Christ in the 1980s, it was pretty easy to identify who a Christian is. Then, there were distinguishing marks of Christian conduct. Those who were born again were clearly separated from the crowd. There were clear cut distinctions. The lifestyle, dressing, speech and conduct all but lend credence to the newly found faith. The characters exuded were not bolts from the blues but real effervescence of the inner man. You could tell a Christian when you see one and his/ her conduct differ greatly from unbelievers.
But, the tide has turned. ‘The world is becoming “churchy” and the church is becoming worldly’. Everyone is now born again! Even when you wake up a drunkard from the ditches, he will shake his head, clears his eyes, look at you with audacity and will most probably declare, “I don’t know what led me here, but I am born again!” Some of those who shout the most in churches are they who drown deepest in sin. We are playing out a confusing theatrics. It does not matter what people put on now, Christianity is been reduced to an issue of the mind! There is so much comfort in sin that the work has moved in with the church and we are bedeviled with the trauma of a mixed multitude.
The scriptures will remain forever. There is no shadow of turning with God and His word can never change. Unless we seek God personally, we cannot be found of Him. God only has children; He does not have grandchildren. Your allegiance should be to God and not that man of God! The man of God can only guide you and teach you to know God. Your veneration of any man of God does not make you a Christian. Beloved, let’s cast off the shadows and seek God. If we seek Him, we will find Him. Let us go back to Calvary and know Christ experientially. Let us revisit the foot of His cross and dump our sins there. Let us go back to the basics and to fundamental Christianity. The ‘Christianity’ of the moment, the happy-go-lucky disposition of the Vanity Fair will not earn anyone a place in God’s kingdom. Our righteousness must be higher than that of the Pharisees before we can make heaven.
May God help us all.
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