The Christian Life is Not Complicated!

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3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. 1 John 2:3-6

John has a different style of writing than Paul does. Paul's main themes are justification, santification, and the balance between law and gospel. John's gospel and letters are more relational in nature. He writes lovingly to a community of new believers. He describes them as "children", reflecting the close relationship he had with them.

There were already some heresies being introduced, one of which was if you are saved you don't have to worry so much following all of the commandments. It was the polar opposite of legalism, which said you had to obey every law to be loved by God. This new heresy was called "anti-nomianism", which means "against the law". 

John basically says if you say you know God, but don't act like it, you are living a lie. Your words and actions don't match up. We have seen how much damage is done to the cause of Christ with Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips but deny him with their lifestyle! This is what a unbelieving world finds simply unbelievable.  

Then John gives the test to use to examine our Christian lives. He says, "Those who say they live in God should lives there lives as Jesus did." This is where we got the idea for the "WWJD" bracelets which were so popular a few years back. What it doesn't mean is that you are now perfect. It doesn't mean you are Jesus.  We all far fall short of living like Jesus did. 

But, the main goal of every Christian is to become MORE like Jesus every day. It is a lifelong process, which we call discipleship, or following Jesus. We follow him because we want to be like him not to be saved. We are saved by trusting what he did on the cross for us to forgive us of our sins. This is what Paul calls "justification".  The doctrine we are talking about is called "sanctification", which is a big word that means we are set apart as children of God. The process of sanctification is that we are being made holy, as we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes us holy, as we surrender our lives and live like Jesus would if he were us. 

There is no such thing as what we have come to know by the phrase, "holier than thou". To think you are holier than someone else is showing you lack of humility. When you think you are superior in wisdom, bible knowledge, or spiritual giftedness, you begin to look more like a Pharisee than a Christian.  

True humility acknowledges that even sanctification is a gift from God. For it is God who wills to work in us to act according to His good purpose! The Christian life from beginning to end is all about grace, and our response to it. Our response to the amazing grace we have received is to love others like Jesus loved us. It is really that simple!

Where do you need to grow in order that your life would reflect that you are a Christ follower? What tool or spiritual discipline will you use to do that? 

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