The Mark of a True Believer
I'm running a few days behind because, well, I'm running. The demands of this week have been super overwhelming but I couldn't pass up this verse coupled with a quiet Sunday morning.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever" —John 14:15, 16.
I have an ongoing debate with one of the ladies in my Bible Study group about self-proclaimed Christians who show absolutely no signs of belonging to Christ (I guess you know from my use of the word "self-proclaimed" what I think on the subject!).
Jesus is extremely clear about how to discern if someone is what they proclaim themselves to be. The person who truly loves Him, ie. a genuine believer, will obey Him. Sure there will be slips into the muddy puddles of sin, but for a follower of Christ those will be more exception than rule. This is a theme that Jesus amplified throughout those last moments with His disciples before He went to the cross.
It's not that we are alone in this struggle to be true followers of Christ. In the same breath, Jesus says that those who truly believe have Someone with them, a Counselor, who will guide them, teach them, warn them, rebuke them, and pull them quickly out of those sticky places at their first call. The Apostle John restated what he had no doubt learned from experience when he wrote: "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:3, 4).
God's commands really aren't hard to keep if you really want to. Jesus, John, and a host of others remind us that a true believer really, really wants to and makes every effort possible in a fallen world to do so.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever" —John 14:15, 16.
I have an ongoing debate with one of the ladies in my Bible Study group about self-proclaimed Christians who show absolutely no signs of belonging to Christ (I guess you know from my use of the word "self-proclaimed" what I think on the subject!).
Jesus is extremely clear about how to discern if someone is what they proclaim themselves to be. The person who truly loves Him, ie. a genuine believer, will obey Him. Sure there will be slips into the muddy puddles of sin, but for a follower of Christ those will be more exception than rule. This is a theme that Jesus amplified throughout those last moments with His disciples before He went to the cross.
It's not that we are alone in this struggle to be true followers of Christ. In the same breath, Jesus says that those who truly believe have Someone with them, a Counselor, who will guide them, teach them, warn them, rebuke them, and pull them quickly out of those sticky places at their first call. The Apostle John restated what he had no doubt learned from experience when he wrote: "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:3, 4).
God's commands really aren't hard to keep if you really want to. Jesus, John, and a host of others remind us that a true believer really, really wants to and makes every effort possible in a fallen world to do so.
Of all the verses we learned this week at VBS, this is the one my 4-5 yr. olds remembered.
ReplyDelete"If you love me, keep my commandments."
Only God knows who really belongs to Him, but those that love Him will show it in their actions.
Thank you for the reminder, Lynda.
Amazing reminder. I so need this. And I'm with you.
ReplyDeleteAwesome reminder.
ReplyDelete