And Jesus said to them,
'I am the bread of life. He who
come to Me shall never hunger,
and he who believes in Me shall
never thirst. But I said to you
that you have seen Me and yet
do not believe. All the Father
gives to Me will come to Me,
and the one who come to Me
I will by no means cast out.
For I have come down from
heaven, not to do My own
will, but the will of Him
who sent Me.
John 6:35-38
This great promise to those who are given to Jesus Christ by the Father is that when they have come to Jesus Christ they will no longer thirst. Is this not what the prophet Isaiah said? "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.....Incline your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you--The sure mercies of David....Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thought; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on Him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:1,3,6-7). God has never changed, His promises spoken to ancient Israel are the same promises He has bestowed upon all who call upon the name of Jesus Christ, believe upon Him and God will abundantly give, that is everlasting life. It is our commitment to Jesus Christ that is the determining factor as to whether or not we hold to Authentic Biblical faith and this commitment is not a believe in a vacuum, it is an active, participant belief and without that there is no assurance that your faith is Authentic. We are to fight, we are in a war, and we are not sit back in apathy, rather we are to be engaged in this war for this war affects everyone and everything, now and into the future. God adds this: "Thus says the LORD: 'Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil" (Isaiah 56:1-2).
Authentic Biblical Faith responds to the work of Jesus Christ. We are not to be lukewarm Christians, we are to come to understand the work of the Spirit in us and the life we are live as a believer. Unfortunately, this is not the case with many who call themselves Christian for they have allowed their Christianity to be infused with the culture of this secular world and not to be infused with the knowledge of Jesus Christ, His word, to be prepared to defend the faith that is truly Biblical and not a faith that is part Christian and part worldly. For many church-goers Christianity is more an emotional response, subjective. Oh! They do talk of the love of Jesus Christ but this love smacks of the world, that is, they do and speak in psycho-babble words, and their efforts afford them to believe that they are doing the work of God, but this is not true Authentic Biblical Faith. It is true that from true Authentic Biblical Faith there is work that is performed, but not for oneself, rather it is because of our devotion to the One who said: "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from me. Assuredly, I say to you they have their reward. but when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing....(Matthew 6:1-3). Be assured there is enthusiasm for a true Christian, knowing that they have been called, enabled, and drawn to God who will give them everlasting life, and has promised to give drink to the thirsty. But this is not so with those who manifest false spiritual experiences. Furthermore, we cannot allow our thinking to be so diluted with thoughts that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, that all those who are to be called will be, and they will enter into the heavens and life everlasting: this is true, they will, but we have a work to do, and that work is to present to the world true Authentic Biblical Faith so that those who have been enabled will be drawn to God and will do the work that God has set forth and that work is to pronounce the Gospel changing lives to live for God, to make a difference in the world, aiding others to become committed to Jesus Christ and not to focus only on the virtues of a moral character, that focus that becomes their religion. What am I saying? Where does your commitment lie? Is it with being a Christian, or is it upon our Savior Jesus Christ, that He, God, as the Son of God, the very Wisdom of God who became clothed in human flesh so that He might destroy sin, and who gives water to the thirsty, life everlasting to all the Father gives to Him. It is good to be zealous, but zealousness is not the hallmark of Christianity, in fact it has nothing to do with believing in Jesus Christ. Be zealous, but believe in Jesus Christ, be devoted to God who came for you, this is true Authentic Biblical Faith. Then allow from that commitment to live for Him in whatever you do, whatever God may have called you to do, possibly to leave the comforts of home to go and preach, to aid those in great need, in lands where there is not the comforts that we have here in the United States; but we go and do for others for Him, to be in His image, to care for the poor, the sick, the hungry, those in prison, those who are suffering, this is to be in His image: "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you inasmuch as you did it to the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me'" (Matthew 25:37-40).
Zealousness, and ideologies that are misplaced by allowing our commitment to be more cultural than Biblical lead to many horrific atrocities, such as the Inquisition, or the persecutions that those who claimed to be so in the name of Jesus Christ have done, those bizarre actions. This is dangerous on many fronts, even to those who exercise forms of supernatural actions, focusing on signs and wonders that are their defining attributes that they are doing God's work: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:22-23). The gate is narrow and few will enter into the rest of eternal life with God, therefore, to allow oneself to be caught up in those things which Jesus Christ declares to be lawlessness is wrong and defective, it has only the power to mislead others. Therefore, become committed to Jesus Christ, live life, enjoy life, but never forget that it is Jesus Christ who has come to give you more than this life can, it is to fulfill all your desires and thirst, it is eternal life without the pain of all the sufferings this world has to offer. This should drive is to become Authentic, to focus on our faith, that it is truly Authentic Biblical Faith.
For the LORD has commanded Us:
"I have set you as a light to
the Gentiles, that you should be
for salvation to the ends of
the earth.
Acts 13:47; cf. Isaiah 42:6; 49:6
Give Thanks To God
Richard L. Crumb
No comments:
Post a Comment