Study Questions
Chapter 11
Being a Christian
This last chapter is written for those who have opened the door of their lives to Jesus Christ. They have committed themselves to him. They have thus begun the Christian life. But becoming a Christian is one thing; being a Christian is another. So we turn now to what it means to live as a Christian.
You took a simple step; you invited Christ to come as your Saviour and Lord. At that moment what can only be described as a miracle took place. God – without whose grace you could not have repented and believed – gave you a new life. You were born again. You became a child of God and so entered his family. You may not have been conscious of anything happening, just as at the time of your physical birth you were not aware of what was taking place. Self-consciousness, the awareness of who and what one is, is part of the process of personal development. Nevertheless, just as when you were born you emerged as a new independent personality, so when you were born again you became spiritually a new creature in Christ.
But (you may be thinking) is not God the Father of everyone? Are not all people the children of God? Yes and no! God is certainly the Creator of all, and we are all his ‘offspring’ in the sense that we all derive our being from him. But the Bible clearly distinguishes between this general relationship which God has with the whole human race as Creator and the special relationship as Father which he establishes with those who are his new creation through Jesus Christ. John explains this in the introduction to his Gospel when he writes:
He [that is, Jesus] came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...born of God.
Different ways of describing the same people are being used here. The children of God are those who are born of God; and those who are born of God are those who have received Christ into their lives and who have believed in his name.
What does it mean to be a ‘child’ of God in this sense? Like membership of any other family, it has both its privileges and its responsibilities. We go on now to see what these are.
Christian privileges
The unique privilege of those who have been born into the family of God is that they have a new relationship with God.
An intimate relationship
We saw earlier that our sins alienated us from God. They came as a barrier between us. To put it another way, we were under the just condemnation of the Judge of all the earth. But now through Jesus Christ, who bore that condemnation for us and with whom we have become united by faith, we have been ‘justified’, that is, accepted by God and declared to be righteous. Our Judge has become our Father.
‘See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!’ wrote John. ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ are the distinctive titles which Jesus used of God and himself, and they are the very names which he encourages us to use too! Through our relationship with him we are allowed to share something of his own close relationship with the Father. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage in the middle of the third century AD, gives a brilliant description of the privilege this is in what he writes about the Lord’s Prayer:
How great is the Lord’s indulgence! How great are his condescension and plenteousness of goodness towards us, seeing that he has wished us to pray in the sight of God in such a way as to call God Father, and to call ourselves sons of God, even as Christ is the Son of God - a name which none of us would dare to venture on in prayer, unless he himself had allowed us thus to pray.
Now at last we can say the Lord’s Prayer without hypocrisy. Previously the words had a rather hollow sound; now they ring with new and wonderful meaning. God is indeed our Father in heaven, who knows our needs before we ask and will not fail to give good things to his children.
It may sometimes be necessary for us to be corrected by him, ‘because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his child’. But in this he is simply treating us as members of his family and disciplining us for our good. With such a loving, wise and strong Father, we can be delivered from all our fears.
An assured relationship
The Christian’s relationship to God as a child to his or her Father is not only intimate, but sure. So many people seem to do no more than hope for the best when it is possible to know for certain.
In fact it is more than possible. It is what God has said he wants for us. We should be sure of our relationship with God not just for our peace of mind and the ability to help others, but because God means us to be sure. John clearly states that this was why he wrote his first letter: ‘I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.’
Yet the way to be sure is not just to feel sure. Many people who are at the beginning of their Christian life make this mistake. They rely too much on their superficial feelings. One day they feel close to God; the next day they feel alienated from him again. And since they think that their feelings are an accurate reflection of their spiritual condition, they fall into a frenzy of uncertainty. Their Christian life becomes a precarious roller coaster as they soar to the heights of ecstasy, only to plunge again into the depths of depression.
Such an up-and-down experience is not what God intends for his children. We have to learn to be wary of our feelings. They are extremely variable. They change with the weather, with circumstances and with our health. We are unpredictable creatures of whim and mood, and our fluctuating feelings often have nothing to do with our spiritual progress.
The basis of how we know that we are in relationship with God is not how we feel, but the fact that he says we are. The test we are to apply to ourselves is objective rather than subjective. We are not to ferret around inside ourselves for evidence of spiritual life, but to look up and out and away to God and his word. But where shall we find God’s word to assure us that we are his children?
First, God promises in his written word to give eternal life to those who receive Christ. ‘This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.’ To believe in all humility that we have eternal life is not presumptuous. On the contrary, to trust what God says is humility not pride, and wisdom rather than presumption. The foolishness and the sin would be to entertain doubts, for ‘whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son’.
Now the Bible is full of God’s promises. It’s a good idea to begin as soon as possible to commit them to memory. Then when we fall into the ditch of depression and doubt, we can use God’s promises as ropes with which to pull ourselves out.
Here are a few verses to start memorizing. Each contains a divine promise.
Secondly, God speaks to our hearts. Look at these statements. ‘God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit...’ and ‘You received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.’ Every Christian knows what this means. The outward witness of the Holy Spirit in the Bible is confirmed by the inward witness of the Holy Spirit in our experience. This is not to place any confidence in superficial and changeable feelings; it is rather about expecting a deepening conviction in our hearts as the Holy Spirit assures us of God’s love for us and prompts us to call out ‘Father!’ as we seek God’s face in prayer.
Thirdly, the same Spirit who underlines the reality of our relationship with the Father in Scripture and experience completes this work in our character. If we are born again into God’s family, then God’s Spirit lives within us. Indeed, this indwelling of the Holy Spirit is one of the greatest privileges of God’s children. It is the characteristic that marks us out: ‘For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.’ Again, ‘If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.’ And he will not have lived in us very long before he begins to make changes to the way we live. In his first letter John applies this test ruthlessly. If anyone persists in disobeying God’s commands and in disregarding his duties to other people, he writes, then he is not a Christian, whatever he may say. Righteousness and love are indispensable marks of the child of God.
A secure relationship
Let us suppose that we have entered into this intimate relationship with God, and are confident of it on the basis of God’s word. How secure a relationship is it? Can we be born into God’s family one moment and turfed out of it the next? The Bible indicates that it is a permanent relationship. ‘If children, then heirs,’ wrote Paul, ‘heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ’, and went on to argue, in a magnificent passage at the end of Romans 8, that God’s children are eternally safe, for there is absolutely nothing which can separate them from his love.
‘But what happens if and when I sin?’ you may ask. ‘Do I then lose my status in God’s family and cease to be his child?’ No. Think of the analogy of a human family. Imagine a boy being offensively rude to his parents. A cloud descends on the home. There is tension in the atmosphere. Father and son are not on speaking terms. What has happened? Has the boy ceased to be a son? No. Their relationship is just the same; it is their fellowship which has been broken. Relationship depends on birth; fellowship depends on behaviour. As soon as the boy apologizes, he is forgiven. And forgiveness restores fellowship. Meanwhile, his relationship has remained the same. He may temporarily have been a disobedient, and even a defiant, son; but at no point did he stop being a son.
It is just the same with the children of God. When we sin, we do not lose our relationship to him as children, though our fellowship with him is spoiled until we confess and turn away from our sin. As soon as we ‘confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness’, for ‘if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins’. So do not wait until the evening, let alone the following Sunday, to put right whatever has gone wrong during each day. Instead, as soon as you are conscious of having fallen into sin, repent straight away and humbly seek your Father’s forgiveness. Aim to keep your conscience clean and clear.
To put it another way, we can be justified only once; but we need to be forgiven every day. Jesus gave his disciples an illustration of this when he washed their feet on the evening before his trial and crucifixion. Peter asked him to wash his hands and his head as well as his feet. But Jesus replied, ‘Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean.’ A guest invited to a dinner party in Jerusalem would take a bath before setting out. On arrival at their friend’s house, they would not be offered another bath; but a servant would meet them at the front door and wash their feet. When we first come to Christ in repentance and faith, we receive a ‘bath’ (which is justification, for which baptism is the outward symbol). It never needs to be repeated. But as we walk through the dusty streets of the world, we constantly need to ‘have our feet washed’ (which is daily forgiveness).
Christian responsibilities
To be a child of God is a wonderful privilege, but it also involves obligations. Peter implied this when he wrote: ‘Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.’
Our great privilege as children of God is relationship; our great responsibility is growth. People love children, but nobody in their right mind wants them to stay in the nursery. The tragedy, however, is that many Christians, genuinely born again in Christ, never grow up. Others even suffer from spiritual infantile regression. Our heavenly Father’s purpose, on the other hand, is that ‘babies in Christ’ should become ‘mature in Christ’. Our birth must be followed by growth. The once-for-all crisis of justification (our acceptance before God) must lead to the continuing process of sanctification (our growth in holiness, what Peter means by ‘growing up in our salvation’).
ur great privilege as children of God is relationship; our great responsibility is growth.
There are two main areas in which we are meant to grow as Christians. The first is in understanding and the second in holiness. When we begin the Christian life, most of us understand very little, and we have only just come to know God. Now we must grow in the knowledge of God and of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This knowledge is partly intellectual and partly personal. To help with the first, I would urge you not only to study the Bible, but also to read good Christian books. To neglect to grow in your understanding is to risk disaster.
We must also grow in holiness of life. The New Testament writers speak of the development of our faith in God, our love for others and our likeness to Christ. Every child of God longs to become more and more like Jesus in their character and behaviour. The Christian life is a life of righteousness. We are to make it our aim to obey God’s commandments and do God’s will. This is another of the reasons why the Holy Spirit has been given to us. He has made our bodies his temple. He dwells within us. And as we knuckle down under his authority and follow his leading, he will tame our evil desires and cause his fruit to appear in our lives, which is ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’.
But how shall we grow? There are three main secrets of spiritual development. They are also the main responsibilities of the child of God.
Our duty to God
Our relationship to our heavenly Father, though secure, is not static. He wants his children to grow up to know him more and more intimately. Generations of Christians have discovered that the best way to do this is to spend time with him every day in Bible reading and prayer. This is an essential for the Christian who wants to make progress. We are all busy nowadays, but we must somehow rearrange our priorities in order to make time for it. It will mean firm self-discipline, but granted this, together with an alarm clock that works, we are well on the road to victory.
It is important to maintain the balance between Bible reading and prayer, because God speaks to us through the Bible while we speak to him through prayer. It is also a good idea to be systematic in our reading of the Bible. Various methods are available. Pray before you read, asking the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and bring light to your mind. Then read slowly, meditatively and thoughtfully. Read and reread the passage. Wrestle with it till its meaning becomes clear. Use a modern translation. The New International Version is probably the most accurate revision available in contemporary English. You may also find a good commentary a help. Then go on to apply the message of the verses you have read to your own life. Look for promises to claim and commands to obey, examples to follow and sins to avoid. It is helpful to keep a notebook and write down what you learn. Above all, look for Jesus Christ. He is the chief subject of the Bible. We can not only find him revealed there, but can meet him personally through its pages.
Prayer follows naturally. Begin by speaking back to God on the same subject on which he has spoken to you. Don’t change the conversation! If he has spoken to you of himself and his glory, worship him. If he has spoken to you of yourself and your sins, confess them. Thank him for any blessings which may have been revealed in the passage, and pray that its lessons may be learned by you and your friends.
When you have prayed over the Bible passage you have read, you will want to go on with other prayers. If your Bible is the first great aid to prayer, let your diary be the second. Commit to him the details of the day which lies before you in the morning, and run through the day again in the evening, confessing the sins you have committed, giving thanks for the blessings you have received and praying for the people you have met.
God is your Father. Be natural, confiding and bold. He is interested in all the details of your life. Very soon you will find that you need to begin to keep some kind of prayer list of your relatives and friends for whom you feel a responsibility to pray. Make your list as flexible as possible, so that people can be easily added to it or taken from it.
Our duty to the church
The Christian life is not just a private affair of your own. If we are born again into God’s family, not only has he become our Father, but every other believer in the world, whatever their nation or denomination, has become our brother or sister in Christ. One of the commonest ways of describing Christians in the New Testament is as ‘brothers and sisters’. This is a glorious truth. But it is no good imagining that membership of the universal church of Christ is enough; we must belong to some local branch of it. Nor is it sufficient to be a member of a Christian Union in a college or elsewhere (although I hope you will become active in yours if you are a student). Every Christian needs to belong to a local church and share in its worship, fellowship and witness.
You may ask which church you should join. If you are already linked with a church, either one you have been brought up in or one that you have been attending recently, it’s sensible to stay where you are unless there’s a good reason to leave and find somewhere else. But if you need to choose a church from scratch, here are two suggestions to guide you. The first concerns the minister, the second the congregation. Ask yourself these questions. Does the minister submit to the authority of the Bible, so that they aim in their sermons to explain its message and relate it to contemporary life? And does the congregation seem to be a genuine fellowship of believers who love Christ, one another and the world?
Baptism is the way of entry into the Christian community. It has other meanings as well, as we have seen, but if you have not been baptized, you should ask your minister to prepare you for baptism. Then do allow yourself to be drawn right into the Christian family. There is a lot that may seem strange to you at first, but do not hold back. Going to church on Sundays is a definite Christian duty, and nearly every branch of the Christian church agrees that the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion is the central act of worship, established by Christ as the way in which we remember his death in fellowship with one another.
I hope I am not giving the impression that relating to other Christians is just about joining together in worship! The challenge to demonstrate genuine love for our Christian brothers and sisters – rather than just spend time with them in church services – may seem rather daunting, but is a real and wonderful experience. A healthy Christian fellowship includes people of all types, backgrounds and ages, and there are new depths of friendship and mutual sharing to be discovered. Our closest friends will probably be Christians and, above all, our life partner must be one too.
Our duty to the world around us
The Christian life is a family affair, in which the children enjoy fellowship with their Father and with each other. But we must not for a moment imagine that this exhausts the Christian’s responsibilities. We are not to be inward-looking and interested only in ourselves. On the contrary, every Christian should be deeply concerned about others. And it is part of our Christian calling to serve them in whatever ways we can.
The Christian church has a fine record of charitable work for the needy and neglected people of the world – the poor and hungry, the sick, the victims of oppression and discrimination, slaves, prisoners, orphans, refugees and life’s casualties. And the work goes on. All over the world the followers of Christ are seeking in his name to alleviate suffering and distress. Yet there is an enormous amount still to be done. And sometimes, we have to admit with shame, others seem to show more compassion than we who claim to know Christ.
There is another and particular responsibility which Christians have towards ‘the world’, as the Bible describes those outside Christ and his church: evangelism. To ‘evangelize’ means literally to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. There are still millions of people who are ignorant of him and his salvation, in every part of the world. For centuries the church seems to have been half asleep. The challenge is for us to be Christians who are wide awake and active in seeking to win the world for Christ. It may be that he has a special task for you to do as an ordained minister of the gospel or as a missionary. If you are a student already launched on your course, it would be quite wrong for you to do anything rash or hasty. But seek to discover God’s will for your life, and be ready to do it, whatever it is and wherever it may take you.
Although not every Christian is called to be a minister or a missionary, God does intend each of us as Christians to be a witness to Jesus Christ. In our own homes, among our friends and with our colleagues, we carry the solemn responsibility to live a consistent, loving, humble, honest, Christlike life, and to seek to win other people for him. We need to be discreet and courteous, but determined.
The way to begin is by prayer. Ask God to give you a special concern for one or two of your friends. Stick to people of your own sex and about your own age. Then pray regularly and definitely for their conversion; cultivate your friendship with them for its own sake; take trouble to spend time with them; and really love them for themselves. Soon an opportunity will come to take them to some event where they will hear the good news of Jesus explained; or to give them some Christian literature to read; or to tell them simply what Jesus Christ has come to mean to you and how you found him. I need hardly add that the most convincing testimony will be ineffective if we are contradicting it by the way we behave; while little is more influential for Christ than a life which he is obviously transforming.
These then are the great privileges and responsibilities of the child of God. Born into the family of God and enjoying a relationship with our heavenly Father which is intimate, assured and secure, we aim to be disciplined in our daily times of Bible reading and prayer, loyal in our church membership, and at the same time active in Christian service and witness.
This statement of the Christian life reveals the tension which is faced by all Christians. To put it in a nutshell, we find ourselves citizens of two kingdoms, possessing dual nationality, the one earthly and the other heavenly. And each citizenship brings duties which we are not free to avoid.
On the one hand, the New Testament writers lay considerable stress on our obligations to the state, to our employer, to our family and to society as a whole. The Bible will not allow us to retreat from these practical responsibilities into mystical seclusion or into a so-called Christian fellowship which tries to insulate itself from the world.
On the other hand, some New Testament authors remind us that we are ‘aliens and strangers’ on earth, that ‘our citizenship is in heaven’ and that we are travelling to an eternal home. Consequently, we are not to store up treasures on earth, nor to pursue purely selfish ambitions, nor to become assimilated to the standards of the world around us, nor to be unduly weighed down by the sorrows of this present life.
It is comparatively simple to ease this tension either by withdrawing into Christ and neglecting the world, or by so involving ourselves in the world as to forget Christ. Neither of these is a genuinely Christian solution, however, since each leads us to deny one or other of our Christian obligations. The balanced Christian who takes the Bible as their guide will seek to live equally and simultaneously ‘in Christ’ and ‘in the world’. We cannot opt out of either.
This is the life of discipleship to which Jesus Christ calls us. He died and rose again that we might live a new life. He has given us his Spirit so that we can live out this life in the world.
Now he calls us to follow him, to give ourselves completely and unreservedly to his service.