Living as a Child of God

Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.

And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him.

Anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is.

1 John 3:4-6 (NLT)

Being a Christian is hard work. Following Jesus was never meant to be easy though. Jesus warns us repeatedly throughout the Gospels that followers of Him will pay a price. The reward for following Him far outweighs anything this world can dish out although at times it may not seem as such.

But what does a “Christian” look like? We can take a look around our neighborhoods and shopping malls and even various church parking lots and come away with a whole lot of different pictures of what religious looking people look like but are these people truly Christ followers? Do you know any “Christians” in your sphere of influence? Are you one? How would we know?

You see, the visible proof of being a Christ follower is right behavior with the right motives. Many people do good deeds but don’t have faith in Jesus Christ. Other people that we may interact with on a daily basis may claim to have faith but rarely produce any good deeds. While good deeds alone cannot produce salvation they are a necessary proof that true faith is actually present.

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

....faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

James 2:14, 17

Now as children of God we should be becoming more and more like Jesus each day. To grow to resemble Christ means to grow in purity and to keep on a straight and moral path. We must keep free from the corruption of sin. There is a difference between committing a sin and continuing to sin as our opening verses describe. Even the most faithful follower of Jesus will still sin. But as a Christ follower you must not cherish the sin or continually choose to commit it again and again. A true believer that makes a mistake and sins against God can repent of it, confess it, and find forgiveness. As we saw last week a true believer, if they seek to draw close to God, must also be truly sorry for the sin as well.

Those that continue to sin and see no wrong in the sin that he or she is committing are in opposition to God. Those that do not confess do not receive forgiveness and no matter what religious claims they make are not worthy of being called Christians. I know that this statement may offend some of you. I also know that only God knows the condition of a person’s heart and it is not for me to judge.

I hope as always that these words give glory to God and make you think about the condition of your imperfect walk of faith with a perfect God.