And Saint Paul declares that the greatest of these is charity. John the Apostle proclaimed
"
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John 4:15-19
John also declares:
"
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4
Our propensity to fall into sin, and indulge our flesh often causes us, and especially young Christians to struggle with the very concepts of grace and forgiveness, and ultimately many believers have great difficulty accepting the love of God at face value.
My greatest exhortation to all who call on the name of the Lord, is simply to believe the word! But it isn't enough to simply believe, since James points out the fact that even the demons believe, and tremble at the word. The fact is we must of necessity apply this written word of God to our lives.
I don't mean to be simplistic, but perhaps I do, in order that individuals who may read this may perhaps find some useful seed that can sprout up and grow something beneficial in their life. The following is somewhat of a breakdown of elements that I see as critical to living the life of Christ in a peaceful fashion.
I. In accordance to the teaching of Christ himself in John chapter 3 we understand that it is necessary for us to be "
born again," and this experience is clearly defined as something more than just a change in the way we think. The Apostles and in particular Saint Paul clearly define this born again experience as a work of salvation that takes place within the human spirit, as the individual accepts the basic doctrine of Christ and His resurrection. Paul breaks it down in utter simplicity in Romans chapter 8 :
"Ro 10:8
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Ro 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Ro 10:10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Ro 10:11
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Ro 10:12
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
Ro 10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Ro 10:14
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Ro 10:15
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Ro 10:16
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Ro 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
The point I want people to see is that faith is the critical element here. Paul declares that
"
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph 2:8-9
II. After being "saved" it is critical for Christians to realize that "
faith comes by hearing..." and it is not something that just happens. It is interesting that when the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, He did not do it, rather He simply told them if they had the faith of a mustard seed, they could speak to this mountain and tell it to be removed, and it would have to obey. My early months as a Christian were times of great crisis. I had been a drug addict, and drunk, a by the age of 20 my life was in total chaos with no hope in sight, and so accepting the Lord into my life was a total upheaval of everything that I was, or had been. The two things that kept me in the faith during all of those severe struggles in my first months in the Church were the baptism into the Holy Spirit, and my immersion of my self into the written word of God.
Faith came because I devoured the written word constantly, probably to the point of reading the entire Old and New Testaments completely thru around ten times during the first year after my conversion. Power to live came thru my yielding to the baptism in the Holy Spirit within the first days after my conversion.
For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, I am referring to the same experience found in Acts chapter 2 and specifically "
glosslalia" or what is more commonly known as "
speaking in tongues." This experience of being immersed into the Spirit totally transformed my perceptions about God and the supernatural working of His presence in my life.
III. Intense prayer and absorbing the scriptures is what personified my first months and years in Christianity and it is what enabled me to walk free from the culture and sins that once oppressed me like a ton of stone on my back. I simply believed what the scriptures said. If the scriptures declared something, I took it at face value, and still do today. For instance, the scriptures affirm time and time again that God loves me, indeed so much that He sent Jesus to die that I might be able to fellowship with Him, when I had no hope before. With this in mind, I simply accept this as a fact, that is that He does indeed love me. Now don't misunderstand this, since I can't comprehend with my fleshly mind how He could love me, or why He would even tolerate me, but I accept it, because He told me such in His word.
Please bear with me as this discussion will probably be extended over several post.
