In which way are you actively livening your life, by default or by design?
I ask this question because in my beautiful country of the United States of America many people proclaim to be a Christian believing that either by birthright of being born in the USA or because their parents or grandparents are active members of their local assembly/church building that they are by proxy a Christian.
Ask someone if they are a Christian and one of the top three answers if they believe that they are, will be as follows.
- I go or I am a member of whatever name church they provide.
- My parent/parents or grandmother or grandparents attend or are members of whatever name church they provide.
- Someone in the family is either a Pastor or another member of the ministerial staff.
Instantly, once we hear anything but the answer, we should be looking for is provided we should dig deeper. Let the person know that you did not ask the question of anyone but themselves nor, did you ask the name of the church building. Then, if they do tell you the answer that you think is correct dig even deeper by asking them, how do they actively live their lives openly as a CHRISTian or the most important question if they are Born-Again.
Why am I harping about asking people if they are Christians? Because there are too many pseudo-Christians moving about in this country. In the past two months, I have actively spoken with agnostics, atheists, spiritualists, and pseudo-Christians all of who either walked away from me because they wanted to argue about the existence of CHRIST JESUS or did not believe that how we are to live takes all that.
I am not all too sure what all that entails but what I do know is this. I, me, and myself are free from all bondages and sins. I am no longer being led by a nose ring and pulled by a chain. I am no longer wearing shackles about my neck, hands, or feet and being led by sin. JESUS is and was the only One who could accomplish this task of freeing me completely. Not me, not you, and not anyone or anything else. As a Born-Again CHRISTian, we are to live by a set of ethical morals that shows others that we are set apart and that we are the genuine article of our faith.
We do not need to memorize the Ten Commandments because they are written within the very DNA of people. However, we are not able to obey them until we become clean in the blood of JESUS. We will not need to work at loving people, loving people will become natural to us once we realize and stop tripping about whether we did this or that, or whether we were this bad or not. Sin has no level in the eyesight of GOD Almighty, all sin is sin whether we did it or not, there is no black and white to sin. All sin is evil and is stirred by satan from the pit of hell. Sure, I understand that we all are not deposed to do certain things but that does not stop us from thinking of them, which is sin. Our thoughts are the reflection of what is in our hearts. And what is in the heart we will most often do or speak of them.
This world is more concerned about obeying diversity in their place of employment and being politically correct as we move about in this world and socializing with people that we are giving sin a pass. Sure, some somethings are good with being diverse but there is nothing good about being politically correct because being politically correct goes against the Word of GOD. Am I trying to convey that we are to be mean-spirited, name-calling, unjustifiable people to people? Not at all. I believe that every person has a right to believe by faith in whom or what they choose to believe, no matter how wrong they may be. I believe that every person, be they male or female must be treated equally when it comes to wages in their place of employment. And no person should be harassed, not given the right to live or work in places where there are vacancies, and they meet all of the requirements that realtors and places of employment are adhered to obeying. Do I believe in same-sex dating/marriage/parenting? NO! But I do live my life with what you do in your bedroom is none of my business and how you choose to live your life is between you and GOD Almighty.
However, though I am against every type of sin imaginable and unimaginable does not make me afraid to hold a conversation with sinners, those who are still living in darkness, living in caves/ cemeteries/tombs. [Job 34:22; Ps 82:5, 107:10, 14, 143:3; Prov 2:13, 4:19, 20:20, Eccl 2:14; Is 5:20, 9:2, 42:7, 49:9, 50:10, 59:9; Jere 23:12. Matt 4:16; Lk 1:79; John 1:5, 3:19, 8:12, 12:35, 46; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:19, 13:12; 2 Cor 6:14’ Eph 5:8, 11, 6:12; Col 1:13. Matt 8:27]
No person can tell me that they are Christian, and I leave it right there. No, I need to know by asking questions in this manner. How long have you been Born-Again? What did you say within the last fifteen minutes that was CHRIST-like? What did you do within the last fifteen minutes that was CHRIST-like? Asking questions like this places people on the spot, they do not know how to answer or if they are truly CHRIST-like they will answer correctly. Pseudo-Christians will pretend that they have somewhere to go or something to do. Also, if I do not personally know you, and you use GOD in our conversation, I will ask you what is the name of the GOD/god that you speak of? This should be what reveals to us my beloved that the person we tried to have a conversation with was not our brother/sister in CHRIST JESUS. They were pseudo-christian.
As Born-Again CHRISTians we will without thinking about it live, speak, and think in the manner in which CHRIST JESUS has commanded us to be. We are to behave like CHRISTians because we live in the context of CHRIST Ethics.
- Love without hypocrisy
- Abhor/detest/hate all forms of evil
- Cling to all forms of what JESUS approves is good
- Love our brothers and sisters in CHRIST JESUS deeply, take the lead to give them honor.
- Do not procrastinate/sluggish/slow in being diligent, fervent in your spirit to serve The LORD.
- Rejoice in hope, be patient when we are afflicted with many troubles of life, and continue with persistence to pray.
- Share with the saints who are in need, pursue being hospitable.
- Bless/be a blessing to those who persecute you [cause of affliction caused by the hatred within their hearts; cause injury to you directly or indirectly; harass you because their purpose is to try and destroy you]. Do not curse these people because they do not know what it is that they are doing.
- Rejoice with anyone that is rejoicing, and cry with anyone who is crying from sadness.
- Live in harmony, be of the same heart/mind toward your brother/sister in CHRIST JESUS. Do not be prideful/or have a spirit of pride. Keep company with those who are truly humble. Do not be self-wise/or rely on your own estimations/opinions.
- Do not seek vengeance/or look to pay someone back for what evil they did to you. Give careful thought as to what is honorable in the sight of all people.
- This depends on each of us individually. Only if it is possible, meaning that you have done everything ethical to live in peace with those who are your brothers/sisters in CHRIST JESUS as well as those who are non-believers in CHRIST JESUS. Live in peace.
- Again, I must state that we are not to take vengeance into account because vengeance belongs to GOD Almighty alone. Believe me, HE sees what has happened and if it is not corrected by the offender, HE will handle the problem for you. What we are to do with love and a song in our heart is to do what our enemy will never expect from us. Feed them if they are hungry, give them water if they are thirsty. We may need to do this more than once but each time that we do this to them we are dumping fiery coals on top of their heads. Eventually, our love and kindness cause them to come in shame and ask for our forgiveness. And what we will do is forgive them. And…
- We are commanded to overcome evil with good, not the other way round. We will never be able to overcome evil done to us by doing evil to them. Retaliation is never the answer. {Rom 12:9-21}
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