What Manner Of Christian Are You?

WHAT

MANNER OF

CHRISTIAN ARE YOU?

(Suggested reading: 1CORINTHIANS

CH

2 & 3, II TIMOTHY 3 & JAMES)

There are basically three kinds of “Christians” within the body of Christ. FALSE CHRISTIANS Paul, the Apostle, warned Timothy to be on the lookout for a particular type false “believer” who had infiltrated the church. This particular type of “believer”, according to 2 Timothy 3:5, had “...a form of godliness, but denied the power thereof...” Timothy was told to “turn away” from this type of people. Today, we see these “false Christians” in places where they can play the “I’m a religious person” game, but and because there is no accountability, they can fulfill some sort of apparent social or personal obligation to attend church and at the same time, remain “guilt free” in the hidden sins in their own lives. The number of these “churches” is on the increase, and they are a frightening danger within the “body of Christ”. There influence is felt all the way to the White House, which affects America’s core. Is it a wonder also, that “right to choice” advocates can find comfort and sanctuary in these so called churches?

Carnal Christians As the Holy Spirit begins to convince people of their sinful nature and they receive Christ as savior, they can take one of two paths. Many “new” believers who receive Him as “Savior” do so as a form of “fire insurance”. They seem to be settled in the fact that “now I am saved and at least I won’t go the hell...”. And that is as far as they go. One of the issues attached to this mentality is the conflict over the doctrine of the “eternal security” of the believer. Volumes have been written (convincingly on both sides of the issue) about the security of the believer and can not be addressed in this limited space. The most important attribute of this issue is, “who sits on the throne of your life”? If “SELF” is the center of your life, then you are carnal or “a natural man”. And, according to1 CORINTHIANS 2:14, 15

AND

3:3

“...But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man... 3:3 for ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”

Natural/carnal man is not satisfied with his own things; therefore, he envies others and their possessions. Self sits at the throne of his life, therefore, if he’s not happy or if things don’t go his way or if someone disagrees with him, he throws an attitude resulting in strife or division among others around him. He has not yet learned to die to self or, as Paul said in his letter to the PHILIPPIANS 2:3 [Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory (meaning: groundless self esteem, empty pride; a vain opinion); but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Natural/carnal man hates accountability. He often finds fault with others in order to make his own sin acceptable or excusable. I know these things to be the truth. You might say that I am an expert in the area of carnal Christianity. For the first 18 years of my so called “Christian” life, I was “a self made man who worshipped his creator.” I was the proverbial “sin sniffer”. If there was something wrong in your life, you could “bet the farm” on the fact that I would be sure you knew about it. As long as I focused all my energy on your sins, mine were never considered. I meddled in everyone else’s life at the expense of my own as well as my families. I did everything I could to “put on Christ” and appeared to be a “living example” of godliness. As a result of my self-righteousness, I destroyed two marriages and

seriously damaged the lives of at least six children and twelve adults.

SPIRITUAL CHRISTIAN How then will we know what manner of Christian we are? The true test of what we are in Christ is best demonstrated in our attitude toward others and self. The word “Christian” means “Christ-like”. A serious study of the attributes of Christ should be our primary study. Even though Christ was and is God, he limited himself to the status of a human being. He was tempted as we are tempted. He suffered as we suffer. He experienced all of “humanness” and did so without sinning. Not so he could understand us, but that we could relate to Him. Above all, His unconditional love, His willingness to forgive, His complete self-sacrifice which led to His own death on our behalf and His unfailing faith in the Father, should be our example. Anything less than these attributes make us carnal. Christ said, in Matthew 7:20, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Do we love others without requiring love in return? Do we forgive others who wrong us BEFORE they repent? Do the cares of the world motivate our lives? Is our life the same when we are alone as it is when we are

around others? Our personal relationship to God will produce within us a conscience. Noah Webster is said to have defined conscience as “God speaking to our soul.” Paul wrote to the church in Galatia, (GALATIANS 5:22-26) “22 ...But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” Note that there is only one fruit, “LOVE”. It is manifested by a demonstration of joy. Joy is NOT the absence of SUFFERING; it is the PRESENCE of CHRIST in our lives. Peace is the ability to demonstrate that joy in spite of circumstances because we live in that presence. Long suffering is patience and forbearance demonstrated in slowness to avenge wrongs done to us. Gentleness and goodness is the manifestation of our patience toward others. Faith is in God and Christ that eliminates worry, and knows that the promises of God are fulfilled in that patience. Meekness is the demonstration of the strength of our faith at our weakest.

Temperance is self control (the virtue of one who overcomes his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites). It is not the achievement of living a godly life that marks us as true Christians. We see people in church every week that appear to live godly lives. It is not the going to church that makes us Christians any more that walking into a garage makes you a car. The true demonstration of our relationship to God is seen in our day to day lives outside the building we call church. Do we hate sin? Or do we wink at it? Does it disgust us or excite us? When the chips are down, do we cower in defeat and yield to temptation? Take a hard look at your life. What do you turn to when the going gets tough? What ever you turn to for comfort in desperate times is your god. Is it money, alcohol, drugs or sex? Or is it God the Father, the Creator of the Universe?