How can we identify ourself with a true believer of Christ?
The first thing to note here is this. A true believer is identified through scripture by His/Her possessing signs and character traits of a believer as noted in the Bible.
A true believer will have one or more character traits as stated in Mark 16, manifesting within their life.
[Mark 16:15-18] 15 And then he [Jesus] told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
[Acts 11:15-17] 15 “As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. 16 Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
True believers are:
- Warriors to prayer. Praying never ceases. [1Thessalonians 5:17]
- Strong in Faith and Faithfulness [Hebrews 11 [all] especially note out vs 6.]
- True to loving at ALL times. Love, is the true Love of Christ, expressed from Christ to everyone as noted in [Ephesians 5:1-2, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Matthew 22:37-40]
- Operating in the Fruits of the Spirit daily. [Galatians 5:22-26]
- Crucifying their flesh to follow Christ. [Galatians 5:24-26]
- Walking and Living their life in the Spirit. [Galatians 5:25-26]
True believers are True to Gods Word!
We all understand this truth: "No Body Is Perfect but Christ Himeself." Which is why all believers should daily examine themself to ensure that they are in line with Gods word. All believers should strive to be like Christ daily.
I have seen and met believers from locally to a far, that claim they are TRUE BELIEVERS. There is just one minor problem, they do not possess any of the noted traits above. In fact, one of the most important traits they lack on is LOVE. How can we call ourself a believer when we can not express "True Love" towards an other individual?
This falls in line with everyone; A stranger, your spouse, sibling, friend, child, church member, sinner...
We need to be careful of those we surround our self with. If we surround ourself with the company of a negative individual their negativity rubs off on us. If we surround ourself with a sinner, most often we find our self picking up some of their bad habits. As is with anyone who is not a true believer.[Psalms 1:1-2]
It can be dangerous to surround ourself with ones that proclaim such untruths. Ever heard this old and wise statement? We are known by the company we keep." How true this is. Now, I am not saying as a believer you should dodge sinners and only keep company with those who are true believers. If I said do this, How could you shine His light, love and hope in to a dark world? Let's be real about this here. Jesus often sat with the sinners while He walked this earth.
What I am saying is this: When you surround yourself with only the company of non-believers, you will most often pick up their habits and pass them along to others. Most often it is unknowingly. You have to find balance in the company you surround yourself with. Hence covering yourself in the "Full Armor of Chist" daily. [Ephesians 6:10-20] Remember we crucified our flesh to be with Christ.
Ephesians 5 is a great source on how we all should and should not be in this life in accordance to Gods Word. Proverbs is also a great book on the wisdom we all need and should use.
This is also true for the Church. [1 Corinthians 12] We as believers make up the church body. We all are called to fulfill different jobs, duties and tasks. No one job or servant is better then the rest! To act as though you are called to a higher task over others is pure wrong and is in fact sin.
(Being Egotistical and Self Righteous towards others is sin in accordance to Gods word. Philippians 2, Matthew 6:1-4, Romans 14, Matthew 7:1-6)
I believe today, Much of the church body lacks the true knowledge of Gods Word. Don't get me wrong, there are some good churches out there. But they are becoming fewer by the minute. More and more churches today lack on true knowledge of Gods Word. Thus leading a congreation of people away from the Truth of God. It is extremely important that all believers, pick up their Bible and read it daily. Don't wait for a hand out from the preacher on Sunday Morning.
If you are a individual who goes to church just to hear the word and your hear the preacher preach something. My question to you is this, How do you know if the preacher's message is in line with Gods Word?
More and more people are afraid to check up on their pastors or preachers today. I encourage you to do just that. If a preacher is in line with Gods Word, He will appreciate your checking up on Him. In fact, I have heard a lot of preachers that do encourage the follow up. If the preacher is angry or offended, then they are offended they have just been found out, they are not in line to the Word of God.
[Acts 17:10-12 10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. 12 As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.
1 John 4:1-4 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.]
I am not ashamed of being one who questions the church. I am seeing how important it is today that we hold the churches accounatable in accordance to God's Word. This is what all believers should be doing. My spirit grieves today for the way the churches are becoming. This path that many follow, it is leading to a path of destruction and leading more and more away from the very faith that can save them. The very one who died to save them.
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