How do people know?

“By our purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness we have shown ourselves to be God's servants—by the Holy Spirit, by our true love…” (2 Corinthians 6:6)

The Bible speaks a fair amount about how we show that we are followers of God. Jesus used the phrase "by their fruit you will recognise them" (Matthew 7:16), and then in today's reading, we note that Paul says we reveal our Christlikeness by our kindness, patience and purity. 

A challenging question for us is: how do people know that we follow Jesus? If they just looked at our kindness or patience, would they get some idea that we are inspired by Christ? 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

The greatest cause of atheism in the world today ...

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." - Brennan Manning

I first heard this quote about 30 years ago, when it was used in a song by the band DC Talk. It struck me as being deeply profound then, and it still stings my heart even today. 

Is it true that the way I speak and act, as a follower of Jesus, can turn people away from the love of Jesus? Wow, that is a great burden to bear and something that we all need to ponder. 

Of course, Jesus said something in a similar vein many years before Brennan Manning.

“If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree." - Matthew 12:33

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Wood from a vine - Ezekiel 15

Oh my goodness, Ezekiel is not letting up at all today. Chapter 15 is only 8 verses long, but it is packed with hard words and a strong message for those who are unfaithful to the Lord. He records this message in the form of a parable, which is quite similar to the way Jesus spoke to people in his time.

A Parable about a Vine

The Lord spoke to me. ² “Mortal man,” he said, “how does a vine compare with a tree? What good is a branch of a grapevine compared with the trees of the forest? ³ Can you use it to make anything? Can you even make a peg out of it to hang things on? ⁴ It is only good for building a fire. And when the ends are burned up and the middle is charred, can you make anything out of it? ⁵ It was useless even before it was burned. Now that the fire has burned it and charred it, it is even more useless.”

⁶ Now this is what the Sovereign Lord is saying: “Just as a vine is taken from the forest and burned, so I will take the people who live in Jerusalem ⁷ and will punish them. They have escaped one fire, but now fire will burn them up. When I punish them, you will know that I am the Lord. ⁸ They have been unfaithful to me, and so I will make the country a wilderness.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

As I read through this I thought of Jesus' parable about the vine and the branches. Jesus' parable seems to be a little more uplifting although the message is still the same. We need to stay connected to God (the Vine) in order to ensure that we are growing and producing fruit. In an interesting aside, these following words of John are also recorded in a chapter 15:

“I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. ³ You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. ⁴ Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me." - John 15

What does this mean for you today?

Living in Grace
D3LM3

 

Where is the Evidence?

"Let us beware of repentance without evidence." - JC Ryle

I am always wary of advocating anything like 'works' in our Christian lifestyle, because we are certainly NOT saved by what we can do - it is all thanks to the Grace of God. However, when you read the above quote, it does speak a lot of truth into how we should be 'revealing' our Christian lives. If I claim to have turned from my old life (Repentance), yet I am showing no evidence of a NEW life, then surely there is something wrong?

Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 7:20

"Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions."

Is there Evidence of our NEW life in Christ? If not, then perhaps we haven't quite turned from our old lives as yet?

Living in Grace
D3LM3