Being a Christian


“Your real, new self (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. The principle runs through all life from top to bottom, Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The whole system of Christianity rests upon the fact that “Christ is risen from the dead;” for, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain: ye are yet in your sins.” The divinity of Christ finds its surest proof in his resurrection, since he was “Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” It would not be unreasonable to doubt his Deity if he had not risen. Moreover, Christ's sovereignty depends upon his resurrection, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.”

Some people have strange ideas about what it means to live as a Christian. Some think it means you have to always be well presented, go to church twice every Sunday, not stay out past midnight, and never, never have fun.

Others think it means giving up all trace of individuality, giving all your money to the church, and living in some sort of commune.

Still others think it’s about withdrawing from the world, losing touch with reality, and only ever mixing with other Christians.

Unfortunately, some Christians also believe these myths, and give the rest of us a bad reputation.

Happily, we can tell you that none of the above is what real Christian living is about
.
Christianity is all about having a relationship with the God who created us.

So to live as a Christian, you actually have to be one. That may sound obvious, but many people try to ‘live a Christian life’ without having any understanding of what Christianity is all about.

Pastor Greg Laurie brings about a wonderful article about being a Christian. As Greg have often said, the best defense is a good offense. And instead of trying to just hold our ground as Christians, we should gain ground. We should move forward. We should tell others about Christ.

When you identify yourself as a Christian, that is a good way to make yourself accountable, even to nonbelievers. By saying in your workplace (without being obnoxious), "I am a Christian," by saying to members of your family or in your neighborhood or among your friends, "I am a follower of Jesus," you are putting that stake in the ground, and they will be watching you and evaluating you.

And frankly, they will be evaluating God, too. They are will be thinking, So that is how a Christian acts. That is how a Christian treats his wife. That is how a Christian treats her husband. I get it. That is how a Christian raises their child. That is how a Christian does thus and so. . . . They will be watching you. And nothing is worse than getting your behavior corrected by a nonbeliever, especially when they are right.

Has that ever happened to you? You did something inconsistent, and your non-Christian friend said, "I thought you were a Christian."

"Well, I am, praise God!"

"Then why did you just do that?"

Maybe you should just say it was because you sinned and then thank them for calling you on it.

When a believer is walking in fellowship with God, he or she will want to tell others about Christ.

Everyone has a testimony, which simply is their story. You don't have to go through adversity to have a testimony. What would people say about you? You have a testimony. The question is whether it is a good one or a poor one.

The gospel is that Jesus died for sinners on the cross, was buried, and rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1-4).  His death was a sacrifice that turns away the wrath of God (1 John 2:2).  This is the only way to be saved.

Jesus is the one who died for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2).  He is the only way to the God the Father (John 14:6).  He alone reveals God (Matt. 11:27).  He has all authority in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18).  It is only through Him that you can be saved from God's wrath (Eph. 2:3).  He can forgive you of your sin (Luke 5:20; Matt. 9:2).  He can remove the guilt that is upon your soul.  Jesus can set you free from the bondage of sin that blinds your eyes, weakens your soul, and brings you to despair.  He can do this because He bore sin in His body on the cross (1 Peter. 2:24) that those who trust in Him would be saved.

If you are not a Christian, and want to be delivered from the righteous judgment of God upon you due to your sin against Him, then come to the One who died for the sins of the world.  Come to the One who died for sinners (Matt. 11:28).  Turn from your sins.  Believe and trust in Jesus.  Receive Jesus, who is God in flesh, who died and rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1-4) as your Lord and Savior.  Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins.  Receive him (John 1:12).  Only He can wash you clean from your sins and only Jesus can deliver you from the righteous judgment of a holy and infinite God.  Pray to Jesus.  Seek Him.  Ask Him to save you.


Blessings,

Raj Kosaraju




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rambabu – Testimony of Hindu Brahmin from Karnataka

Image
Rambabu – Testimony of Hindu Brahmin from Karnataka Rambabu comes from a very well educated orthodox Brahmin family. His father is a professor in English from a reputed College. His mother is also an English teacher. He has 2 siblings who are both lecturers in English. The family belongs to the highest Hindu caste of Brahmins. Since childhood Rambabu grew up listening to many mythological stories from his grandmother. She used to say that in olden days, it was known that because we cannot see God physically in the world, he has created Brahmans in the world. All the thousands of gods live in the Brahmins. Rambabu from his childhood would perform all religious duties in two different temples. He would pray and perform “puja” every morning and night. Rambabu knew all the religious traditions so well that other people would invite him to perform religious activities in their homes. He was such strict Brahmin that he would...
Read more

Mahatma Gandhi admired Jesus and His teachings but did not follow "Christianity"

Image
As Gandhi famously said, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” See, that’s a problem. And it’s not that I expect Christians to be perfect. Far from it. But if we’re ever going to be justified in claiming Jesus as the model for our lives, it might help first if there was more of a resemblance. Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders of modern history. A Hindu, Gandhi nevertheless admired Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Gandhi he asked him, "Mr. Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?" Gandhi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ." Apparently Gandhi's rejection of Christianity grew out of an incident that happened when he was a young man practi...
Read more

The Law of Karma

Image
There is a lot of misunderstanding around this word. Karma simply means action. Every action has consequences. Conscious choice making is the most effective way of creating future consequences of karma. Karma creates the future, but it is also an echo from the past. Karma conditions our soul through memory, desire and imagination. Most people are prisoners of Karma, because it becomes a conditioned reflex and produces predictable outcomes in their lives. The goal of enlightenment is to break the in shackles of Karma. Every person is responsible for his or her acts and thoughts, so each person's karma is entirely his or her own. Occidentals see the operation of karma as fatalistic. But that is far from true since it is in the hands of an individual to shape his own future by schooling his present. Hindu philosophy, which believes in life after death, holds the doctrine that if the karma of an individual is good enough, the next birth will be rewarding, and if not, the ...
Read more